Build and learn to fly your own microlight aircraft

The Dream

If you have any interest in aircraft or aviation, you will probably have at some time dreamt of experiencing the freedom of flight. Controlling an aircraft as it soars like a bird, amongst fluffy white clouds in an otherwise clear blue sky. For most this seems an impossible dream, but it doesn't have to be, it can be done and it needn't cost a fortune. Read on to see how you could make your dream come true. But first a bit of history, aviation has recently celebrated its centenary and a lot has happened in those first 100 years.

The First Powered Flight

Throughout history (and probably long before that) man has dreamt of soaring with the birds. For many years there had been various attempts at flight using a variety of man and steam powered machines. These attempts were all to prove unsuccessful and there were a number of fatalities. However, this all changed on the morning of Thursday 17 December 1903. When, at Kill Devil Hills, Kitty Hawk, North Carolina U.S.A. Orville Wright took to the air for 12 seconds in the Wright Flyer - the world’s first true powered flight. Three more attempts followed that day culminating in a flight in which Orville's brother Wilbur stayed airborne for 59 seconds and covered a distance of 260 metres.

Rapid Development

In the early days aircraft were simple low-tech machines built by enthusiastic amateurs using materials such as wood and fabric. The Wright brothers were after all only cycle mechanics. But things were soon to change once aircraft found a place with the military during the First World War. Both engines and airframes underwent rapid development as governments poured in money. During the Second World War the importance of air superiority quickly became clear and once again there were rapid advances. By the end of the war piston engines had reached the peak of their development and jets were beginning to take over. The Cold War resulted in even greater advancements as governments raced to keep the upper hand in aircraft performance. On 14 October 1947 less than 44 years after the Wright brothers had first taken to the skies, Chuck Yeager succeeded in breaking the sound barrier. The aircraft, an experimental rocket powered Bell X-1 was carried up to 20,000 feet in the bomb bay of a B-29 before being released as the B-29 dived. Following its release the X-1 was held in a dive to gain speed before levelling off and igniting its four alcohol / liquid oxygen rockets. The flight took place over the Mojave Desert in California and resulted in the first sonic boom. This was only the beginning, by December 1953 Yeager reached Mach 2.44 in a Bell X-1A. Speeds continued to rise and in September 1956 another test pilot Milburn Apt was killed when his aircraft a Bell X-2 crashed after setting a new record of Mach 3.2 (over 2000 mph)

High-Tech High Cost

The rapid advancement in aviation technology has given us military aircraft of phenomenal performance, to the point where it is the pilot who is the limiting factor. It has also given us commercial aircraft capable of carrying several hundreds of passengers. However all this comes at a cost, the aircraft are extremely complex and expensive. The nearest we mere mortals are likely to come to experiencing flight is as a passenger aboard an airliner on a package tour to Spain or Florida. Or is it! There is an alternative. Click below to discover what a microlight is and how it could help you become airborne.