Jon’s Mid-Life Crisis – I Wanna Fly an Ultralight Aircraft

When you get to a certain age, you start thinking about maybe doing things that would normally be outside of your comfort zone. I am at that stage, but what should I do? When Leslie and I were at Denny's on Wednesday, a loyal listener came in with his brother who runs Tri-State Kite Sales, a little ultralight aircraft business in Posey County. I have always loved flying and have always wanted to be a small aircraft pilot. I was immediately smitten with Mark Smith who invited me to experience ultralight flying.

I asked what kind of license I need and he said you no longer need any type of certification for ultralights and that he could teach me. I was ready to go up right then and there and even Leslie said that she would LOVE to videotape it. She said she always wanted to push me off a cliff, but Mark assured me that pushing off an elevated area is not part of the deal....WHEEEEW.

I told Mark that I would come out and learn to fly an ultralight, I couldn't wait. Then, I decided to check out some videos and this looks kind of scary. You are basically sitting in what looks like a go-kart with no real protection if something should go wrong. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little nervous about this endeavor. After all, I have ridden motorcycles my entire life, so how hard can this be?

Motorcycles run on the ground, ultralights run several hundred feet in the air, but there is something about it that just gets my adrenaline pumping. I was nervous until I watched the below video and have decided this is something I want to try....just don't tell my wife. What have you always wanted to try?