Why I Love My Challenger Ultralight

I have always marveled at the number of people who tell me that they have taken flying lessons at some point in their life. Usually that fact comes up when they hear that I am a pilot. “I used to take flying lessons”, they tell me.

Yet for some reason they stopped. Perhaps it was the cost, the time investment required, responsibilities of family or work, or maybe another reason. I wonder sometimes if they just didn’t find it to be fun anymore. If that was the reason, I can understand. I felt that way once myself.

You see, I started flying in gliders. I loved it. It was challenging, interesting, and enjoyable. Some of my best memories of flying are from my glider days. But it was incredibly time consuming. It was an all day affair. Much of the day was spent waiting on the list for my next flight in the club glider. When the flight came it was often 20 to 30 minutes in length and then back on the ground waiting.

When I took the next step and started my training on Cessnas for my private pilot license, it had a number of advantages. There was no more waiting in line. The flights were longer. I could go places on cross country trips.

It was not, however, the same as flying a glider. Although it was challenging at first to learn the controls and manage the various cockpit tasks, those were soon mastered. I missed the challenge of seeking thermals and trying to outwit the elements. I even missed that unobstructed view over the nose that the glider gives her pilot. I missed the grass roots feeling of flying off a small grass airstrip. (Pardon the unintended pun.)

As a result, I soon became bored of renting a Cessna. I wasn’t getting the bang for my buck that I needed to sustain my enthusiasm. I didn’t have time for flying gliders. I could not afford my own plane. I am too anal to trust anyone to go into an aircraft owner partnership.

Quite a few years passed before I came across the National Ultralight Challenger web site when I was searching the net using the term “motor glider”. I was intrigued by the little plane that seemed so versatile and yet was also affordable. It had many of the attributes that I was so fond of from my early flying experience: small field capability; power off soaring; an almost uninhibited view over the nose.

I was also intrigued with the thought of building my own plane. This one seemed “Do-able”. The construction time was measured in hundreds of hours, not thousands. The really hard part of the build, the flight controls and the main structure, was already done at the factory. The paperwork involved was not overly daunting. I had the room for it in my single car garage. I could order the kit in sections and build at my own pace over a few years if necessary.

When I went to Barrie and took the test flight at National Ultralight with Bryan, I was smitten. It was what I had been looking for to get me back into aviation. I loved the feel of flying the plane. I liked the view out the side and over the nose. I knew that I wasn’t going to get tired of flying this bird.

A few weeks later, I ordered my first kit section, the tail feathers. A few months later I ordered the wings. A year later I ordered the fuselage. It took me about 4 years, but I finished it.

Now I have been flying her for a few years. I still love it. I have the freedom of going flying anytime I want to when the weather cooperates. I still haven’t become bored with flying the way I did with Cessnas. It still gives me a thrill to strap in and blast off. The climb out in a Challenger on a cold day, solo, with a ½ tank of fuel, is exciting. A Lancair pilot once told me he marveled at the way my little plane “climbed like a homesick angel”. I have a waiting list of pilot friends who want to get their Challenger check ride. Some fly their own planes including a Bonanza and a Mooney. Why do these guys want to get into a Challenger? Hmmm. Airplane envy? Not likely. A longing for the simple, grass roots flying of their youth? I think so.

The plane is very affordable. The biggest expense is my hangar rent. The maintenance so far has been very minor. Only the routine maintenance of replacing the spark plugs, tightening the drag lines, adjusting the carburetors, replacing the drive belt, and tracking down a bad wiring connection. All these I have done myself.

There is also a lot  of support for Challenger owners because it is the most popular ultralight. When I took the ground school to get back into flying after years away, a customized ground school was offered for Challenger pilots. Later, when I had the aircraft completed and ready for inspection, it was no problem to find a qualified inspector within easy driving distance. The same was true for finding an instructor for completing my cross training and renewing my flying proficiency.

The Challenger is very easy to fly. It is a gentle and forgiving aircraft. This means that you are confident and capable even if you have been away from flying it for while due to poor weather or other cares in life.

I have taken the Challenger on several cross country trips. I have gone from Kingston to Barrie, to Peterborough, to Carleton Place near Ottawa, down the St. Lawrence River to St. Lazaire near Montreal, and to the Canadian Aviation Expo in Oshawa. The plane performed flawlessly. I take a little longer to get there than a Cessna pilot would, but the view along the way is priceless. I have the peace of mind knowing I can squeeze the plane into almost any field in sight if I have to.

Probably the most enjoyable part of flying is taking friends up for short sight seeing trips along the St. Lawrence River and the Thousand Islands. The view out the plane, even from the back seat, is expansive. One passenger took over 200 photos in 1-1/2 hours! I am still working through my waiting list of passengers.

After 4 years I still love the little plane I built myself. I still feel excitement when I taxi out onto the apron and call up the tower, “Kingston Radio, India Romeo Delta Lima”.