How and Where to Find a Ride
The best places to search for a ride are the Sport Pilot
Instructor Database established by the EAA and the
FIRM (Flight Instruction, Rental, and Maintenance)
List at www.ByDanJohnson.com. Qualified instructors
are the only individuals who can charge for their
time in an airplane, and they may charge for the aircraft only if it is a special light-sport aircraft (S-LSA)
or an experimental aircraft flown under the LODA
rules. An instructor is your best option, because as
a trained professional, he knows how to safely provide a good flight experience. A hangar tenant you
don't know two doors down who wants to impress
his friends (or you) with his piloting skills—maybe
not so much. You can take a ride in any two-place
airplane flown by a properly rated pilot provided you
pay no more than your share of the fuel, oil, and any
landing fees.
Finding a pilot to fly with can be as easy as hooking up
with your nearest EAA chapter. Search the database for
one near you. I suggest you check first for an ultralight
chapter. There are about 30 of them in the United States,
but any chapter president near you may know the owner
of a Quicksilver, Kolb, Challenger, or other two-place
light plane.
A local chapter fly-in is another great place to connect with pilots of light aircraft. It's considered polite
to offer to pay for some of the fuel, even though it is
often refused. Most pilots love to take people for a ride
and enjoy introducing others to flight. I always try to
have some cash in my pocket (or offer to buy lunch)
when I go for an unpaid ride. Even though light aircraft
are less costly to operate than conventional general
aviation, flying is never cheap and someone has to pay
for it.
EAA recently launched a new program called Eagle
Flights that is intended to help adults get an airplane
ride for free from local EAA chapter members. The
aircraft used will be conventional general aviation
airplanes along with homebuilt and light sport aircraft.
Learn more at www.EAA.org/EagleFlights.
Another way to find two-place light planes in your
area is to use the FAA database of registered aircraft
Jamie Gull of Girard, Kansas, few this fully restored 1984 Quicksilver MX II at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2013. Tese open-cockpit aircraf provide a
unique fight experience.
EAA Experimenter
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