Ultralight wanted

rwr

Just Plane Bob
Joined
Oct 30, 2003
Messages
312
Location
Newnan, GA
Aircraft
2-place Gyro, custom design
Total Flight Time
5,400
I'm a trifle surprised at how hard it is to buy a flying ultralight gyro. I have been out of it for a while, and I had erroneously thought there would be lots of them available. I have found ads for several of them, but by the time I contacted the seller they were sold. Apparently, if you build an ultralight gyro, you aren't going to have to worry about selling it, should you choose to do so.

My original plan was to buy something quickly, so I could just drag it home and have something to fly while I finish up my 2-place project. I really didn't want to build an ultralight, or finish up a project, or find an old Air Command that needed the standard mods to make it safe. Those options would take a while all by themselves and put me into a building-two-things-at-once situation.

Oh well, I'll keep looking.
 
Patience will pay off. It is amazing the great deals that pop up every so often, if you hold off for one of these you will be grateful you did. If you want to buy right now, you will have to pay what the seller is asking which will cost much more, but, you've been in it for a while so I'm sure you already know this.

If you want a new one and can afford it, Butterfly now offers a great ultra-light, one of our members has one and it is a beautiful machine.
 
Patience will pay off. It is amazing the great deals that pop up every so often, if you hold off for one of these you will be grateful you did. If you want to buy right now, you will have to pay what the seller is asking which will cost much more, but, you've been in it for a while so I'm sure you already know this.

If you want a new one and can afford it, Butterfly now offers a great ultra-light, one of our members has one and it is a beautiful machine.

Every thing you said is true.
-- Great deals do pop up, but over the past few weeks they are gone before I make the phone call.
-- I can afford a new one, but it would take months before I could fly it. I'd either have to wait a month or two for the manufacturer to put it together, or I would get the kit and be in the building-two-things-at-once situation.

Which one of your members has the Butterfly ultralight?
 
Ron Clifton, Butterfly1 here on the forum.
 
Incredibly, it just happened again. I called about a day after a KB-3 was sold!!
 
Would you be interested in a Bensen with a Mac?
 
Has Ron gotten back with you on his KB3? Let me know if your having trouble contacting him and I'll try, I just spoke with him last week.
 
There aren't really that many legal ultralights around

There aren't really that many legal ultralights around

I'm a trifle surprised at how hard it is to buy a flying ultralight gyro. I have been out of it for a while, and I had erroneously thought there would be lots of them available. I have found ads for several of them, but by the time I contacted the seller they were sold. Apparently, if you build an ultralight gyro, you aren't going to have to worry about selling it, should you choose to do so.

My original plan was to buy something quickly, so I could just drag it home and have something to fly while I finish up my 2-place project. I really didn't want to build an ultralight, or finish up a project, or find an old Air Command that needed the standard mods to make it safe. Those options would take a while all by themselves and put me into a building-two-things-at-once situation.

Oh well, I'll keep looking.

Robert,

I think you are going to find that it is pretty hard to make a Gyro that truly meets the Ultralight standards. While it's true that the original Bensen Gyrocopter did meet those standards, most of the Gyros you will see around today have been modified enough that they no longer can meet the weight requirement. As soon as you start making changes, like using a different engine to get more reliability or adding a pre-rotator to make it safer and more convenient to fly, you are usually no longer really a legal ultralight. There are certainly more than a few examples of overweight Gyros that are called "Ultralights" by their owners and flown without all the steps required to legally fly as an EAB Gyro, but that doesn't make them an Ultralight Gyro. If you are going to buy a Gyro that hasn't been N-Numbered and is being called an Ultralight you might want to take some scales with you and see if it really is, before you start spending money on a machine that can't even be flown legally. You may be able to get away with flying one that doesn't meet the standards for a while, but you never know when choosing that kind of path is going to come back and bite you. Best of luck with your plan.
 
That is where there's a problem. If you purchase an ultra-light, then add some modern creature comforts or a more powerful/reliable engine and go over the weight limit, now it's not an ultra-light and you need to register it. But, how do you register it if you are not the original builder? Is making modifications to an ultra-light not doing anything except creating a lawn ornament?
 
My guess is the majority of the gyros Bob has called on, thinking they were legal ultralights, were all over weight.
 
My guess is the majority of the gyros Bob has called on, thinking they were legal ultralights, were all over weight.

Could be, but mostly irrelevant since none of them were available. If I can't buy it, it doesn't matter if it weighs 200 lbs or 2000 lbs, eh?
 
This one is at our hangar, I think it's an ultra light but not positive. I can get more information and pictures if you need it.

https://houston.craigslist.org/rvs/4427305027.html

I appreciate your showing me this. I found that one also, and sent an email with some questions, but no response as yet.

I suspect that gyro would need some work before I'd feel safe flying it even if it were an ultralight. From some informal research, it seems that type Air Command weighs more like 280 pounds or so.

I have scoured all the sources I know of so far,.. but with folks like you relaying items like this to me, I am bound to come up with something sooner or later that I can fly right away. As I mentioned, I do appreciate the fact you took the trouble of showing me this ad.
 
My point is your looking for something that does not exist. So don't get stressed out about it and have your hair turn grey.
 
My point is your looking for something that does not exist. So don't get stressed out about it and have your hair turn grey.

I will admit legal ultralights are not common, but they do exist. Gyrobees, KB-3s, and Butterflies are all legal ultralights when built according to plans. I'm hoping to find one I can buy, drag home, and start flying right away so I can have something play with while I finish up the 2-place project.

Since I gave up grains a couple years ago, my stress levels have gone way way down, so I don't get stressed out much anymore.

Funny you should mention that,......... I was stressed for a moment yesterday, though, when the FAA walked into the room,..."Hi there, we are from the FAA. We are going to watch you all day and see how Delta is teaching this unit of instruction. Just pretend like we are not here....." I was stressed only a little, though. These things don't rattle me like when I was a grainer.

Anyway, hair color is hardly the issue. I've been getting grayer and grayer for an eighth of a century. Ain't no biggy.
 
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Like Ron said, I've never seen a real ultralight gyro yet.....and I've built and seen alot of gyros! Not saying I've seen them all......just have never been able to witness a weigh in or build one....best of luck in your search. :)
 
IMO…the problem with most ultralights (in any aircraft category) is that they are so marginal in terms of performance (and arguably construction). But...they are really nice for small pilots.

My next door neighbor builds the Legal Eagle (frames) FW. They fly Ok for their weight. But to me the best performing Part 103 Ultralights are trikes (price, performance, strength).

Example:

http://www.acetrikesusa.com/our-aircraft.html
 
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For an ultra-lite gyro, the KB3 has a 64 hp Rotax 582 with a pre-rotor and a bicycle rotor tach. The problem is getting someone willing to part with one.
 
IMO…the problem with most ultralights (in any aircraft category) is that they are so marginal in terms of performance (and arguably construction). But...they are really nice for small pilots.

Folks I have talked to that have flown the KB-3 with dragonwings and a 532/582, or the Butterfly with the MZ202 say those things have no performance problems at all, except that they go too fast to be legal. To be legal the props must be pitched fairly low to keep the top speed down. (As if anyone would get that technical,...)
 
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