Carrying an ultralight aircraft

[DavidLGCrawford]

I saw a photo a while back of a person who carried an ultralight with floats on the back of their catamaran.

Does anybody here have experience with that, or know of any person who has done it?

I am wondering about the legalities of bringing an aircraft into another country and using it there. I really onlt want to hear from people who have done it though...

Thanks

PS. I have searched Google, Yahoo, and this forum but can't find where I saw it originally.

[barnakiel]

I thought about it many times.

I asked too in a couple of places (Cook Islands, FP, Tonga, etc.). I always got negative responses. Not to say impossible but there will be plenty of paperwork to use yours. Except perhaps if you want to use it in your own country (say Hawaii for US Americans, Polynesia for French citizens, etc.).

Still, well worth the effort IMHO.

Cheers,
b.

[tropicalescape]

You can get an FAA Far 103 type Ultralight trike w/some Full Lotus floats or the like if you want to go "Light"..If you take something like a RIB as a platform you will need a big boat..I have developed a system wherein I put the wing in double ruks and stand it along the mast with a clamp/cam holding it in place..I have turned the v-berth into a small shop for engines , back pack powered paragliders and fabrication..The wing is a Mentor 210(tandem)and a Powerglide trike with a rotax 503 dual cdi w/gearbox at 2.58 to 1,also have 582 blue head and Arplast prop but thats just to much for what I want to do..All the islands I have been to dont really care(have no regs for 103 type aircraft) ..Good luck

[Roy M]

Pictures please?

[haw1961]

[hellosailor]

David, the boat's got nothing to do with the plane. If you can legally fly that aircraft into that country, you should be able to legally boat it in and then fly it. I say "should" because there are hundreds of sovereign nations in this world, and some of them won't let you bring in ANY aircraft for ANY reason without a permit in advance.

Technically you might not need a "landing permit" since you are not landing, but go explain that to some man with a machine gun in a country that says "No permit, no plane."

[Celestialsailor]

Originally Posted by haw1961

10,000ft. in that might be a little scary

[psneeld]

More than a few boats have carried them...and think of the mega yachts with their helos aboard.

Yes...homework required and not a fully open dance card out there I'm sure...but I'm guessing most industrialized nations would have some kind of reasonable procedural hoops to jump through to bring it in at least...using it may get dicey in some.

If no one here hhas actually done the research...might wanna try ultralight orgs/clubs that may have tried bringing them in by vehicle to see the hoops you have to jump through...such as driving to Central American countries to fly in and their regulations concerning aircraft.

[Luke_Y]

THIS gentleman does. There is some info on his blog and, I believe he is a member here as well (coldar1).

[tropicalescape]

I have flown Hangliders ,fixed wing ultralight aircraft,paragliders, powered paragliders in more than twelve different countrys and I have never had anyone question or harass me for doing so..These things, if they way less than 254 lbs are not "aircraft" and are not regulated in the United States and most places that I have been to will abide by Faa regs,therfore no regulations..Google Faa regulation far 103 and subparts

[gjordan]

Some friends of mine and I had an ultra light in Antigua in the early 90s. We had bought it in St Croix and disassembled it and carried it on deck of a 40 footer back to Antigua. We were like Larry, Moe, and Curly Joe, and things didnt go well. We asked a real pilot friend of ours to ask the people in the tower what the rules were. The tower folks said they didnt want to know about it, and we were to stay below 500 feet and 5 miles away from the airport. The long term problem would have been (ours didnt last long) corrosion of the cheep aluminum tubing that is used in Ultralights. After some miss adventures that we survived, we discovered that the salt air had turned most of the tubing into powdery white honeycomb. Maybe the materials quality of ultralights has improved since then, but ours was junk around salt air. I was refered to as Captain Crash for a while._______Grant.

[Celestialsailor]

Originally Posted by tropicalescape

I have flown Hangliders ,fixed wing ultralight aircraft,paragliders, powered paragliders in more than twelve different countrys and I have never had anyone question or harass me for doing so..These things, if they way less than 254 lbs are not "aircraft" and are not regulated in the United States and most places that I have been to will abide by Faa regs,therfore no regulations..Google Faa regulation far 103 and subparts

Oh, oh...now you've done it...

[tropicalescape]

Originally Posted by gjordan

Some friends of mine and I had an ultra light in Antigua in the early 90s. We had bought it in St Croix and disassembled it and carried it on deck of a 40 footer back to Antigua. We were like Larry, Moe, and Curly Joe, and things didnt go well. We asked a real pilot friend of ours to ask the people in the tower what the rules were. The tower folks said they didnt want to know about it, and we were to stay below 500 feet and 5 miles away from the airport. The long term problem would have been (ours didnt last long) corrosion of the cheep aluminum tubing that is used in Ultralights. After some miss adventures that we survived, we discovered that the salt air had turned most of the tubing into powdery white honeycomb. Maybe the materials quality of ultralights has improved since then, but ours was junk around salt air. I was refered to as Captain Crash for a while._______Grant.

That thin walled tubing will oxidize fast,the polaris trike in the photo above has a stainless steel frame and oil filled leading edges w/Avocet rivets and isolated A/N hardware(it is not a ultralight) and possibly is the best type of lite sport aircraft for the O.P.s operations..If its registered "Lite Sport" as opposed to going under Ultralight you can fly a passenger and charge for "tandem flight instruction",but not for "rides"..good luck,if you decide you want one send me an email,I have a few and can provide flight instruction if interested..

[HopCar]

I spent a lot of time flying ultralights and hang gliders on floats, in salt water, back in the seventies and eighties. I never had a corrosion problem and I rarely rinsed off the aircraft. I'd just wipe it down with a rag and some WD40 before folding it up to go home. The aluminum used for the tubing was anodized 6061T6.

A more scary problem was that the plastic coated cables would rust under the plastic. I just replaced it with uncoated wire.

There was a professor at the U of Miami who did shark research in the Bahamas. He carried an ultralight on the back of his research vessel.

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by DavidLGCrawford

I am wondering about the legalities of bringing an aircraft into another country and using it there.

Well, if you read "A Pirate Turns 50" by Jimmy Buffet you will find out your idea will not work in most countries.

He did the run down from the USA to Brazil in a Grunman Anphibian and he was allowed to take off or land in water TWICE in his whole trip.

You in a dink with wings will be even more difficult.