You cant hire a Microlight! Any thoughts?

[Scooby]

I've been thinking about the fact that you can't hire a Microlight trike. I just want to get some thoughts from some of you. Although i am planning to buy my own trike, it would be a great thing if you could hire just like you can other A/C. Is it just the fact that Microlight owners are not prepared to hire out their a/c? or is there anything that stops them from doing so?

 

Thanks, Scoob

 

 

[farri]

Is it just the fact that Microlight owners are not prepared to hire out their a/c? or is there anything that stops them from doing so?

Hi Scooby,How does Liability sound for a good reason.

 

How many owners or instructors are there, who would carry big enough,if any, insurance cover to make it worthwhile and so that they don`t loose the shirt off their back,in the event of an accident.

 

Cheers,

 

Frank.

 

 

[Guest Andys@coffs]

Myabe things have changed over the last few years but it wasnt that long ago that you couldnt get hull insurance for trikes...

 

Hull insurance for normal 3 axis aircraft that can be put on line is readily available. Of course back then a trike was between 30 and 60% of the cost of the 3 axis, but these days you can easily bury the same or more cost in atrike than you can in a 3 axis so maybe the hull insurance thing has changed.

 

In general if someone cant afford to buy a trike and you cant insure yours then you cant afford to hire it to them cause whos paying assuming they survive the "making a hole in the ground" process. If they couldnt afford the aircraft in the first place and there is liability then the party looking for compensation isnt going to be looking at the pilot are they?

 

Andy

 

P.S then theres the vulnerability on the ground thing. A 3 axis parked into wind requires a fairly abnormal gust to move it, let alone damage it. A trike however with its light weight and huge wing area can easily be damaged in wind, or with a thermal passing through. As a % of cost theres a lot in the wing and not much is required to damage it

 

Lastly most instructors are agents for some form of trike or another and there arent many that will take on a student who the've sussed isnt up to buying something, solo will be a long time off.

 

 

[eastmeg2]

Hi Scoob,

 

You could usually find a CFI at or near the area you want to fly to take you up for a training flight ($$$) in their trike from their training field and they'll usually let you fly from the front (command) seat after you present your trike pilot certificate and log book, talk the talk, walk the walk, name the CFI who trained you, etc, while the CFI sits in the back seat with his full dual controls (For liability mitigation and in case you do something silly).

 

Contacting them at least a a few weeks in advance helps a lot, so you don't look like a blow-in from the street when you show up to go flying.

 

Cheers,

 

Glen

 

 

[eastmeg2]

As a % of cost theres a lot in the wing and not much is required to damage it

Hi Andy,

 

I disagree. While $11k for a trike wing isn't exactly loose change, it's not that big a part of the $70k price tag of a new trike.

 

If, for example, it really comes down to it and I am forced to put a trike down into a small clearing surrounded by trees I'd be doing my best to aim the trike base between the trees and get the wing to absorb the impact.:black_eye:

 

 

[Guest davidh10]

I think it basically comes down to three primary reasons:

 

• Trikes are easily damaged.
   
   
  
• Insurance is expensive. Who would want to try and chase an individual?
   
   
  
• Some hirers don't look after a hired aircraft and how do you tell them apart?
   
   
  

 

 

 

 

[Guest davidh10]

...If, for example, it really comes down to it and I am forced to put a trike down into a small clearing surrounded by trees I'd be doing my best to aim the trike base between the trees and get the wing to absorb the impact.:black_eye:

Are you sure cost was the overriding factor and not a desire to avoid head butting the tree?

 

 

[eastmeg2]

Are you sure cost was the overriding factor and not a desire to avoid head butting the tree?

TBH . . . Not Really

 

 

[Scooby]

I appreciate the detail in your reply. I knew it was a liability thing i just wasn't sure why. You covered it well.

 

Thanks for posting

 

Scoob

 

 

[Scooby]

Thanks David, You are absolutly right. Although i am in a position to buy my own trike, i will be going to 3 axis as well for a number of reasons but a major reason i because of the hire aspect. Thanks for posting.

 

Scoob

 

 

[facthunter]

Ownership.

 

The most significant reason to own your own plane is YOU know what has been done to it and YOU control it's care, so you know what condition it is in. If you go a little further and build it, you are even more involved in it's condition. Nev

 

 

[Tracktop]

Thanks David, You are absolutly right. Although i am in a position to buy my own trike, i will be going to 3 axis as well for a number of reasons but a major reason i because of the hire aspect. Thanks for posting. Scoob

Don't jump to the dark side too soon Scoob

 

Not sure that all the negative comments are valid at all.

 

There is a trike that is very very close to being hireable (to be it's sole purpose )

 

just like it's dark side cousins. My most recent info says its was > 95% in place - STAY TUNED no doubt a first. It is a very low hr edge 582 with I believe a StreakIIb wing.

 

Once in place it will obviously need to be hired / used to remain a viable proposition.

 

 

[Scooby]

Sounds great, thanks Ray. That would be a big step forward for us trike pilots and more people will take up flying them. I know of some who have decided not to learn because of not being able to hire them. If you find out more information, would you mind posting please? I appreciate your info, thank you!

 

Scoob

 

 

[Guest Crezzi]

Sounds great, thanks Ray. That would be a big step forward for us trike pilots and more people will take up flying them. I know of some who have decided not to learn because of not being able to hire them. If you find out more information, would you mind posting please? I appreciate your info, thank you!Scoob

Whist you can certainly spend $70K on a top of the range trike, its quite feasible to buy a decent factory-built 2-seat trike with a few hundred hours on it for $15K and, if you kept it at home, the only fixed expense would be the annual rego of $110. I rather suspect that most people who couldn't budget for this probably wouldn't be renting often enough to keep current.

 

If you owned a trike Scooby would you want to rent it out ?

 

Cheers

 

John

 

 

[Tracktop]

If you owned a trike Scooby would you want to rent it out ?

Cheers

 

John

Fortunately this one is a club plane, the club already hire dark side planes so they have experience, systems and infrastructure in place to manage the thing. Just the being "a first" issues to overcome, and I am told that's pretty well all sorted.

 

 

[Tomo]

What's the difference between hiring a trike and hiring something like a Drifter?

 

Sure there's the easily damaging it issue, but can't you just get pilots to sign a thingo to say in the case of damage - the pilot is responsible for fixing it (ie paying for it to be fixed etc...)

 

Obviously it would only be hired out to certain persons, and they get properly trained to the owners satisfaction.

 

 

[Guest davidh10]

What's the difference between hiring a trike and hiring something like a Drifter?

Nothing that I can see. You just need to find someone prepared to do it.

 

Sure there's the easily damaging it issue, but can't you just get pilots to sign a thingo to say in the case of damage - the pilot is responsible for fixing it (ie paying for it to be fixed etc...)...

As I say to many, "murder is illegal, but there are those who do it anyway." In other words signing a contract may be a big thing for some, but others don't feel bound by them. The only recourse is to sue under common law. Apart from the cost of litigation and the possibility that you are suing someone with no assets, which is a futile proposition, there are other considerations for small businesses:-

 

• If the person is running a business, what happens to the business while they are in court and at solicitors / barristers meetings. There's an opportunity cost for the business.
   
   
  
• If the aircraft is out of service due to damage, then no income from it, but still have payments to make for loan etc..
   
   
  

 

 

 

I'm sure it is all possible, but someone has to be prepared to set up their business that way and shoulder the risk.

 

I suspect it just isn't a good business proposition. Different if it's a club or syndicate venture, but then all the members will share in liabilities.