Ultralight Aircraft

[mattnik]

Anyone given any thought to Ultralights or experimental a/c during SHTF situations? Seems like an "out of the box" way to cover longer distances without relying so much on roads and other ready bottlenecks.

Their range is limited and they can't carry much, but it seems to me that they might have some use, especially in a WROL situation, where rules were lax or otherwise un-enforced :-)

Just a thought. I know the subject was touched on in "Patriots", but my interest was peaked long before that....

 

[BDBHoover]

I wouldn't mind one of these

 

[mattnik]

Heh heh! Nice colors on the parachute :-)

That's the general idea, though. Might be easier and safer to get from point A to point D if you don't have to drive through points B and C to get there :-)

 

[sloughfoot]

I have been shot at in light aircraft. Luckily most folks don't lead enough.

 

[Lead Head]

Slow moving noisy target basically supported by a parachute with an anemic altitude. Crashing would suck. Being shot at would suck more.

A jet pack would be more fun but refueling in mid-air still hasn't been worked out. Blowing up or crashing into a fireball would suck big time.

Hijack an Amish buggy and use the whip sparingly. It won't crash into a field or blow up and when was the last time anyone suspected an Amish buggy of anything more than leaving a few road apples or slowing down traffic ?

Wear your best black camo and start growing your beard, and learn how to borrow a cell phone.

 

[BDBHoover]

Easy Flight - Frequently Asked Questions

Surprisingly that some models of these don't even require any kind of license to fly it..... But in a SHTF situation..... Who cares about licenses???

And they are only a little over $6k

 

[Scutter01]

Crashing would suck.

You're hanging from a parachute and it's already deployed.

Heh heh! Nice colors on the parachute :-)

Baconchute.

 

[mattnik]

Easy Flight - Frequently Asked Questions

Surprisingly that some models of these don't even require any kind of license to fly it..... But in a SHTF situation..... Who cares about licenses???

And they are only a little over $6k

Yeah, and they take little or no area to take off and land. A long driveway, and you're up. A field, a large back yard, etc.

Granted, getting shot at sucks. But it sucks in a car too, without the possibility of escaping UP. Find a choke point, park a car in front and behind, and shoot until the red stuff stops flowing. With an aircraft, it would be much harder to "trap" someone.

There are rules as to engine power and amount of fuel, as well as hours of operation, but like BDBHoover said, who cares about rules in SHTF :-)

 

[Yeah]

They are painfully slow, have no range, little useful load, many have lousy takeoff/landing rolls and they all climb slow.

Not a lot to like.

 

[spencer rifle]

Slow moving noisy target basically supported by a parachute with an anemic altitude. Crashing would suck. Being shot at would suck more.

^^This. Nothing says "shoot at me" like a noisy, slow, colorful target.

 

[wabash]

some ultralights are two-seaters.

what sort of range do they have? fixed wing and parachute versions.

 

[RichardR]

I think a hot-air balloon would be more practical, mostly because it could travel higher, longer & carry more people/weight.

Also, there would be no need for "a strip" to take off or land.

 

[sloughfoot]

I think a hot-air balloon would be more practical, mostly because it could travel higher, longer & carry more people/weight.

Also, there would be no need for "a strip" to take off or land.

Except for the ground crew you need at both ends of the flight.

 

[sloughfoot]

some ultralights are two-seaters.

what sort of range do they have? fixed wing and parachute versions.

I have been thinking about getting one of these. But not with this particular thread in mind. Wheels, floats, skis. Good range, decent speed, heated cockpit. Watch the video.

www.quadcitychallenger.com

 

[Blackhawk2001]

Sport Class aircraft are limited to a max capacity of 400 lbs (I think) and are limited in performance. Perhaps not the thing for evacuating your family; solo it might work to fly from, say, Indianapolis to Champaign, IL or Columbus, OH with enough food and other preps to last a couple additional days - if the weather isn't bad or the wind isn't blowing so hard it reduces ground speed to a ridiculous degree. Taking off probably wouldn't be too much a problem with a little bit of experience, but landing anywhere except at an airstrip might be much more difficult.

Hot air balloons have another difficulty nobody has yet mentioned - you can't steer them very well and you are at the mercy of the wind direction. Think about approaching the commercial TV and radio antenna farms near 86th & Ditch and having to rapidly gain 800-1000 vertical feet to get over them in low visibility and strong wind gusts.

 

[Yeah]

These are FAA 103 qualified, so they are limited to 254 lbs empty and 64 MPH.

Sport class aircraft in the US go to 1,300 lbs empty and 140 mph. Big difference in utility.

 

[chrstian_indy]

or

 

[ATOMonkey]

They would be great for scouting, SAR, stuff like that.

If it floods in your area it would be helful for finding open roads, or stranded people, etc.

Not every SHTF scenario is a zombie apocolypse.

 

[copper]

[/IMG]

 

[ATOMonkey]

Auto gyro is not a bad idea at all. Very clever inventions.