Sun, Apr 06, 2003
By ANN Correspondent John Ballantyne
My excuse (as transparent as it may be) for this
night's gathering is to learn how to achieve a private pilot
certificate (glider) while flying a powered hang glider (usually
called trikes or weight-shift control aircraft). This night,
approximately 100 folks have gathered under the wings of 14 trikes
in this one hangar. Trikes can really be jammed together, if
necessary, for maximum hangar capacity.
Our host was hangar owner Don Wolf, at South Lakeland
airport, four miles southwest of Lakeland, Florida on April 3,
2003. Don is a USUA trike instructor with over 15 years of
experience and opens his hangar annually during Sun n Fun for a
gathering of trikers from all over the world. South Lakeland
Airport (X49) is a fly-in community that has many ultralight
activities and an active EAA ultralight chapter.
Guest speakers were John Ballantyne (only person so far to have
obtained FAA commercial and CFI-G in a trike) and Scott Toland
(Chair of the FAA/ASTM committee to develop airworthiness standards
for trikes). Other notables included Barry Palmatier, Mike Marron,
Chuck Goodrum, and Jon Thornburgh.
Probably 20 dedicated individuals focused the presenters on the
legal details of FAA regulations for trike pilot certification,
plus trying to get a handle on the likely requirements for the
FAA's long-promised Sport Pilot certificate -- that does not
yet have established requirements. Problems include the fact that
there are few airworthiness inspectors and pilot examiners who
are willing to serve the trike community.
All of the others in attendance remained largely befuddled by
the myriad of rules and regulations-actual and/or proposed. The
broad feeling was that the complexity of the regulatory situation
is overwhelming. When (if) FAA actually releases a final rule for
Sport Pilot, it will clear up the fuzziness created, as many are
trying to outguess what FAA could-might-maybe require. Issuance of
a final rule will surely contain elements that do not suit every
taste, but, at least, there would be a factual basis for debate.
We'll keep you updated...
More News
Instrument Approach Procedure (IAP) Charts Portray the aeronautical data which is required to execute an instrument approach to an airport. These charts depict the procedures, incl>[...]
“Our industry is approaching a 30-year innovation cycle, and we have less than 25 years to decarbonize aviation. We need to develop new methods to get net zero aerospace tech>[...]
Also: Girls in Aviation Day, B-29 Doc Heads 4 Chino, C-17 Tail Cone Detaches, Bulgaria Airshow Accident One of two private aircraft that launched from Apatity Airport near Murmansk>[...]
From 2021 (YouTube Version): We Were Blown Away At How Well The Nosewheel Was Adapted To The X Cub Airframe It should not be a secret to any one of you, that with thousands of hour>[...]
Also: Volato Nixed by Honda, New B-21 Bases, A-10 Unit Inactivated, Gogo/Airshare Boom Supersonic announced its demonstrator aircraft XB-1 successfully completed its third test fli>[...]