Mon, Aug 22, 2016
What Was Once Lost Was Found Again … It Simply Went On An Adventure
Ultralights can be a lot of fun because they offer such freedom. But it’s important to pay attention to the name, ‘ultralight,’ which does a pretty good job of defining what they are. They are very lightweight and very easy to move around. Here we have a story about a man who lost his ultralight, and we are not using the term ‘lost’ to mean as in an accident; we mean he actually couldn’t find it.
Ultralights got their start in the early 1980s with the creation of FAR 103. This allowed single-place, very light aircraft, to be uncertified and to be operated by uncertified pilots. Because they are flown strictly for recreation, they provide opportunities to go places and do things that you can’t do and heavier fully certified aircraft.
We found an ultralight related report in the Chicago Tribune newspaper that tickled our funnybone. An ultralight pilot by the name of Brett Valiquet owns a true ultralight that happens to be on floats. Think about the fun you could have with that and the places you can go! He decided to fly his ultralight to the lake at Starved Rock State Park in Illinois, and take a refreshing hike in the wilderness.
While the plan was good, the execution lacked a little bit. The excitement started when local residents spotted what they thought was a crashed airplane in the lake. Law enforcement got involved and found that the airplane that was floating in the lake actually looked in good condition and they became concerned that the pilot may have fallen out and could be somewhere in the lake needing help.
According to the story, they pulled the airplane to a dock and commenced a search. Mister Valiquet returned to where he left his airplane only find it missing, and he finally joined up with local law enforcement to get the whole story. Valiquet is quoted as saying, "I felt really badly about the whole situation and apologized." It seems he had pulled his ultralight well onto the shore but when the dam release water and the water level rose, his ultralight simply floated away.
All is well and ended well, but it did bring to light just how much fun operating ultralights can be as long as you can find it where you left it.
(Image from bluegrassultralightgroup.org, not the aircraft involved)
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