OSHKOSH, Wis. — Thousands of planes fly in and out of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) grounds during AirVenture. Amidst the more advanced and complex craft, the ultralight area showcases the most affordable way for an aspiring pilot to get off the ground.
These aircrafts are not the biggest or fastest, but many hobbyists have found ultralights to be a great entry point to getting up in the air.
“I bought a salvaged aircraft and did some refurb and rebuilding and made a brand new airplane out of her,” said Corey Cassavant of Milwaukee.
Cassavant had never put together a plane before and spent 400 hours on the project. To get to AirVenture in Oshkosh this year, he took a three hour ride in his craft.
“I fly the bigger, heavier airplanes too, and that’s a lot of fun. As far as the grassroots, just flying for the fun of it, there’s nothing that beats this,” Cassavant said. “You’re out in the open air. You can smell the farm fields below you and feel the breeze in your face.”
Cassavant is now an ultralight instructor, and on Wednesday, he gave free rides for those willing to try.
“There’s nothing like the expression on their face when you first hit the throttle, build a little speed, pull up, and just watch them,” Cassavant said. “Their eyes light up or they’re like, 'Whoa, what is this?'”
Ryan Gradke and grandfather Winston Rock watched different crafts take off and land from the ultralight runway. Gradke took a ride and enjoyed the view.
“You see everything. It’s the perfect view to make a model of the world,” Gradke said. “You could fly around the world and have each little building and it would be like this mini world map.”
Rock has an ultralight he built himself and hopes for his grandson to take it over one day.
“It’s very reasonable, price-wise,” said Rock. “I fly for approximately $35 an hour where your larger planes are 100 plus.”
The small grass airstrip with quick take-offs and landings is a different scene from the main runways at AirVenture.
“This is an aircraft that the everyman can fly,” Cassavant said. “You don’t need to have a lot of money stored up. You can get into something like this for 8 to 10 thousand dollars. You can do your own maintenance after some training. It’s the weekend flyer’s airplane.”