No wonder GA thrives in the USA

[ayavner]

Hey Col,

 

I see it in my thread and in your reply, are you able to get to the link?

 

Yeah I left 2 weeks ago, sorry we didn't get to catch up. Are you back?

 

 

[airwolf912]

[GALLERY=media, 3546]10534137_10152575744855590_404371209738142445_n by airwolf912 posted Sep 12, 2015 at 12:01 PM[/GALLERY]The only thing keeping GA going here in the USA is Light Sport and the Mfg's sitll missed the boat on this one. Light sport aircraft were to be affordable not several hundred thousand dollars. A powered parachute is all I can afford to fly and when I do fly I have the airport to myself. This photo is what most airports look like not a single GA on the ramp.

 

 

[Yenn]

Different from the photos I see on the web.

 

 

[coljones]

Hey Col,I see it in my thread and in your reply, are you able to get to the link?

 

Yeah I left 2 weeks ago, sorry we didn't get to catch up. Are you back?

I can see it now.

 

 

[Phil Perry]

[GALLERY=media, 3546]10534137_10152575744855590_404371209738142445_n by airwolf912 posted Sep 12, 2015 at 12:01 PM[/GALLERY]The only thing keeping GA going here in the USA is Light Sport and the Mfg's sitll missed the boat on this one. Light sport aircraft were to be affordable not several hundred thousand dollars. A powered parachute is all I can afford to fly and when I do fly I have the airport to myself. This photo is what most airports look like not a single GA on the ramp.

Jeeze Wolfie,. . . .that ramp looks so pristine clean that it could almost have come out of a flight sim program ! ! ! !

 

Those "Powerchute" trikes used to be quite popular in the UK, but for some reason they never really caught the market. . . . they lost out in favour of Flexwing / weightshift trikes it seems. . . . we had a very early one crash at our airfield many years ago, it was flown by a bloke who I much later found out was an SAS soldier,. . . . he was knocked about quite badly but got out of the wreckage and walked away, with a broken foot, a broken arm plus multiple severe lacerations treated by me personally, as I was the only one on the site - it was blowin a hoolie of a gale at the time he crashed. I offered to take him to the local hospital, but he politely declined and he phoned for some of his army buddies to pick him up, they were there within around an hour, and he was gone.

 

After a couple of our guys arrived at the scene, we dragged what was left of his aircraft into an empty hangar and he came back to collect it three weeks later. It was, If I remember correctly called a "Powerchute Raider" with 2 seats side by side, and quite a substantially constructed trike unit with a 503 Rotax engine, and a caged prop.

 

One thing we didn't find in it was any FUEL. . . .!

 

I asked him what had gone wrong, and he said he didn't really know, . . he was ttrying to land at our field and he thought that the parachute canopy collapsed. He had taught himself to fly it, after he had bought the thing down near London somewhere only three weeks previously. He had flown it from Hereford, around 50 miles away. .

 

I've never flown one, but I would imagine that the weather at the time would not have helped much, with an untrained pilot, and no fuel in the tank !.

 

I don't really give a rat's ass what sort of "special forces" he was part of. . . but anyone who teaches himself to fly has a complete bloody fool for a student. ( just my opinion ! ) The accident was reprted to the CAA, aircraft destryed - must report, especially if occupant(s) injured.

 

Our CFI was interviewed by them a month later, called me in, I told my story, and that was the end of it. Nothing appeared in the BHGA / BMAA / AAIB or any other public aviation journal.

 

I can only conclude ( assume ) that these things were "Perhaps - maybe - possibly" being evaluated by SAS as short range insurgency transport for ops,. . . .so never asked any more questions about it. When was this ? around 1998 roughly. . . . Since I have extreme respect for our special forces, I won't make any other comment apart from just to say, I don't believe a word that the pilot told me. . . .and leave it at that ! ( Winking smiley required )

 

Happy Flying mate.

 

Phil