Flying trike for a living?

Hi,

I wonder if anyone out there is flying a trike professionally, i.e.
makes a living from it - except for flight instructors, of course. I
have shopped around a bit and basically found people offering

- sightseeing trips
- surveillance flights
- documentation (arial views of whatever)
- banner towing

and a few more exotic activities like herd monitoring etc. Virtually
no-one offers transportation services, probably due to the weight and
speed limitations of trikes and their dependance on good weather
conditions. Most of what I found in Germany seems to be offered by
either hobby pilots or flight schools as a mere add-on to their normal
acitivites and does not seem to be their actual business. It may also be
that the market in Germany is just not big enough, e.g. the web site of
Germany's leading magazin for marketing and advertising does not even
mention banner towing... Things may be different in the US, though.

So, if anyone has or knows of a "business plan" for trike pilots I'd be
glad to hear your ideas or follow your links.

Regards, Oli

----------------------------------------------------------------------
ABB - Vote Kerry. Please. www.johnkerry.com/onlinehq
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Oli Kai Paulus Bergstraße 18 Fon +49.30.28390731
D-10115 Berlin Fon +49.172.3914294

Oli, there is no business plan for trike/ultralight pilots.
It wouldn't be legal in Germany... so no one offers transportation etc :-)

make your CPL, buy a real plane, start a business and be broke within a
year without problems.

Maik

Oli Kai Paulus wrote:

Hi,

I wonder if anyone out there is flying a trike professionally, i.e.
makes a living from it - except for flight instructors, of course. I
have shopped around a bit and basically found people offering

- sightseeing trips
- surveillance flights
- documentation (arial views of whatever)
- banner towing

and a few more exotic activities like herd monitoring etc. Virtually
no-one offers transportation services, probably due to the weight and
speed limitations of trikes and their dependance on good weather
conditions. Most of what I found in Germany seems to be offered by
either hobby pilots or flight schools as a mere add-on to their normal
acitivites and does not seem to be their actual business. It may also be
that the market in Germany is just not big enough, e.g. the web site of
Germany's leading magazin for marketing and advertising does not even
mention banner towing... Things may be different in the US, though.

So, if anyone has or knows of a "business plan" for trike pilots I'd be
glad to hear your ideas or follow your links.

Regards, Oli

----------------------------------------------------------------------
ABB - Vote Kerry. Please. www.johnkerry.com/onlinehq
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Oli Kai Paulus Bergstraße 18 Fon +49.30.28390731
D-10115 Berlin Fon +49.172.3914294

Maik wrote:
Oli, there is no business plan for trike/ultralight pilots.
It wouldn't be legal in Germany... so no one offers transportation etc :-)

Are you sure? At least sightseeing trips are legal, cf. my other
posting. I have not mastered the Luftverkehrsgesetz so far, so there may
be differences between round trips and point-to-point trips, or if you
want to offer a regular or sporadic service. There even seems to be a
distinction between trips offered "for a fee" (privat gegen Gebühr) and
"commercial" (gewerblich) trips, but I'm not sure. Do you know it more
precisely?

make your CPL, buy a real plane, start a business and be broke within a
year without problems.

hm, not exactly what I have in mind...

Regards, Oli

----------------------------------------------------------------------
ABB - Vote Kerry. Please. www.johnkerry.com/onlinehq
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Oli Kai Paulus Bergstraße 18 Fon +49.30.28390731
D-10115 Berlin Fon +49.172.3914294

Download the rules from LBA and search the news: de.rec.luftfahrt for
commercial flight discussions... in german of cource.

Or just call the LBA and tell them want you want to do. After a good
laugh they will catch enough O2 to answer all your questions :-)

Maik

Oli Kai Paulus wrote:
Maik wrote:

Oli, there is no business plan for trike/ultralight pilots.
It wouldn't be legal in Germany... so no one offers transportation etc
:-)


Are you sure? At least sightseeing trips are legal, cf. my other
posting. I have not mastered the Luftverkehrsgesetz so far, so there may
be differences between round trips and point-to-point trips, or if you
want to offer a regular or sporadic service. There even seems to be a
distinction between trips offered "for a fee" (privat gegen Gebühr) and
"commercial" (gewerblich) trips, but I'm not sure. Do you know it more
precisely?

make your CPL, buy a real plane, start a business and be broke within
a year without problems.


hm, not exactly what I have in mind...

Regards, Oli

----------------------------------------------------------------------
ABB - Vote Kerry. Please. www.johnkerry.com/onlinehq
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Oli Kai Paulus Bergstraße 18 Fon +49.30.28390731
D-10115 Berlin Fon +49.172.3914294

Maik wrote:
Download the rules from LBA and search the news: de.rec.luftfahrt for
commercial flight discussions... in german of cource.

Or just call the LBA and tell them want you want to do. After a good
laugh they will catch enough O2 to answer all your questions :-)

I'll try ... at least the former

Regards, Oli

----------------------------------------------------------------------
ABB - Vote Kerry. Please. www.johnkerry.com/onlinehq
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Oli Kai Paulus Bergstraße 18 Fon +49.30.28390731
D-10115 Berlin Fon +49.172.3914294

Maik wrote:
It wouldn't be legal in Germany... so no one offers transportation etc :-)
make your CPL, buy a real plane, start a business and be broke within a
year without problems.

I have looked around a bit and as it seems, you may use your ultralight
for commercial purposes without any restrictions. You may need some
additions to your SPL (to transport people, to tow banners) but nothing
like a CPL. Commercial usage of ULs is allowed in Germany, see e.g.
de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultraleicht or the thread in
http://www.pilots24.com/forum/viewto...inc.php?t=2388 (both resources in
German).

Regards, Oli

----------------------------------------------------------------------
ABB - Vote Kerry. Please. www.johnkerry.com/onlinehq
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Oli Kai Paulus Bergstraße 18 Fon +49.30.28390731
D-10115 Berlin Fon +49.172.3914294

Oli Kai Paulus wrote in -
online.com:

- sightseeing trips

Not legal to carry pax for money on sightseeing trips in a trike in the US.
Probably illegal in Germany as well.

- surveillance flights
- documentation (arial views of whatever)
- banner towing

Excuse me??!?! Banner towing on a trike????? chuckle

Excuse me??!?! Banner towing on a trike????? chuckle

Small ones.

Quent

(QDurham) wrote in news:20040903004405.23728.00000061@mb-
m12.aol.com:

Excuse me??!?! Banner towing on a trike????? chuckle

Small ones.

Oh. That explains it. grin

Juan Jimenez wrote:
Not legal to carry pax for money on sightseeing trips in a trike in the US.
Probably illegal in Germany as well.

commercial sightseeing trips on trikes are legal in Germany and are
offered at several airports, e.g.
http://www.lukasbader.de/gutscheine_...ndemfluege.htm or
www.strassham.de/rf_home.htm. I'm surprised to learn that it's illegal
in the US.

Excuse me??!?! Banner towing on a trike????? chuckle

Well, it's technically feasible and and it's legal in Germany. Of
course, the banner size is reduced compared to more powerful aircrafts.

Regards, Oli

----------------------------------------------------------------------
ABB - Vote Kerry. Please. www.johnkerry.com/onlinehq
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Oli Kai Paulus Bergstraße 18 Fon +49.30.28390731
D-10115 Berlin Fon +49.172.3914294