By Kristy Gilligan 

I’ve been involved with ultralight and microlight aviation a few times. The first time was in gliders, much later, as a passenger in an Aerochute, once joy riding in a trike and then recently in a Jabiru while obtaining a recreational license. I don’t think I can count that (alleged) drunken New Years Eve attempt to get airborne by running nude down 09/27 in the rain.

What is interesting is that even after a flight in a trike and an Aerochute I have always taken three things in aviation for granted. One: ailerons. Two: elevator. Three: rudder. Other things I have learned to live without from time to time, like an engine, along with a certain number of instruments, but it never occurred to me that there are so many aviators out there who have shunned these three basic modes of control in exchange for an exciting and sporty alternative.

Weight shift aircraft are the alternative to the traditional 3-axis control aircraft. They are lighter than light or ‘micro light’ and are steered by leaning, pulling and pushing to redistribute the weight of the pilot or main body. By consisting mostly of fabrics, tubes, carbon fibre and strings they are also incredibly cheap. Well, cheap mightn’t be entirely fair. There is nothing cheap about the quality of production. It’s just that the quantity of material is low rather than the quality.

To fly a weight shift aircraft you need to be licensed under Recreational Aviation Australia (RA-Aus) or the Hang Gliding Federation of Australia. The Hang Gliding Federation covers Hang Gliders (no kidding) Para Gliders and trikes while RA-Aus can cover trikes and powered chutes. For either, the basis of being able to hold a license is having a current driver’s license and the basic level of physical fitness that would go along with driving a car. This significant concession allows people to fly who would otherwise be grounded in general aviation. There is also no harm in having an instinct for situational awareness and balance, though these can be honed in with training and, as with my New Year’s dash, depend on your current state of wellbeing.

From what I have read, the basic hang glider was invented in the sixties by an Aussie named John. He liked the look of the wing NASA used to recover the Gemini space capsule and it’s that initial triangular design hang glider that still flies today. Notably John’s earlier experiments required a speed boat as a means of propulsion and it doesn’t take a whiz to know that, just as the proverbial runway streaker has to lose their clothes, eventually we would have to lose the boat.

It is interesting to note that early ultralights, and later trikes, originated from hang gliders being fitted with engines, rather than boats. The earliest attempts were basically hang gliders with engines and tails. To me they look pretty much like normal aircraft. What was more successful and popular with flying types, however, was the basic motor/hang glider combination. Once enough people had cut their toes off with crazy engine mounting ideas, the consensus was reached that there was no good reason to ‘foot launch’ a powered hang glider and that the safest place to mount the engine was, indeed, on the pilot. In the Seventies this idea was evolved one step further when it was discovered the whole kit and caboodle could be swung beneath the wing and have a seat for one or two occupants – thus evolved the trike. The Europeans took to the trike like Belgians to a beer festival and many a trike enthusiast has emerged from the gaggle of weather-frustrated hang glider pilots.

Paragliding came to pass when mountain climbers started jumping off mountains in order to get down quicker. And why not! At first they used simple parachutes but they soon refined the design and aerofoil cells, lightened the strings and made a small harness-like seat. In the end even NASA preferred the parachute as a recovery method for their space endeavours, so maybe the paragliding fraternity was onto something right from the start.
Flex-wing hang gliders are the most closely related to the original early 1970's hang gliders. They have a basic tubing frame and a flexible wing made of sailcloth, stiffened into an aerofoil shape by aluminium battens. They are usually wire-braced,and controlled by shifting the pilot’s weight. Rigid-wing hang gliders resemble airplanes without tails. Although they fold up into a transportable package, they are built from carbon fibre and epoxy for strength and light weight. They generally have better performance than flex wings.

Instead of a wing made of metal, wood, fabric or plastic, a paraglider uses nylon or polyester fabric. Paragliders fly the same as any non-powered aircraft and have glide ratios of up to 10:1. The wing is made of two layers of fabric that form a wing-shaped bag with openings along the front. As the glider starts to move forward off a hill, the openings allow the wing to fill with air, pressurising it and making a standard aerofoil shape. The canopy is attached to a harness by a series of up to 30 thin but very strong lines. The harness is where the pilot sits - and you'll be glad to hear it's much more comfortable than a parachute harness.

