Several years ago, while attending an Alberta Aviation Council convention, I happened to be discussing ultralight regulations with Transport Canada’s Don Davidson. On the subject of controls, Don expressed the view that ultralight pilots were basically a free-spirited lot who liked to fly on their own, when and where they wished. This characterization certainly applies to me, and I believe most of the ultralight pilots I know. I know many of us would much rather fly our “freedom machines” than even consider graduating to conventional aircraft and the rigors of flying in a controlled environment.

If I may be so bold, I would like to compare the relative responsibilities of an ultralight pilot to an airline transport pilot. “No comparison”, you might say. Yes, but in more ways than meets the eye. You might say that the bottom-line responsibility of the ATR pilot is to get his payload from A to B without incident. This is true, and he (or she) spends much of his time practicing emergency procedures to insure that this happens. However, when one breaks down the actual chain of responsibilities for a flight, one finds the main responsibility really consists of insuring that a very complex set of rules and procedures are followed. The responsibility for maintenance is delegated to the AME’s, the responsibility for where the aircraft should be at any instant of time is delegate to ATC, the climb and decent rates, cruise altitude and performance points are dictated by the flight computers to maximize passenger comfort and safety and minimize fuel burn. The only time the pilot really gets to make decisions is when something does not go according to plan. This, of course, is why the ATR pilots must be so highly trained.

The ultralight pilot, on the other hand, can delegate responsibility for his flight to nobody else. He bares full responsibility for all aspects of his flight; the maintenance of his airplane, where and when it will fly, how high, how fast, the climb and decent rates, etc. He is solely responsible for collision avoidance; he is solely responsible for staying out of controlled airspace and for insuring that his machine will keep running long enough to make it to point B. This is freedom to fly when, where and how we want provided we follow the basic safety rules of the air.

These freedoms are what we ultralight pilots cherish. I believe that most regulators within Transport Canada respect this, even though there are probably a few who would regulate us to death if they had the budget for it. We, also, must respect these freedoms by accepting the responsibilities that go along with them. The pending regulation changes that we have been reading about so much of late will change our freedom horizon considerably, as it will change our level of responsibility.

Although we like to think of ourselves as grass-roots aviators, like those of the 1920’s, we must remember that today there is no free lunch. We have some of the most liberal air regulations in the world, when it comes to ultralights, because we believe in the free-spirit just as we accept the responsibilities that go along with exercising that free­ spirit. For, after all, that’s the Canadian way!

(I invite those with differing viewpoints to sent me a letter for the Letter’s to the Editor column.)