I met a couple of other microlight flyers. One had a single-seat AX3 that was very reminiscent of MYRO and shared a lot of common parts. Its owner had decided to extend the wings by about a meter on each side which he did by removing the tip tubes, shoving in some extensions with wooden ribs and covering them with Oratex (you are allowed to do anything you want in France – there are no permits, no inspections etc etc). He then found that he had problems getting down because the extensions provided so much extra lift and ended up having to cut the engine on approach. The reason for the extensions is because he wants to remove the 447 and fit another lower power engine so he ends up with a sort of ULM motor glider concept for semi-soaring, low speed flight. Imagine if he tried doing his experiments here in the UK!
But that’s not all – he says he’s going to do away with the Ultralam wing covers and battens, make up a set of light weight ribs and cover the wings in Oratex. I told him I’d watch his experiments with interest 😯 He said if the weather had been better while I was there, I could have flown it. I think I was fortunate that the weather gods were on my side that day and there was drizzle and low cloud 😀
The other pilot owned an aircraft called a Mustang that you can’t get in the UK. He’d had a slight accident in it a while back and damaged the main tube. A simple repair was effected by finding another similar damaged aircraft, cutting it’s main tube and joining the two undamaged sections with a sleeve held in place by pop rivets. Here are some pics – you can see the pop riveted sleeve that connects the two different main tube parts just behind the front seat in the second one. You can tell they come from different aircraft because the back bit has a pinstripe that stops at the sleeve 😎
They had some high winds down there about the same time as we did a few weeks ago and they took half of the hangar away that the aircraft was in as you can see. We called the owner and helped him cover the aircraft up when he arrived. Beforehand he decided to run the engine – a pretty good low hours 582 actually. After emptying out the carb bowls which were full of water the engine started and ran immediately! So there you go. All ready to taxi out and take off 😕
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I don’t be on the Microlight forum anymore now that Vince has banned me. Its good to read on your blogs your big move to France and that MYRO is back up in the clouds.
🙂 Don’t worry Paul, what they get up to is up to them but no fear that I’ll be doing the same, that’s for sure. But they seem to get away with it without having the need for inspectors looking over their shoulders and mods and permit systems etc etc, which says a lot for how good letting people use their own judgement is at the end of the day. I must say, after my recent experiences I go along with it wholeheartedly.
Nice to hear from you again and I hope all is well with you and yours now that we don’t hear from you.
It sounds like an accident waiting to happen Roger, I hope you dont follow with these flying traditions or your time in France will be cut very short.