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Old July 10th 07, 07:50 PM posted to rec.aviation.piloting
Jim Logajan
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Posts: 1,958
Default A New Lawn Chair Pilot

texasflyer wrote:
On Jul 10, 11:46 am, Jim Logajan wrote:
If the whole contraption weighs less than 254 pounds empty (excluding
his parachute), then Part 103 applies and no certificate is needed
either for the pilot or the craft.


The 254 lb limit is for "powered" ultralight aircraft (i.e.
airplanes, rotorcraft, airships) that use some kind of motor for
forward propulsion.

Unpowered ultralight aircraft (gliders, ballons, etc) have to weight
under 155 lbs, and any fuel needed onboard to create lift (i.e.
propane for a burner) or ballast needed to control buoyancy is not
included in that 155 lbs.


Oops! Thanks for the gentle correction.

Believe it or not, there have been a lot more people flying helium
balloon lawnchairs (cluster balloons) around than you hear about in
the media.

See http://www.clusterballoon.org


Yup - There is also a related single-envelope hot-air type known as
"cloudhoppers":

http://www.cloudhoppers.org/