понеделник, 18 август 2008 г.

Helicopters For All

The title of this blog is "Aviation for all", but I am sure you do not expect to be able to afford flying a helicopter - unless you are very rich!

Well, I have some news for you - owning a helicopter is possible even for the ordinary guys. Therte are many ways to do it - for example buying an ultralight helicopter or buying a share in one.

Probably the most exciting possibility is to have a homebuilt helicopter. What does it mean? Well, you guessed right, you'll build your helicopter at home!

Don't be afraid to search the Web for more information, to buy ultralight helicopter plans and to start working for your dream.

One thing you need to know about homebuilt helicopters is that they are regulated in different ways depending on the country where you are situated. For example in USA they are labeled as "experimental aircraft" and therefore have toi comply with special license requirements.

Make sure to check the exact rules in your country.

If you feel excited to build an ultralight helicopter for your own use, great, but don't forget you need to learn how to fly it first. Flying a helicopter is not easy at all and you need first to pass some education and exam.

Anyway, what I wanted to say with this post is that owning a helicopter is definitely an achievable dream if you are ready to work hard for it. Don't give up!

The best advice I can give you is to create a plan including when and how much time and money you can spend. First, plan your education - it may be as expensive as your homebuilt helicopter! It will take a lot of time as well. Then, plan how much time you can spend on building your helicopter. Finally, start action and make sure you stick to the plan.

Good luck!

понеделник, 21 юли 2008 г.

How to learn flying

As you know the most important focus of this blog is to people who want to fly their own airplane. Althought buying an airplane is quite expensive and not an easy thing, there is something even important that you do before that. To your surprise it may even be harder and more expensive than the aircraft itself. This is the flying education.

Nowadays it's not allowed to fly any kind of aircraft without having a proper license. But how can you get one?

First, you need to approach an aircraft school. Finding one in your area will be easy if you live in a big city with aviation traditions and might be near impossible if you are in a small town. So you may have to travel to the nearest large city for your aviation lessons.

Before you are able to start, you must pass medical exams. They are pretty serious even for the pilots of private airplanes (you can't imagine how much harder they are for commercial pilots). If you don't pass the exams you will not be able to fly. Sad., but you can't do anything about this (No one can stop you fly a paraglider however).

If you pass the exams, you need to prepare quite a lot of money for the flying education. In some cases this amount can exceed $7 - $8k. It's highly recommended that you also pay for additional flyign hours as the ones that are included in most packages are hardly enough.

Basically that's it. Happy flying!

вторник, 15 юли 2008 г.

How To Enjoy Hang Gliding

Do you really want to fly? Are you already flying? There is no excuse not to fly if you are really passionate. There are so many ways to do it - flying an ultralight airplane, paraglider, motorized paraglider, ultralight trike, a helicopter, hang-glider and many more. This time I want to talk to you about hang gliders.

What is a Hang Glider


Essentially the hang gliders are very similar to paragliders but their wing is hard and with a fixed shape. The hang gliders were much more popular before the paragliders were invented. Since the paragliders came, less people fly hang gliders, because it's slightly harder and slightly more expensive. One of the bigger problems is that the hang glider wing takes much more space and is harder to transport. If you can put a paraglider in a large backpack, unfortunately you cannot do that with a hang glider.

Then why would you prefer a hang glider rather than paraglider? Well, to bve straight, the light is better with a hang glider. Hang gliders are faster, better controller and can usually fly longer. The flight with a hang glider can be called more exciting.

How To Start Flying A Hang Glider?


As hang gliding is slightly harder, I would recommend you to attend some flying lessons before you buy your first hang glider. The best is if you first fly with an instructor before you decide if this is really for you.

Then buy a good safe hang glider. It should not cost more than few thousands. Second hand gliders are cheaper, but you should be very careful when selecting one because of the safety.

It's common that people who fly either hang gliders or paragliders will want to try the other aircraft as well. The best is to ask a friend or purchase an istructed flight before you decide that you prefer hang gliding over paragliding or the other way around.

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понеделник, 14 юли 2008 г.

The Best Way To Know More About Aviation

People who are interesting in aviationn and flying often meet one commong problem - it's hard to learn more about the airplanes without going into much technical details. If you really want to be informed, you'll have to learn physics, aerodynamics, avionics, aviation history etc...

