Originally published at: Safety aside, this ultralight looks like a lot of fun | Boing Boing
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Safety third!
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Well. . . I certainly feel safer flying something like that over water than say, steep canyons and cliffs.
As long as we didn’t get so far up that bailing out over water was like hitting a brick wall.
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You know how when you’re flying a kite and suddenly a gust grabs it, flips it over, and it ploughs into the ground faster than you can react? That’s what I anticipated while watching those videos.
I think I’m not cut out for extreme sports (despite the fact that I cave dive; go figure!).
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I’ve flown two types of ultra light craft, store bought, went slightly faster than a bicycle and a home built one with a Mitsubishi 2.2 liter engine that felt like you were strapped to a rocket. And that a huge no for anyone that wants safety, you die like hero on these things.
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“Accelerator and rudder pedals for steering in water, double controls can also be fitted for schools.”
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Indeed- the guy that taught me to drive and basically gave me my start in the career I’m in met an untimely demise when a gust flipped his glider over when he was trying to land. I drove chase for him a couple times until an incident we had put a stop to that. but that’s a story all in itself.
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I used to fly Cessnas and a co-worker of mine who was an experienced glider enthusiast kept trying to convince me that hang gliders were inherently safer (and more fun.) He eventually got me to take a short introductory gliding class one weekend, which was indeed fun. Then he died like two weeks later when his glider flipped from a gust upon landing and he snapped his neck. That was the end of my glider career.
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Yikes, that’s a scary story! I always wanted to try a glider. I no longer do.
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On my honeymoon I did have a fun time paragliding off of a Swiss mountain. I don’t know how the accident rate compares but it certainly seems like it would be a safer way to glide. You’re moving more slowly and you’re in a seated position where your legs would be the first to hit anything, not like a hang glider where you’re going head-first. To me the sensation was very much like being on a ski lift chair that could be steered.
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Tbh, cave diving is one of the most terrifying things I can imagine. We live around a lot of room and pillar cement mines and one of my biggest fears is my kids getting lost in one. Until we moved last summer there were at least three open shafts (totally open!) within a few blocks of our house.
ETA: Oh, and they’re all flooded once you get to groundwater level. Apparently two experienced divers went in in the 80s and never came out.
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So a big ol’ flying boat that burns 86 gallons per hour isn’t a waste of fuel? The Rotax engine on the ultralight burns less than 1/20th of that at about 4 gph.
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Now hold on a sec. Are gliders inherently less safe than Cessna’s? This sounds more like my aversion to the houndstooth pattern because I associate it with something terribly unpleasant. Stories like this will stop some people from trying a generally safe pastime.
Doh! Too late.
Alas, I did find a discussion that points out soaring is a bit riskier than powered flight.
(The Risk of Dying Doing What We Love - Soaring - Chess in the Air)
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I actually spent a bit of time trying to research that back then, and the answer is “probably,” with the caveat that accurate glider accident rates are much harder to come by than airplane crash rates.
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I think death probability within 1000 hours is deceptive. per 1000 hours is probably a better gauge, unless you are planning to briefly adopt a very dangerous hobby – and then you are paying for what you get.
Like most new motorcyclists wreck within 1000 miles or some such statistic. Yes, part of learning is falling.
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That also lumps all general aviation together. Cessnas specifically are a bit safer that the average general aviation plane because they’re designed to be forgiving and easy to fly. I just read that they account for 16% of all flight hours in general aviation but only 6% of fatal accidents. Not bad considering that due to heavy use by flight schools they tend to spend a large portion of their time doing takeoffs and landings, which are the most dangerous parts of flying.
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Too bad that doesn’t work out for wingsuit fliers.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/article/why-are-so-many-base-jumpers-dying
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The older I get, the less I’m convinced that the general population should get access to things like personal aircraft. On the other side of that same coin I find myself wondering how difficult it could be to build one of these, and where I could operate it without getting in trouble…
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Bugger safety, I’ll have a go.
