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What planes can you fly without a pilot’s license?

pilotinstitute.com

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Re: What planes can you fly without a pilot’s license?

#141

Post by wkat4242 »

mschuster91 wrote: post #50
quasarj wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Flying into a cloud is a big risk? They're everywhere!

Here in Germany, if you don't have an IFR (instrument flight rules) rating, you're not allowed to fly through clouds, because if you're not trained in using avionics or the plane doesn't have them in the first place, you are very very likely to kill yourself, your passengers and people on the ground. If you encounter unexpected clouds, you are supposed to GTFO... if you try to fly "under" the clouds, you may end up f…

Additionally, in an Ultralight you wouldn't be allowed to fly through a cloud even if you were IFR rated because they lack most of the required instruments for that.

Of course there's also Special VFR but I doubt you'd get authorization for that in an Ultralight.

Re: What planes can you fly without a pilot’s license?

#142

Post by wkat4242 »

golwengaud wrote: post #25
CobaltFire wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Part 103 compliant aircraft are meant to have limits low enough to be LESS immediately lethal, but they are still dangerous. Maintenance is absolutely a possible issue, and due to their restrictions the engines are generally MORE needy than normal GA aircraft.

> Maintenance is absolutely a possible issue, and due to their restrictions the engines are generally MORE needy than normal GA aircraft. Interesting! How so? > Part 103 compliant aircraft are meant to have limits low enough to be LESS immediately lethal, but they are still dangerous. What do you have in mind? Quite a lot of what worries me when I fly involves misjudging the combination of weather with the aircraft's…

Yeah gliding is great. I started at 15 before I was even allowed to take driving lessons.

I did some GA motor flying lessons since but never really liked it. It's so incredibly noisy and do procedural. Gliding is much more seat of the pants and it's a sport to stay up as long as possible.

Also the low speeds and air brakes/spoilers make landing a breeze even out of field.

If I pick up flying again (I moved recently so I couldn't stay in the club) it'll be gliding for sure.

Re: What planes can you fly without a pilot’s license?

#143

Post by wkat4242 »

AdrianB1 wrote: post #97
rlpb wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The article doesn't really cover it but being able to fly without a license probably isn't the same as flying near a controlled (ie. towered) airport. If want to commute and aren't in the middle of nowhere you might find that flying in your local airspace does require a radio license in practice at least. Source: I am a licensed pilot but not familiar with flying in the US.

You can bet that people that fly these planes without a license also don't spend the time and money to get a radio license; that automatically prevents from flying to or from a towered airport. These ultra-light planes are practically big toys that you can fly over some empty field and relatively low altitudes. Powered parachutes also fall in this category.

They are used for low flights mostly yes but that doesn't mean they can't get very high. They certainly can get high enough to pose a threat to other air traffic. For this reason I'm kinda surprised they are completely unlicensed in the US.

Re: What planes can you fly without a pilot’s license?

#144

Post by srvmshr »

godelski wrote: post #128
paulddraper wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a private pilot. This is basically correct. If your airport is small and you never get in trouble with ATC or have an emergency situation, you will probably not get caught. However, if you do get caught, it is a criminal charge with (IIRC) up to $250,000 fine and 6 years prison time. Or worse, you overestimate your ability and die/kill people. I wouldn't take that risk. If you want to fly a lot, get a license. If…

> E.g. If you have been professionally diagnosed with ADHD, the FAA bans you from any pilot's license ever, even a student license Not quite true. They just need you to be evaluated where you've been off medication for at least 90 days. But if you're on Adderall, you're shit out of luck. Which is pretty dumb since the medication resolves issues. Other dumb things that will/can prevent you from getting your license: A…

Why discriminate against diabetes. Of the things listed, this is probably the most common one & a lifestyle disease. This can have a onset in mid-40s to 50s for some genetically predisposed people. Are they not allowed to fly then?

Re: What planes can you fly without a pilot’s license?

#145

Post by bagels »

m4rtink wrote: post #136
bagels wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ultralights are one-seat by definition. I'm not sure most elementary school kids could handle actually flying one of those.

Um, I'm pretty sure there are two seat ultralight airplanes - at least here in the Czech Republic. And IIRC that's also the maximum number of people that can fly on an ultralight here.

