If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
|
#1
|
|||
|
|||
Ultralight rotorcraft
I just learned about this littel ultralight rotor
craft: http://www.airscooter.com/ My question ia about the rules of where you can fly such a thing. On the radio program I was listening to the inventer and host talked about flying it around town. However, on their website where they quote the FAR 103 rules, "Sec. 103.15 Operations over congested areas. No person may operate an ultralight vehicle over any congested area of a city, town, or settlement, or over any open air assembly of persons." So am I right in that this precludes me flying one of these things from my home driveway to my work parking lot in the suburbs of LA where I live? Yet in the program they kept talking about bypassing all the traffic on the roads. Brian -- http://www.skywise711.com - Lasers, Seismology, Astronomy, Skepticism Home of the Seismic FAQ http://www.skywise711.com/SeismicFAQ/SeismicFAQ.html Sed quis custodiet ipsos Custodes? |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
I've seen ultralights operate out of SMO (Santa Monica), which is
surrounded by congestion. Specifically, I should say, I've seen ONE ultralight there. He had a beacon, and Mode C I assume (LAX is right next door), but I wasn't in the tower at the time, just the pilots lounge. I think there's a procedure involved in getting to that level, and but I don't know what it is. I read somewhere recently about a group of ultralights that had received N-numbers and other whatnots to allow them certain privileges, but I can't recall the text. Does anyone else remember reading about this? It might involve having the planes reclassified as experimental and then vetted by an A&P, but this is all guesswork on my part. Are the two related? |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
That Airscooter looks like a lot of fun, but it has no provisions to
land safely when the engine quits. That could hurt. Bryan |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
No autorotation?
mike regish "Flyingmonk" wrote in message oups.com... That Airscooter looks like a lot of fun, but it has no provisions to land safely when the engine quits. That could hurt. Bryan |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
No collective, it uses throttle instead. Engine dies, you die. Cyclic
shifts weight of pilot forward and aft I believe. |
#6
|
|||
|
|||
That is the craziest thing I have ever heard. FAA should ban the thing
immediatly. It's not a question of if people are going to die its a question of how many. My bet is the ratio of aircrafts sold to deaths will be something approaching 1:1. "Flyingmonk" wrote in message oups.com... No collective, it uses throttle instead. Engine dies, you die. Cyclic shifts weight of pilot forward and aft I believe. |
#7
|
|||
|
|||
Respectfully, I'd rather the government not capriciously ban everything
that's considered 'dangerous'. Like seat belt and helmet laws, let natural selection take place. If people want to buy a vehicle with as poor a failure mode as this, then let them make that decision. The ultralight provision goes far enough to create a legal safety barrier to protect the fine folks of downtown New York (congestion) from falling air scooters. My only capitulation to the regs here would be to make sure the company informs purchasers as to the risk so they can make an informed decision. Other then that... the FAA has enough fingers in the pie already, don't let them walk off with the whole dish. |
#8
|
|||
|
|||
"Gig 601XL Builder" wr.giacona@coxDOTnet wrote in message
news:3RTue.33374$DC2.17350@okepread01... No collective, it uses throttle instead. Engine dies, you die. Cyclic shifts weight of pilot forward and aft I believe. That is the craziest thing I have ever heard. FAA should ban the thing immediatly. According to the manufacturer, the aircraft is intended to be flown at altitudes at which auto-rotation would be impractical. I don't know enough about rotorcraft to be able to evaluate that statement, but I do understand that low altitude and low rotor inertia are both things that will prevent a successful autorotation. Unsurprisingly, they indicate that they are developing a design for use of a ballistic parachute. How this will work for a rotorcraft is unclear, but ballistic parachutes are used successfully in other situations in which an aircraft can have common failures that result in no gliding performance. Are you saying that we should ban any aircraft that has a common failure that results in no gliding performance? Pete |
#9
|
|||
|
|||
Gig 601XL Builder opined
That is the craziest thing I have ever heard. FAA should ban the thing immediatly. It's not a question of if people are going to die its a question of how many. My bet is the ratio of aircrafts sold to deaths will be something approaching 1:1. Think of it as evolution in action. "Flyingmonk" wrote in message roups.com... No collective, it uses throttle instead. Engine dies, you die. Cyclic shifts weight of pilot forward and aft I believe. -ash Cthulhu in 2005! Why wait for nature? |
#10
|
|||
|
|||
On Thu, 23 Jun 2005 at 20:58:21 in message
.com, Flyingmonk wrote: No collective, it uses throttle instead. Engine dies, you die. Cyclic shifts weight of pilot forward and aft I believe. As far as I am aware there have been a number of lightweight autogyros built. They may be dangerous but I not do believe that they cannot be flown without an engine running. True they have no cyclic or collective pitch - they manage without. The rotor plane can usually be tipped for and aft and side to side, although I guess weight shifting can be used as well. A real one was flown and demonstrated in one of the James Bond films (Little Nellie). The essential point is that the rotor is un-powered. Try http://www.jefflewis.net/autogyros.html for descriptions and more links and also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autogyro for details of problems and dispelling the myth that they fall out of the sky if the engine stops -- David CL Francis |
|
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Ultralight Club Bylaws - Warning Long Post | MrHabilis | Home Built | 0 | June 11th 04 05:07 PM |
Sport Rotorcraft Fly-in | Gyroplanes | Rotorcraft | 1 | May 5th 04 04:43 PM |
AL-12: New ultralight sailplane | ISoar | Soaring | 4 | March 24th 04 01:52 AM |
rotorcraft chat group | Stu Fields | Rotorcraft | 1 | January 23rd 04 05:43 PM |
Ultralight magazine August 1981 | Gilan | Home Built | 0 | July 20th 03 04:34 AM |