Home
A sport pilot can occasionally find a good deal on a plane. Heard of a flyer who picked up an old Weedhopper that the seller thought had a blown engine. Turned
out, all it needed was a set of coils.
It had a 30 hp Rotex engine and could do around 45 mph ground speed. A little more with a tail wind. 35-40 mph was the ideal cruise speed. Stall speed was around 16 mph.A 5 gallon tank would keep you up for about 2 1/2 hrs. Several guys that liked to fly would strap on a extra 5 gallons and fly from Orange to the lakes area and back. It was fun getting up to around 4000 ft and shutting the engine off and gliding.
It was a cool tool for scouting.
Said that he paid $800.00 for the plan and $60.00 for the coil set. Kept it a few years and sold it for $2000.00. Still, he was sorry to let it go at that.
A little common sense goes a long ways when flying ulralights. Don't fly during iffy weather and always be looking for a place to land if over a unfamiliar area. Fly one long enough and you WILL be landing someplace you hadn't planned on.