Sorry, I was referring to the same legal definition for CFR Part 103 ultralights as in the link.

Re: What planes can you fly without a pilot’s license?

#146

Post by bagels »

wkat4242 wrote: post #139
bagels wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ultralights are one-seat by definition. I'm not sure most elementary school kids could handle actually flying one of those.

So how is flight training handled for those I wonder?

You can still go to flight school first, if you want, and get training in a dissimilar two place light sport aircraft, a Cessna, etc. There are also places that do ground school aimed at ultralights with no in-air training, watch youtube videos, or just go for it.

Re: What planes can you fly without a pilot’s license?

#147

Post by grepfru_it »

colanderman wrote: post #132
paulddraper wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a private pilot. This is basically correct. If your airport is small and you never get in trouble with ATC or have an emergency situation, you will probably not get caught. However, if you do get caught, it is a criminal charge with (IIRC) up to $250,000 fine and 6 years prison time. Or worse, you overestimate your ability and die/kill people. I wouldn't take that risk. If you want to fly a lot, get a license. If…

> If you have been professionally diagnosed with ADHD, the FAA bans you from any pilot's license ever, even a student license. I'm not sure this is literally true? https://adhdrollercoaster.org/adhd-news-and-research/faa-gui... and https://www.faa.gov/ame_guide/media/AI_ADHD_ADD.pdf seem to disagree, only that ADHD medication is a no-go. I definitely know someone who is a licensed private pilot and instructor who was…

It’s a massive uphill battle. Don’t get me wrong you can get a license it’s just a lot of work/money. If you have ADD don’t get diagnosed and get your license first.

Re: What planes can you fly without a pilot’s license?

#148

Post by paulddraper »

godelski wrote: post #128
paulddraper wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a private pilot. This is basically correct. If your airport is small and you never get in trouble with ATC or have an emergency situation, you will probably not get caught. However, if you do get caught, it is a criminal charge with (IIRC) up to $250,000 fine and 6 years prison time. Or worse, you overestimate your ability and die/kill people. I wouldn't take that risk. If you want to fly a lot, get a license. If…

> E.g. If you have been professionally diagnosed with ADHD, the FAA bans you from any pilot's license ever, even a student license Not quite true. They just need you to be evaluated where you've been off medication for at least 90 days. But if you're on Adderall, you're shit out of luck. Which is pretty dumb since the medication resolves issues. Other dumb things that will/can prevent you from getting your license: A…

I can't recall all the specifics, but if you are evaluated and disqualified, it can be worse than if you were never evaluated.

Often the doctor's office will try to prescreen to prevent this.

Re: What planes can you fly without a pilot’s license?

#149

Post by bagels »

shakow wrote: post #62
NikolaNovak wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People's instinct and intuition are EXTREMELY incorrect in situation of your sight obscured while flying an airplane (and untrained and even trained personnel are extremely ill-equipped to judge their spatial awareness and capabilities in blind situations). People end up trusting their body reflexes that have evolved for very different situation and absolutely lie to you. When an airplane turns, the actual G forces u…

Probably a stupid question, but why can't these lost pilots just maintain their attitude indicator in the middle, fly straight, grit their teeth, and wait to get out of the cloud?

You can do that. It takes a ton of discipline and practice to actually fly off the instruments and not feelings. It's really disorienting to fly instruments only.

Mind you that level flight through clouds only works if there are no buildings or mountains ahead, and keeping a straight flight path is even harder.

Re: What planes can you fly without a pilot’s license?

#150

Post by pkilgore »

sonicshadow wrote: post #127
chrisweekly wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "E.g. If you have been professionally diagnosed with ADHD, the FAA bans you from any pilot's license ever, even a student license. :/" What?! That's incredible. If more people were trying to get their licenses I bet the ACLU would fix that nonsensical bigotry and embarrass the FAA in court.

[flagged]

This comment contributes nothing.

There are multiple levels of licensing with multiple levels of medical clearances.

Someone on controlled ADHD medication, diabetes, or high BMI is perfectly capable of managing risk of flying as a private pilot same as boating or driving.

They probably shouldn't be airline transport pilots, but that's not really under discussion.

It seems like your goal here is to start some sort of political fight. Please go elsewhere. Grown ups are talking.

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