A Beginner's Guide to Ultralight Flying

A Beginner's Guide to Ultralight Flying is a videotape produced for those who have heard about the sport and are interested but don't know how to get started - a video primer to ultralight flying. Among other things, it covers the basic federal regulations for ultralights and provides information on the topics of flight training and the purchase of aircraft. One of the nation's largest and most successful ultralight clubs is visited and it's president is interviewed. Also, there are many interview sessions of ultralight flyers and owners of ultralight aircraft. These interviews provide the viewer with many unique, personal perspectives on the sport. They also allow viewers to 'meet' some of the type of people who fly ultralights. There are many interesting pictures of ultralights in flight as well as several 'music video' type segments. It is the first in a series about Ultralights in America.

A Beginner's Guide to Ultralight Flying was written, shot and produced by Brian FitzGerald of Wichita, Kansas. FitzGerald, an independent video producer is the recipient of many awards for TV commercials and documentaries. He has 13+ years experience in the television industry working in production, news and advertising. As principal cameraman for the Beginner's Guide, FitzGerald accumulated over 18 hours of videotape over the course of 3 years of shooting. He also wrote and performed all of the music used in the piece drawing on his background as a musician working in Northern California in the 1970's.
FitzGerald received his private pilot's license in 1969. He has been interested in ultralights since 1982 when he co-produced a documentary on the sport for KSN - The Kansas State Network based in Wichita, Kansas.

Of technical interest, this video was produced using the emerging multimedia technology of desktop video. The system includes: a Mac ci with a 50 MHz accellerator, RasterOps ProVideo32 & 24STV boards, Hotronic AP41 TBC/Frame Sync, 8 bit grey scale scanner, NEC CD-ROM and more. Various applications such as MMDirector, InfiniD and Photoshop were used. On the music side: a Gibson SG Custom guitar using compressor, distortion, flanger, chorus, etc; a Yamaha DX-21 synth, a Sequential Tom digital drum machine, a Yamaha MT-100 for recording and as a mixer and an Alesis MIDIVERB II for downstream effects. The synthesizers are controlled by MIDI interface by a Mac+ using Opcode Systems 'Vision' program.

The tape is offered for sale at $29.95; shipping and handling included. VISA© and MasterCard©, Money Orders and personal checks are accepted. Orders will be shipped within 10 days. Personal check orders may take longer depending on time for bank clearance.

For more on ultralighting, return to Mike's Ultralight Pages!