Microlight

microlight is a very light, pow­ered aircraft used for recreation­al flying. Some microlights look like regular light airplanes, but smaller. Others resemble a kite or flying wing with an engine. There are even micro­light amphibians and floatplanes (or seaplanes) that can land on water.

Certain types of microlight aircraft are known as ultralights. In the United States, an ultralight is defined as a single­seat microlight airplane that weighs less than 235 pounds (107 kilograms) when empty and has a top speed of 63 miles per hour (101 kilometers per hour). An ultralight is permitted to fly only during daylight hours and over unpopulated areas of the country.

Slightly heavier, faster microlight aircraft are known as light-sport air­planes, a category introduced by the

U. S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in 2004. Another term sometimes used to describe microlights is recre­ational aircraft.

Building Microlights

Lightweight sports flying became popu­lar in the 1970s, a time when a growing number of people were interested in fly­ing for fun and at low cost. Hang gliders also became popular around this time. It was a fairly simple task to fit a small engine and propeller to a hang glider frame to make a powered aircraft that was fun to fly and for which no pilot’s license was required.

Most microlights are now made by specialty companies, but many have been constructed by individuals who get pleasure from designing and building airplanes. People who build aircraft at home recapture some of the pioneering excitement of the early days of aviation in the early 1900s, when people built planes powered by motorcycle engines.

Older homemade microlights were built from plywood and spruce, covered with cotton fabric. Today, even amateur aircraft builders are more likely to use aluminum for the frame and dacron for the fabric. Some microlights are made of strong, lightweight composite materials, such as an epoxy resin coating contain­ing glass or carbon fiber molded over a plastic-foam body. There are many dif­ferent designs. Experts have said that it would be very difficult to design a new microlight in a way that has not already been tried.

О Building microlights is a popular pas­time. Some microlights, such as this one, are scaled-down, lightweight replicas of vintage military airplanes.