Isn't there a way to know more without the need to become an engineer or a professor? Sure, there is. It's by getting involved in making model airplanes yourself.

Why is it such a good idea to create models?

First, it is fun. I guarantee you it's a lot more enjoyable to study aerodynamics while trying to make your model airplane fly rather than by reading big fat and old books.

Second, you'll learn more. Learning by games and practice have been proven to be a lot more successful way of learning than traditional methods. So if you really want to know more about aviation, get your hands dirty!

Third, you'll have one new great hobby. Making model airplanes is not just a way to learn. It's a hobby that so many people enjoy every day. If you find it interesting, you may end up with a room fool with cool model airplanes. Maybe you would build static scale models, RC airplanes or will want to just learn how to make paper airplanes yourself.

You can't go wrong by getting into model aviation. At the worst case you'll just decide it's not for you/

четвъртък, 3 юли 2008 г.

My Favorite Sites About Aviation

As I am interested in aviation for years, I wanted to share with you several great sites about aviation, flying, airplanes and pilots. I'll be very happy if you can also share your favorite sites.

The Helicopters Pilot Guide. This is an excellent site with a lot of information for everyone who may want to fly a helicopter. There is a lot of free information, discussion forums and downloads.

All about Ultralight Airplanes is another pure informative site with great articles about ultralight aviation and flying. As a true helicopter fan, I of course enjou their ultralight helicopter section most.

A-Z of paragliding is a website which offers a directory of paragliding related websites and services listed by country. Very cool!

If you want to skydive, on Skydiving Schools Worldwide will help you find a skydiving school near you. That's another great service.

Finally, many people prefer hang gliding over paragliding because of some of its specifics. If you are one of them, The Worlds Largest Hang Gliding Community is the place where to look for information, people and events about this activity.

Of course there are thousnands of other interesting sites about aviation, but obviously I can't read them all. However I'll be hapy if you share yours.

сряда, 2 юли 2008 г.

Are You Brave Enough To Fly A Paraglider?

The paragliders offer one of the easiests and most affordable ways to fly. One paraglider does not need an engine, neither a big storage space, nor much other special equipment besides some rope and a helmet. That's why paragliding is such a popular activity.

Is Paragliding Dangerous?


Is it dangerous to ride a bike? Most people would say no. But the accidents with bikes and motorcycles are at much higher rate than the accidens in paragliding. How does that sound?

If you take the required security measures, paragliding is a very safe sport. Of course, until you gain some experience it's recommended to fly with an instructor or at least ask more experienced friend for appropriate time and conditions.

How Much Does Paragliding Cost?


A good new paraglidign equipment can cost between $3,000-$4,000 and $20,000 (you know some people are maniacs!). A second hand equipment can be found for around $1,000. When buying second hand paragliding equipment you must be extremely careful about the quality and the robustness of the wing!

Except the equipment there are no other fixed expenses in paragliding. Unlike in sports like skydiving you don't need to pay for airplane flight each time you want to practice. Eventually there will be some transportation costs for reaching a feasible place where to start your flight, but in general that's all.

So, considering the above information, do you have the courage to start paragliding?

вторник, 1 юли 2008 г.

Is Skydiving an easy thing?

I have been lookign at those pictures of skydivers for hours and always enjoyed hopw great all looked like. But there is one word that also comes to my mind: danhger!

Is skydiving really as dangerous?

The researches and statistics shows that the accident ratio of skydiving is not higher than of the other receational aviation activities. So, in short, skydiving is as safe as the people who practice it care about their safety.

The equipment for skydiving is not expensive, it costs just several hundred dollars. The more problematic part is getting out there on the plane and doing the jump. Typically you would have to pay $100 or more for a single jump which is where the major thoughness in skydiving is. Compared to the other recreational aviation sports, skydiving can be more expensive if you do it often.

Learning to sky dive
There are various schools who offer education in skydiving, but unlike other aviation acitivities you don't need any licenses and there is no too much to study. Finally, skydiving is just a jump so all you have to know is how to open your parachute and some safety stuff.

The Spring and Summer are most appropriate for skydiving because the temperatures on thousand meters can be quite low sometimes. If you live in a country with all year hot climate, then cool - you can skydive all the time.

Have you tried skydiving so far and what are your achievements? Please share!