The New Glider-Trike: The Best Deal in Aviation

USUA President John Ballantyne flies an Experimental glider-trike over Los Angeles International Airport to demonstrate that a trike really can fly over congested areas. The photo was taken by Susan Martinez in a Quicksilver GT-500 flown by Jon Thornburgh.

Jon Thornburgh and student Mike Globensky fly glider-trike N425MT over Palos Verdes, near Torrance Airport.

John Ballantyne (left) stands next to the glider-trike in which he established a precedent in US aviation history. Instructor Jon Thornburgh (right) stands next to a Quicksilver GT-500. In the background is the FAA control tower at Torrance Airport, California.

Jon Thornburgh flies a glider-trike over Torrance Airport. Note the control column extension bars used for instruction in the back seat.

Thornburgh taking off from Torrance Airport, CA, with another glider-trike student.

Why? Because the barriers to flying are many: the time and expense for training, the increase in FAA regulations, the high cost of airplane ownership and maintenance, the closure of many airports, and the exposure to liability lawsuits.

Despite the decline in general aviation, ultralight flying has steadily increased. That’s because ultralights are more affordable and subject to less complicated FAA regulations than general aviation aircraft.

But there are significant limits to ultralight flying. Ultralight aircraft have FAA mandated weight, fuel and speed restrictions. You may only fly them in remote areas. You may not carry a passenger unless you are an ultralight instructor. You are not allowed to fly them at night. They are prohibited from many airports, even in rural areas.

How would you feel if you discovered that there exists a form of aviation which combines the simplicity and joy of ultralight flying with the respectability and privileges of general aviation?

Wouldn’t you be excited if you learned that you could obtain an FAA Private Pilot’s license in only 10 hours? Or a Commercial license in 25 hours.

Suppose I told you that you could fly an ultralight-type aircraft wherever you wanted –including congested areas and general aviation airports – and that you may carry a passenger, you may fly at night, and you need not adhere to weight and speed restrictions.

How would you like to purchase your own two-seat aircraft for less than $25,000, and fly it for $15 per hour? Wouldn’t it be nice if you could fold the wings and take it home with you, avoiding tie-down fees and hangar costs? And it would be great if you could insure your aircraft for the same price and coverage as general aviation airplanes.

Does this sound too good to be true?

Well, it is true, thanks to a new avenue of flying made available this year. It’s called a "glider-trike."

A "trike" is basically a large, power-assisted hang glider. A flex wing is mounted on a fuselage which carries one or two occupants, plus the engine, landing gear, fuel tank, instruments, and optional parachute. It is controlled by a pitch/roll bar, and has no rudder. The wing can be removed, rolled up, and carried on top of a vehicle, just like a hang glider wing. The fuselage can be towed on a trailer.

Trikes are the most popular form of personal recreational flying throughout the world, except for the United States. They are regulated in many countries as a "microlight," with manufacturing standards and pilot certification procedures. The 1997 movie, "Fly Away Home," featured a trike which was used to guide migrating geese from Canada to their breeding grounds in the United States.

Though intended for local pleasure flying, some pilots have flown their trikes for great distances. British pilot Brian Milton flew entirely around the world, over a period of several months. South African pilots Mike Blyth and Oliver Aubert flew thousands of miles from South America clockwise around the Pacific Rim to Africa. Other long distance flyers include Colin Bodill, Dave McCauley, and Bill Fortney. Bill was featured in the May 2000 issue of UltraFlight Magazine (and continues to be featured monthly through December 2000).

Until this year, trikes have been flown as "ultralights" in the United States, and have been subject to ultralight restrictions. Now there is the "glider-trike" option, which opens up a whole new array of opportunities for trike flying.

The glider-trike project is the culmination of two years of negotiations with the FAA by Scott Toland and yours truly. Scott is the Director of the Trike Wing of Aero Sports Connection, a national ultralight organization. Scott was also the first US pilot to obtain an FAA pilot’s license in a trike.

Scott and I convinced the FAA that trikes are becoming more prominent in the US, and that trike pilots do not want to be permanently relegated to the ultralight category. The FAA agreed that trikes may be put into the Experimental category, just as other homebuilt aircraft.

Although "Experimental" connotes a unique, one-of-a-kind flying machine, it is actually a well-established type of aircraft certification. Many kitplanes are Experimental, including high performance and very expensive aircraft such as the Lancair, Glasair, and Velocity.

Since a trike is basically a large hang glider, the FAA has agreed that the most appropriate Experimental classification for a trike is "glider." Actually, a trike is really a motorglider, but the FAA doesn’t use the term "motorglider." The FAA refers to a motorglider as a "self-launched glider." The full designation on an experimental trike’s Special Airworthiness Certificate reads: Experimental—Amateur Built; Glider (self-launch.)

