flying boat

[gjgm]

anyone see that contraption on Ch5 last night... sort of microlight tied to an Avon tender sort of set up..!
Would this get you round possible new red diesel obligations if the diesel engine was light enough to fly ?
Might need one of those massive offshore ribs tied on top of your lovely flybridge of course...

 

[the_wanderer]

Pigs may fly!

Regards.
Alan.

 

[Graham_Wright]

It was at the SBS. There is a problem marketing in the UK as it may need a PPL to drive it. I suppose if you fly low enough, you could call it a hovercraft. Alledged to be easy to control on the water, in the air and during transition.

 

[ArgoNot]

No 'may' about it. You would need some variety of PPL to drive that.

 

[webcraft]

Of course you need a licence to fly them - you need some sort of licence to fly almost any powered aircraft.

This is not the problem however - the problem is they are not approved in this country. (i.e. they have not been shown to conform to any approved airworthiness standard)

- Nick

 

[Ric]

They are called Polaris fibs. I flew one about three years ago from Lake Como in Italy. No more difficult to fly than a conventional weight-shift microlight (ie very easy!) and easier to take off and land.

They are aware that there is a potential market for them as yacht-tenders, and were trying to make them a bit easier to assemble and stow for the yacht market. They were also planning to make it easier to take off the airfan, and fit a conventional outboard. I don't know what the state of development now is.

They go very well as a tender without the wing, but you might not be too popular in a crowded anchorage!

 

[richardabeattie]

A device for making jet skiers more popular!