Of course flying is not the cheapest hobby you may have, but it’s not that expensive that many people think. Today there are options for everyone to fly, no matter of their wallet size, location or age.

Let’s explore the opportunities which allow the ordinary person to start flying without too much efforts or too high expenses.Paragliders

One of the most popular flying activity and sport today is paragliding. Paragliding is relatively cheap and fairly safe. The average fatality rate per thousands USHGA members per year for the last 15 years is only 0.88.

There is no license required for flying a paraglider, but if you have no experience at all, it’s recommended to attend some education in any of the thousands paragliding clubs all over the world.

A new paraglider costs about GBP 2,000 while a second hand can be found for much less. Professional fly training typically costs between GBP 500 and GBP 1,000.

There are motor paragliders who are probably the simplest powered flying machine. The motor paragliders (paramotors) let you start flying from the ground without the need of hills or winches.Hang Gliders

Hand gliding is much elder sport. The first hang gliders have been invented at the end of 19th century. The main difference between the hang gliders and the paragliders is that the former have hard fixed wing. Modern hang gliders give you the ability to soar for hours and fly over large distances.

The hang gliders are more appropriate for performing aerobatics than the paragliders. The hang gliders are also capable of flying at much higher speed.

Hang gliding is considered a bit more advanced activity, but the cost of equipment and training is almost the same or slightly higher than paragliding’s. Skydiving

Skydiving is not exactly flying, but is also a very popular sport. It’s also known as parachuting.

For a typical skydiving jump you need an aircraft – usually an airplane, helicopter or even a balloon – which to raise you to about 4,000 meters attitude.

The specific and exciting moment in skydiving which is driving so many people to it is the free fall for 1,000 – 2,000 meters before opening the parachute.

Skydiving is rather safe activity and most incidents are due to lack of experience when performing advanced techniques.

Because you need an aircraft to raise you up, the price of skydiving raises with each jump you make. The equipment is not very expensive and can be hired, but the cost of the jumps is raising all the time because of the growing fuel prices. Ultralight Gliders

If you are looking for more advanced fly you may want to try ultralight gliding. The ultralight gliders are unpowever airplanes which can soar for hours and have basic control systems. Unlike the hang gliders, the pilot’s body here is seated and there could be even a cockpit, although that’s not always the case.

The main disadvantage of the ultralight gliders is that you need a powered airplane or a tower-winch system to help you start flying.

The costs of the gliders and their support is much higher – starts from about USD 10,000 and sky is the limit for the top prices.

Training can be obtained at the gliding clubs all over the world and it’s also more expensive.Ultralight Aircrafts

Finally, if you are really keen on being a pilot, don’t want to depend on hills, mountains, winches or other aircrafts, you may want to think about flying your own ultralight aircraft.

The ultralight aircrafts are fully functional powered airplanes, helicopters or autogyros. They don’t need help to start flying and can be used not only as a tool for leisure and sport, but also for practical purposes.

Unfortunately you need a license to fly an ultralight aircraft. Depending on where you live, you may need an LSA license or license for ultralight/microlight pilot. The training costs several thousands GBP.

Flying ultralight aircraft can be quite expensive, but there are many options to cut down the costs and complexity and enjoy this wonderful activity.

“We don’t fly north of our airfield. That’s where the Andrews Air Force Base controlled airspace begins.” I told this to thousands of flight students from 1984 thru 1998 when I worked as a full time ultralight flight instructor in Fort Washington, Maryland. Thoughts of flying into such secure airspace – home of the president’s Air Force One and some pretty lethal “fighter” aircraft – conjured up visions of being shot down in flames for veering a few feet into Andrews’ airspace. In the Nation’s Capital, you do not think about even vaguely resembling a terrorist. A sense of humor is not a job requirement for those employed by the FAA, FBI, Secret Service, etc. When it comes to work, they are all business. Period. And that was seven years ago when terrorists were only a theoretical possibility.

My friend Jerry Carlson and I were just minutes away from doing the impossible and forbidden: flying an ultralight aircraft into Andrews Air Force. We envisioned the display at the annual Open House – which attracts up to a million visitors – as an exciting opportunity to spread the word about open-cockpit flight.

We discussed communication procedures in the event they could not hear us over the engine and wind noise of our open-cockpit craft, or if radio contact was lost. All of the contingencies seemed to be covered.

Jerry sat in the front seat furthest from the engine and its noise, to handle radio communication. I sat in the back seat and flew the aircraft. A take off in an ultralight airplane is a 100-foot hop, skip and before you know it, you are airborne, angled back precariously – staring straight at the heavens. As we climbed to 500 feet, Andrews was in sight. This is not to say that our vision rivals that of an eagle, it’s just hard to miss an airfield that seemingly occupies half the state of Maryland. At 1,000 feet we leveled off, throttled back and contacted Andrews’ approach control.

Jerry: “Yellow ultralight”

Tower: “Yellow ultralight, say your heading and position.”

Jerry: “Andrews, Yellow ultralight 060 entering airspace over Route 301.”

Tower: “Yellow ultralight, approach downwind west of tower, then turn downwind.”

At this point, the controller must have thought that we were flying a lot faster than say, 50 mile per hour. In an F-16 it takes just a few seconds to go around the traffic pattern at this monstrous airfield. In an ultralight aircraft, one must allow at least a half hour.

After a few minutes, we were now to the west of where our base leg would be.

Jerry: “Andrews Tower, Yellow ultralight requests authorization to turn base.”

Tower: “Yellow ultralight, turn base runway one left.”

My eyes caught sight of several F-16 aircraft on the runway about to take off, and to our amazement, Air Force One taxiing behind! “What a photo that will be!” I exclaimed, only to realize that I had forgotten my camera. To my surprise, Jerry unveiled a camera from underneath his jacket and began clicking away. As we enjoyed this aerial view of the dozens of military aircraft on the flight line, I pointed out anything of interest.

Inching along, we neared our 90-degree left turn for final approach. I was somewhat perplexed, however, as two F-16s had just departed, and two more were waiting at the end of runway one left behind Air Force One. As I became convinced that we would spend eternity circling waiting for clearance to turn to our final approach, the traffic controller’s voice came over the radio.

Tower: “Yellow ultralight, would you land runway one right? Please be advised that the last 2,500 are not useable. The runway length is 10,000 feet. Will this present a problem?”

Since ultralight aircraft take about three hundred feet to land, Jerry and I agreed that with an incredible sense of the elements and superior airmanship, we could avoid overshooting the limited runway.

Jerry: “Ultralight turning final. One right.”

We held cruise power to fly the ultralight over one-half mile to the taxiway turn off. Meandering through the grass, I imagined the Tower Manager looking at us through binoculars, observing our scenic route to the display area. “Can’t those stupid ultralight pilots keep on the centerline of the taxiway?” she must be wondering. Nonetheless, the tower got us across runway one left – where seconds ago an F-16 thundered by at a few hundred miles per hour before rocketing straight up and out of sight. I can only imagine she let out a huge sigh of relief as she turned us over to ground control.

After two days of sharing flying stories with the new friends we had made, it was time to go home. The Ground Control personnel advised us on the radio to trail behind the FOLLOW ME truck. It soon became obvious that this driver leads aircraft that travel a lot faster. Racing toward the runway at about 50 miles per hour, we were fighting to stay on the ground. At the runway, the truck peeled off abruptly 180 degrees to the left, as we comically banked in our right turn onto the runway.

A green light from the tower gave us the all clear. Checking high and low in both directions revealed no other aircraft. Good to go!

Departing the field we saluted the accommodating tower personnel and the audience with a rock of the wings, and we were on our way.