Buying an ultralight airplane is like buying a new
car. It can be expensive or cheap, it can be great experience or great
failure, it can bring you a lot of joy and happiness or unpleasant and
dangerous accidents. It's not like buying a hamburger, so don't do it
when you are hungry.
There are many important decisions that you must take before buying an
ultralight aircraft. Of course the price is important, but there are
more - what model to be, used or new, fixed or flex wing, where to buy
it from and so on. This article will try to give you some basic
directions for taking this important step.
Choosing the right type
If you have decided to buy an ultralight airplane you probably have
your preferences. The main choice you'll need to make is either to buy
a fixed wing or a flex wing
aircraft. The flex wings have a lot of advantages like lower cost,
taking less space, being able to take off from an automobile road etc.
On the other hand, if you want to have a real airplane with pilot's
cabine, professional devices and all that, and to use it for more than
just fun, you'll have to choose a fixed wing. You can search the Web
for my article Flex Wing Vs. Fixed Wing Ultralight Airplanes
if you want to learn more about the advantages and disadvantages of
these two types.
In addition to this, you may want to take a look at the ultralight
seaplanes, the gliders or the powered paragliders. You could miss
something pretty cool just because you don't know about it. So, study
more about the types of ultralight airplanes before making your choice.
You can find a lot of information about them at
http://ultralight-airplanes.info.
Used or New?
Isn't that a dilemma which comes to you each time when you are going to
buy something big? Buying a second hand airplane has some advantages,
but of course the main is the lower price. An used aircraft can cost
50% or less the price of a similar new one.
On the other hand, you should not buy second hand if you don't know how
to check its quality. You need to ensure that the engine, fuselage and
wings are good enough and are not damaged. If you don't know how to do
that, you need either to go with a friend who knows, or just buy a
brand new airplane.
The Prices
Talking about prices, what can you expect? Of course, the prices vary a
lot and it's up to you to choose within a lot of models and types
depending on your budget. Here are some very basic guidelines, but
please note there can be big exceptions:
- A brand new ultralight airplane with fixed wings costs from $20,000
and can go to more than $50,000
- Used fixed wings can be found for $10,000 or even less, but better
don't buy cheaper than $10,000
- The new ultralight trikes (fixed wing airplanes) start from $10,000
and usually go up to $30,000
- You can find used ultralight trike for $5,000 or even less
- A powered paraglider can be built or bought for $2,500 (if you find
someone selling such - it's a rare chance).
As you see, there are opportunities for everyone. Just make sure that
what you buy is safe. Your life costs more than any amount of money.
Additional factors to consider
Your safety is the most important and it's not enough to ensure that
your ultralight airplane is not broken. You do need a parachute system.
This can add $2,000 to the costs, but can save your life. Sometimes
(especially with the trikes or powered paragliders) you need a helmet
too.
When buying an ultralight aircraft, you also need to know in what
license category it falls for your country. The regulations are
different and you need to ensure that you will be able to fly in your
area.
Hangaring your airplane also can cost you a lot of money and nerves. If
you don't have a good place on your own or there is no airport hangar
close to you, maybe you should think about buying a trike which can
stay in your car garage.
Where to search?
Of course the best option is to browse the classified sites on the net.
Cost-wise however it would be much better to find a good airplane in
your area, because transportation on big distances can be an issue.
Check if there are any companies around you which build or resell
ultralight aircrafts. Often they will also offer used ones.
If you prefer to search the Web, write "ultralight airplane for sale"
in your favourite search engine and you'll get a lot of classifieds and
company sites. If you have decided on the type, make or model, you can
narrow your search.
Another good idea is to search for "ultralight airplane kits" - then
you will get a whole lot of results, options and prices. But building
plane yourself from a kit is an entire different topic which I won't
cover in this article.
Whatever you decide to do, make sure that you spend enough time
planning and researching. Your airplane can be your partner for the
next 10, 20 or even 50 years. It's like a marriage except that you
could have more than one partners.
Article Source:
http://www.articlesbase.com/hobbies-articles/what-you-need-to-
know-when-buying-an-ultralight-airplane-152351.html About the Author
Bobby Handzhiev manages a website about Used and New
Ultralight Airplanes - http://ultralight-airplanes.info |
