Flying Light Sport Type Aircraft Through A Flight Club Setting Is Reportedly Growing Recreational Aviation In New Zealand

The rise of microlights, or light sport aircraft, is turning what was once regarded as 'a rich man's sport' into something more widely available, and sparking a growth in hangar numbers at the Otago Aero Club.

According to an article we found from the Otago Daily Times online news, recreational aviation is growing in New Zealand because of the lower cost of operating microlight aircraft; in the U.S. microlight’s fall in-between our light sport aircraft and ultralights. The report was based on interviews with Colin Chambers, who is the chairman of the Otago Aero club.

Chambers is quoted as saying that expansion in their Aero Club and on their airfield is primarily light sport type aircraft. He said, 'That's where the club is getting the majority of its new members from.” Chambers also said about the light sport aircraft, 'There was always this perception that aircraft were a rich man's sport, and they're not - not nowadays.'

The club's membership, which was about 120, had grown by 15 or more in the past two or three years, and most were light sport aircraft enthusiasts.

In a printed response to the article, the responder wrote in part, “This is an organization doing good things. Microlights are ideal for the weekend warrior taking a mate for a local flight on a nice Dunedin day.” (Dunedin is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the principal city of the Otago Region.)

This story from New Zealand points out the advantage of recreational aviation enthusiasts joining together to form flying clubs. It looks like these folks in New Zealand have got a good thing going, and the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) has long promoted this sort of activity in the U.S.  AOPA provides excellent informational materials to help establish flying clubs.

(Image Otago Aero Club location from Google Maps)

FMI: AOPA flying Club Info