Have you heard of the ULTRALIGHT PLANE?

in #travel7 years ago (edited)

Me neither. Until a friend of mine told me about it a couple of months ago.

I was surfing the net looking for extreme adventures to kickoff my 35th with a bang, so to speak.

I had so many options: skydiving, bungee jumping, paragliding... you can see where I'm going here. ;)
The thing is, all of them are so expensive! I know these activities are way out of my budget but there's no way I would let such triviality get in the way of my #birthdaygoals :D
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Lucky for you, my dear readers, I am not one who gives up easily.
When I heard there's a place in Pampanga (a huge province in Central Luzon) that allows you to fly a plane even if it's your first time and has zero knowledge of Pilotry (I came up with that just now, not a real term!), of course I had to check it out!
Yes, I am not kidding: You get to fly an aircraft all by yourself -- okay, granting there will be a licensed pilot sitting beside you the entire time and you'll only get to take control of the plane for a few minutes but still! All this for a measly fee of 2500 pesos (roughly around $50) for a quarter of an hour. That, my friends, is not bad at all.

But what is an ULTRALIGHT PLANE you ask? Well let me break it down for you: Imagine your 12-year old kid wanted to build a plane because kids are optimistic AF and they still have that illusion that they can do anything as long as they work hard and put their heart in it. I digress.

So, your kid wants to build a plane. You help them source out the materials: curtain rods to use as the skeletal frame? Check. More metal rods for stirring and pedals? Check. Maybe a tarpaulin for the wings? Sure. An old fan blade as a propeller? Okay. Add a couple of old chairs and you're all set. Basically, it looks like a science fair project and I'm pretty sure you'll agree with me after seeing this photo:

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I kid. I kid. I'm pretty sure there's a lot of complex mechanics involved in putting together such a magnificent aircraft.

Anway, when it was time for me to hop on that thing (I was really hesitant at first because I'm used to flying in an airplane where all the walls are intact -- you know with floors, and toilets, and oxygen masks and parachutes in case of an emergency), I am not gonna lie: I WAS NERVOUS AF. Hahaha! But after a few minutes of getting myself familiar with the controls (left pedal is to go left, right pedal to turn right, pushing the gear stick forward makes the aircraft fly higher and pulling it down lets you go lower) with the help of my co-pilot, I kind of eased into it.

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When it was time for us to take-off, I was already feeling super excited. The moment the plane lifted off the ground and rose to about 600 feet (I'm guesstimating here), it was EXHILARATING!
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The feeling is completely different from flying in a regular plane because like I said, there were no walls or floors to hinder your view. And my gosh, THE VIEW WAS AMAZING.

We were flying near Mt. Arayat with the widest view of the rice fields. I can perfectly see the clouds forming on top of the mountain, and I even waved hello to the farmers below us.

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It felt like Mother Nature was giving me a big, cold embrace and telling me: Look at my beauty. Soak it all in. And that's exactly what I did.

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What an amazing experience! If ever you find yourself in the Philippines, I highly recommend that you try it. Pampanga is more or less a couple of hours drive from Metro Manila. All the instructors are very capable, they are all highly trained, and they would even encourage you to take up a flying course if you're really interested in becoming a pilot yourself!

That's all for now. Hope you guys enjoyed reading about my Ultralight adventure. Too bad I can't post videos. Will edit once my youtube channel is up. I'll be sharing videos of my adventures on there so do stay tuned for that. :)

Keep on steeming!

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I upvoted you to help out. I'll see if I can't get someone else to help get you back to 25.

Done

Thanks for your help! Appreciate it! :)

Thanks for the help!

Thank you so much, @patrice! I am still very new to Steemit and I am still learning the ropes. I am actually thankful for this "mea culpa" because first: I have definitely learned my lesson and second: I am overwhelmed by the amount of support I received from you and the rest of the Steemit community. So I am feeling really grateful. :)

You're welcome. I'm a member of the abuse team @steemcleaners. You can find me on steemit.chat or Discord.

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Thank you. I love this. Thank you Patrice

Thanks for the clarifications. I've been looking for possible reasons on why she was downvoted.

Mabuhay @xylee! Welcome to steemit.

I know that this can be very frustrating especially for newbies but it is too early to give up. You'll get your reputation back in no time.

Join the Steemit Philippines Community in Discord. -> https://discord.gg/sFBx9n

Thanks, @st3llar! I'm actually at 49 now which is unbelievable! The amount of support I got is just overwhelming! Salamat, kabayan! :)

Whoa! congrats! glad that this was sorted out! Steem on! :)

Thanks a lot @patrice!

Wow, you're really into a daring adventure!!! am not sure myself whether I would go that far... go go go! And don't be discouraged by yesterday's mishap... keep it up dear!

Thank you for bringing her.

@surprisinggoogle .... You´re welcome Terry, I hope more of my friends will join. Thank you for your lovely support!

kumusta xylee! :) looks like so much fun. and way cool! awesome.

Salamat @chinito! :)

Mabuhay kabayan. Good post and very interesting, waiting for more. :)

If you're my co-pilot it's all good. I voted up to fly with you.

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Thank you

Ultralights have come to fill a need that no one foresaw.

Cessna stopped building the 172 long ago because the insurance was getting to expensive to sell single engine light aircraft. And so, all the 172 are getting mighty old. They are almost exclusively what people used to train to fly in.

The regulations for getting a pilots licence has become more and more onerous. More and more time required. More and more instructor hours and higher and higher prices.

And ultralights can be stored in a garage, folded up, and be taken off from almost any field. This amazing contraption has really come into its own.

I am glad that you got to fly.

Wow! Thank you for that very informative comment! It really is indeed an impressive aircraft. Glad you dropped by. Cheers! :)

Looks like so much fun .I have to try it one day. Thank you for sharing

You really should! Thanks for reading. Cheers! :)

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Thank you so much for your help!

Good article and pictures accompanying it. I like those ultra light planes because it's a good project for engineering to learn about aerodynamics.

Indeed! Thanks! :)

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Congratulations @xylee!
Your post was mentioned in the hit parade in the following category:

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Whoa! Awesome! Thank you!

I'm sure flying on the amazing yet simple machine was a wonderful experience. Cheers!

It really was! Thanks for dropping by! Cheers!

That must have been lots of fun. Thank you for sharing with us pics of that amazing adventure.Happy 35th birthday , wishing you all the best now and in future :)

One for the books! Thank you so much, I really appreciate it! :)

Wow, excellent

High five! :)

Hello @xylee
Welcome to steemit!
Don't be discourage
There are many steemians here willing to offer help!
My support to you!

I am overwhelmed by all the support! Thank you, @albertvhons! Cheers!

Thank you for the resteem!

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It wasn't a bot. It was an employee of Steemit, Inc. who doesn't comprehend actions, consequences, and perceptions.

Luckily, there are smarter users out there who are willing and able to use their words to help people and were able to counter the downvote.

So Sneak really is a Steemit employee? Can't they make him stop interacting on Steemit? He's doing a lot of damage, and doing damage is best left to non-Steemit-employees.

Yes, he really is. No, STINC obviously doesn't care that they behave like total incompetents...mostly like children.

Besides - what's a little more damage to the platform and their real-world reputation? They've likely done more than can be repaired anyway. And there's no sign that 1) they comprehend the problem or 2) they have any plans of slowing down as they approach the cliff.

Fortunately we have a Community Liaison Guy and a Marketing Guy.

Enough displeasure for today; the Caol Ila looks tempting.

@ats-david ..And you´re one of those smarter users ..... Amen! Many thanks!

Thank you @mitrado! I've definitely learned my lesson. LOL! Appreciate your vote! :)