The FAA does not require a pilot’s license to fly an ultralight. Conversely, flight time in an ultralight cannot be logged as FAA pilot time. However, a pilot’s license is required to fly experimental aircraft; and when a pilot flies an experimental airplane, it counts as FAA flight time.

Since an Experimental trike is considered a glider (or motorglider), the Experimental trike pilot must have an FAA glider pilot’s license. (There is not a separate license for "motorglider.") The student does not have to train in a traditional three-axis glider.

The FAA allows a trike student to take all his training in an Experimental glider-trike, and to take his FAA flight exam in the trike. This was an extremely forward thinking decision by the FAA, and a sincere thanks should be given to the FAA personnel who are responsible for helping the glider-trike project become a reality. They are Sue Gardner, Mike Henry, John Wensel, and Bob O’Haver, from the FAA offices in Washington, DC

The FAA minimum requirements are the same to become either a glider or motorglider pilot. The Private Pilot requirements are found in FAR 61.109(f), and the Commercial at 61.129(f). The Private and Commercial requirements include provisions such as specific dual and solo hours and a certain number of flights, but the basic minimums can be summarized as 10 hours flight time for Private and 25 hours for Commercial. Both the Private and Commercial require FAA written and oral exams, and a flight check. There is no requirement for a medical examination.

Because the glider-trike project is so new, the only flight examiner at the present time is Galen Fisher, of Hemet, California. Hopefully, there will be more examiners throughout the country in the near future. However, the glider-trike examiner must have a unique combination of skills. He must be a Designated FAA Examiner for traditional gliders, and be experienced in trike flying.

We are fortunate that Galen was willing to participate in the glider-trike project. He has been a glider examiner for many years at Sailplane Enterprises, in Hemet. Since he is also an experienced hang glider pilot, Scott Toland was able to quickly qualify Galen in a trike. Last May, Galen gave his first flight check in a glider-trike, thus establishing a milestone in the history of US aviation. The applicant was John Ballantyne, the President of the United States Ultralight Association (USUA).

On May 30th, John took his flight exam for his Commercial glider pilot certificate. A few days later, John set another first in aviation by taking an additional flight check in a glider-trike to qualify for his glider instructor’s license.

Although John took his flight exam in a glider-trike, any traditional glider instructor can also teach in glider-trikes if he is proficient in trike flying. For example, Jeff Reynolds is a traditional glider instructor at Turf Soaring school, Pleasant Valley Airport in Peoria, Arizona. Jeff also teaches at Kemmeries Aviation, a famous trike school at the same airport. Therefore, Jeff is qualified as a glider-trike instructor.

One problem is that John Ballantyne and Jeff Reynolds do not have access to an Experimental glider-trike, so they don’t have a flying machine in which to teach. With the newness of the program, I am currently the only instructor who has a glider-trike in which to give flight lessons. Hopefully, John and Jeff will have glider-trikes available to them in the near future.

My glider-trike is an Air Creation "Twin," with a Rotax 503 engine. It is equipped with dual controls, including rear seat steering with a foot throttle, and extension bars on the control downtubes. It also has a radio, intercom, ELT, and a transponder, although gliders are not required to have a transponder. See FAR 91.215(b)(3).

In September 1996, Greg Silva, an ultralight instructor and mechanic at Kemmeries Aviation, was the first person to put a trike into the Experimental category. At present there are two other Air Creation glider-trikes: one owned by Frank Oyama in California, and another owned by Mike Jacober, of Arctic Sparrow ultralight school, in Anchorage, Alaska.

Chris Haarhoff, from South Africa and now living in California, has also recently certified his Aerotrike Cobra as an Experimental glider. Mike Jacober, Frank Oyama, and Chris Haarhoff are all actively studying for their FAA pilot licenses in their glider-trikes.

There are many ultralight trike pilots who would like to become FAA certified; plus many fixed-wing aviators would like to transition to glider-trike flying. Thanks to this new program, there may someday be hundreds of FAA certified glider-trike pilots throughout the United States.

For those persons interested in glider-trike opportunities, visit the web site dedicated to this subject: www.egroups.com/group/ExpTrikes.

Other trike web sites include Chuck Goodrum’s www.trikes-r-us.org. John Olson’s excellent trike video may be ordered at www.adventurep.com. Details about Brian Milton’s flight around the world can be found at http://aviation.miningco.com/hobbies/aviation/library/weekly/aa010899.htm. See www.nowchallenge.com for Colin Bodill’s adventures. Mike Blyth is at www.aerotrike.co.za.

For more information contact

Jon Thornburgh at

JonThornburgh@pocketmail.com;

Scott Toland at stoland@aol.com or

John Ballantyne at johnusua@aol.com or USUA Headquarters 301-695-9100.

Jon Thornburgh is a periodic contributor to UltraFlight Magazine. He is an FAA certified flight instructor and an ultralight instructor. His previous articles for UltraFlight may be seen at www.cyberskies.com/ultralight. Jon’s voice mail number is 800-971-8710.