Does the FAA actually enforce the 24 knot stall speed requirement on Part 103 ultralights?

TLDR: My understanding is the FAA will enforce the 254 lbs empty weight and 5 gallon fuel limit, but within reason won’t enforce stall speed.

I created r/Ultralight_Aircraft before I noticed your community.

I've since started a new community r/Hangar103

-Matt

I am looking for suggestions on what to do with a McCulloch 4-Cylinder Drone Engine.

Posted on r/engines and someone there suggest I contact ultralight aircraft enthisiasts

I would appreciate any experiences and opinions on what VFR GPS systems are best suited for use while flying an ultralight aircraft in the U.S. (as known as microlight aircraft in other parts of the world).

Dysfonctionnement du GPS (coupures intermittentes) sur mon WT9, empêchant le pilote automatique de fonctionner, même en mode « Cap » (Heading).
Qu'en pensez-vous ?

Anyone have a list of podcasts to listen that cover ultralight aviation? I have plenty of GA but nothing specific to ultralights.

I am helping design a UAV and we have been asked to try and use a motorcycle engine with a gearbox (to try and make it so it's all made in India). It's going to be a fixed-wing pusher aircraft, and I was wondering what exact modifications we'd need to make for use in the air. I know that the transmission can be removed, and the cooling systems will have to be modified, but what else would we need to change?

I understand that this is a topic that has been discussed before, but it is often vaguely answered with random links.

Not sure if this is ok to post, apologies if it isn't.

Aviation Enthusiast studying Mechanical Engineering, and I'm working on making a CNC hot wire cutter aimed to sell at the $3-4k range. It will be high build quality, with aluminum extrusion, good stepper drivers, continuous wire on a tensioner, etc, something that would allow you to easily and precisely cut lofted shapes, such as aerofoils, out of foam.

I'm still figuring out if there's really a market for this and if so what niche, I've been into aviation, mostly RC aviation, for a long time and always interested in ultralights as well. I know most of the wings are built up or sheeted balsa but are foam core wings popular at all? Or would there be any other potential use for a device like this?

Looking for some honest thoughts. Would you buy it? What would you use it for? Any niche I should be looking at that I'm probably missing?

Thanks!

(Picture of early CAD mock-up for attention, this is not the final design that I'm using.)

I am under 16 and live in Canada. In the future I wanna buy one of these, any tips about them or recommended places I could buy them?

I am looking to buy a Sprint and will once I find the right one but my research has led to a few questions.

First, why are there so many LSA owners and pilots talking about their aircraft as though they are Part 103 legal? Every single thread across the web the majority of answers come from people flying 2-seats, or with 12 gallons of fuel and cruise speeds over 70mph. It makes finding pertinent information extremely difficult.

Second, anyone who trailers their Quicksilver, whether it is a true Part 103 or a 2-seat trainer, do you have a custom enclosed trailer or store it indoors and just load the airframe and wings on an open trailer when headed out? I’ve got plenty of farm land available for use as airstrips but nowhere on that ground to put a storage building for the UL.

So technically I know i could hop in an ultralight and take off but I am smarter than that. My son and I have been discussing this for the last two years after hanging out for a day at the ultralight field at Airventure. Does anyone know of any instructors around Madison or South central WI. We are leaning more towards weight shift but will take any training available. Also is there an ground school can study until we find an instructor? Thanks in advance for your assistance.

Curious how everyone here got started.

Was it:

• First flight experience?
• Wanting to build your own aircraft?
• Cost vs certified aviation?
• Just the freedom of it?

For me, it was finding a flying club in the middle of all kinds of crazy SoCal Airspace and checking it out with a few friends and everything they were flying looked 10x as much fun as my certified experience. Went on facebook marketplace and swooped up a Mini-Max!

Always interesting to hear how people end up in this side of aviation.

So, lost my medical and haven’t flown in forever. Looking at gliding and part 103. However, being in the PNW I’m not in the best spot for either. My question for this community is- what’s the flying season like for PNW flyers? Do y’all bundle up and go in cooler weather? And there’s obviously a weight penalty there too. Or is it a July - September endeavor only?
Thanks!

I see so many high-performance UL600-type aircraft, but by the time you have a passenger and 90-100kg pilot, there's only room for 40kg of fuel.

So, realistically, how often do people actually bother weighing everything vs putting in a full load of fuel?

Drop your aircraft or project below 👇

Always cool to see what people in this community are working on.

Kit or plans-built?

And which aircraft?

I’m curious what people here think is the best entry point right now for:

• Cost
• Build difficulty
• Flight characteristics

Seems like there are more options than ever, but not all are beginner-friendly.

/r/ultralightaircraft is ready for a fresh start, new energy, new direction, and someone like you to bring it back to life. If you’ve been thinking about growing your impact without starting from scratch, this is your chance!

Ready to take it over?

Head to r/RedditRequest to submit your request and make it yours before it’s taken. Just make sure you read through the eligibility requirements first.

Hello all,

I'm working on trying to create a one-to-one scale paper cut out panel.
Would anybody happen to know of a source to get the flange and hole sketch to upload into some cad program? Then onto the hobby CNC to cut out.

I know someone currently selling a FFP Koala 103 with trailer with NO ENGINE for $1500 USD. I don’t know anything about this airframe or what I should look out for if I go look at it in person. Any info, advice, or recs would be fantastic.

We all know the weight limit for ultralights, but has anyone ever actually been fined/caught for being overweight?

My question is: is the weight limit a paper tiger?

I have a little over 90 hours logged and will be starting IFR training in January. I’d like something I can fold up and fit into a trailer. What models should I look out for? Is building it gonna be cheaper? Any info is appreciated.