An Aerochute can fit in the back of your ute or trailer like a go-kart, can carry two people and be flown from reasonably small areas – 10 to 15 metres for solo take off or 40 - 50 metres for dual take off. Generally a football sized area is ample room for safe takeoff and landings.

Trikes are no longer just converted hang gliders but are designed specifically for power. Fairings keep the worst of the wind and cold away, much like a motorcycle. There are less moving parts to break and they are spin and over-speed resistant. The trike can be stored in your garage, be assembled or dismantled within half an hour and are easily transported on a trailer. Once flying, you can do anything or go anywhere a conventional registered ultralight can.

While none is better than the other, there is a fundamental order to the ranking of the weight shift and string suspended types. I would base this ranking primarily on cost, ease of use and efficiency at getting around.

Firstly let’s look at cost. Trikes come in with the highest price tag, followed by Aerochutes, with hang gliding and paragliding less and about equal. Trikes and Aerochutes also cost more to run, whereas hang gliders and paragliders cost nothing to fly - apart from the cost of getting to a flying site. Paragliders cost least to transport, especially if you intend to travel overseas, but they usually wear out quicker than the others with an average life of around three to four years. Any of the latter fitted with an engine like the Aerochute would fall somewhere in between. Other costs to consider are training, which is usually very reasonable, in the thousands rather than tens of thousands, and then there is the extra safety gear and paraphernalia like helmets, cold suits, GPS sets, comms and so forth.

Australia’s only certified trike builder, AirBorne Australia, in Redhead, New South Wales, has a wide range of wing and base options starting from around $28,000. Other imports are available around the place, particularly from Air Creation whose high end Tanarg retails at $77,000 including GST and freight costs. Second hand trikes can be sought out from about $6000. Aerochute Industries in Melbourne can set you up for just short of $19,000 plus and extras you choose to add. Either of these powered options has additional running costs like fuel, starting with the likes of the Aerochute burning just under15 litres an hour. A hang glider will set you back about $4000, plus you'll need a harness (about $1000), a parachute (about $600) and instruments (from about $400).

A trike will take you up to 700km in range, if that’s what you hope to get from your sport. In addition the trike will outclimb almost any ultralight. Most people just like to get around the local area for recreation and find that range is irrelevant. The fuel in an aerochute will only last two hours, but that’s probably as long as your arms will last anyway.

Easiest to operate and drag around are paragliders, followed by hang gliders, then Aerochutes, and finally trikes. Conversely the fact that you can taxi a trike under power and don’t have to climb a mountain to launch is a big plus for ease of operation, if you are that way inclined. Set up and initial training can be more physically demanding when learning hang gliding.

Now the big thing on everyone’s mind, including mine – safety. Although hang gliding may have started out as a bit of a hit and miss adventure safety-wise, today's equipment must be certified for both strength and stability in a wide range of conditions. Plus all hang gliders carry emergency parachutes. These are designed to bring both glider and pilot down together in the event of a structural failure or mid-air collision.

In paragliding the canopies are remarkably safe. According to the Hang Gliding Federation of Australia, beginner canopies are certified to recover from any mistake or problem within four seconds, with no pilot input at all. If only all aircraft had the same inherent stability. But safety is not at the expense of manoeuverability and enjoyment. Advanced canopies can loop, spiral, wing over, stall and do some very impressive aerobatics in the right hands. Paragliding is also probably the slowest form of aviation in as much as forward speed and possible rates of decent, so at least if you do crash you will hit the ground more gently than in other options. In the event that the air was squeezed out from between the two fabric layers, which stops it flying like a wing, the canopy simply reverts to being a parachute until the pilot starts it flying again. All forms of lightweight flying are as safe as the person in control. Today, it is almost unheard of for design and structural failures to cause accidents.

With organisations like RA-Aus and the HGFA governing the goings-on within this genre of aviation there is good reason to consider taking on a slightly lighter mode of flying entertainment. While I don’t endorse any sort of unclothed runway shenanigans, with the fuel price the way it is there is no doubt more people will take up some form of weight shift or canopy style flying in order to stay airborne without going broke. Plus, sport aviation is really on the upturn. While big aero clubs might be slowing down, the lighter end of aviation is always up for a fun day out followed by a few coldies and, frankly, so am I.