Building the EMG-6 under FAR Part 103

The EMG-6 was designed to meet both the spirit and the letter of FAR Part 103 for true ultralights. The appeal is simple: no registration for the aircraft, and neither a license nor a medical for the pilot.

Part 103 defines a powered ultralight as a single-seat vehicle with a maximum empty weight of 254 pounds, no more than five gallons of fuel, a max level-flight speed of 55 knots, and a power-off stall no higher than 24 knots. Unpowered ultralights sit at 155 pounds empty. Construction method is unrestricted. There is no 51-percent rule, and no FAA-mandated inspection program.

Those freedoms come with limits. Operations stay in uncontrolled airspace. Night flight is not allowed, aside from a short window after sunset if the aircraft carries an anti-collision light. The aircraft is single-place.

What it buys you is a low-cost way to get into the air: short takeoff, short landing, soft-field manners, and an airframe you can trailer or store in a garage. Flying out of your own property is the point, not a loophole.

Build it as a glider first if you want to get flying before the motor and batteries are sorted. Convert later. That is the intended path — not a compromise.