| Ultralights and Amphibs |
| Scroll down for a photo gallery of some of my previous toys... |
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| Fall Fun on the Connecticut River. Photo by wife Nancy used on the UL Calendar. |
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| Flightstar Floatplane two-place ultalight trainer powered by a Rotax, 2-stroke 75-hp engine. More civilized but less fun than the Quicksilver. |
| N 83 HC This is an all-aluminum experimental Zenair CH-701 STOL. This plane easily takes off and lands in 100 feet. But unlike the Quicksiver, it has a respectable cruise speed of 90 mph. (I actually FLEW this one to Florida). Here (at right) it's on tundra tires. I've just landed on frozen Goose Pond - the same place we tested the hovercraft a couple of years later. |
| This is the same plane on Czech Aircraft amphibious FLOATS emerging from the Connecticut River near Hanover. |
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| "Twins on ice!" My brother & I try out my new SeaWing amphibious ultralight trike on frozen Goose Pond lake. |
| "MY-T-LYT" This plane started out as Quicksilver Sprint II - which I built from a kit. Then, I added the strut bracing (to replace the kingpost and cables) and the inflatable Full Lotus floats. The amphibious gear, complete with retractable nosewheel, was adapted from a Jim Lee design and is now marketed by Vista Enterprises in California under the Quicktrac name. This plane took off at 25 mph and had a top speed of 45. At that speed the wind in your face was quite bearable and the view from the pilot's seat unbeatable! A great low-and-slow flyer but not much for getting anywhere fast - driving was usually faster! |
| Pontoons double as skis for winter flying in Vermont. Full snowmobile gear helps pilot and passenger stay warm. |
| The Sea Mite was a folding-wing amphibious two-seat ultralight trainer built by J& J Ultralights in Live Oak, FL. It's best feature was a wing that could be folded like an umbrella in a matter of minutes allowing the craft to be stored in the garage or towed on a trailer down the highway at 65 mph. I took it to Florida that way several times. Probably the most fun flying machine I ever had, but it did involve learning a new flying techniique. Without a tail or ailerons, all control is accomplished by moving the wing -- easy, except all controls motions are exactly the reverse of a standard 3-axis control plane - like the Quicksilver and Flightstar above. |
| No floats required for water landings in New Hampshire in the winter! |
| see some of my brother Kit's flying machines |
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| Back in 1968(!) I built a Bensen B-8M Gyrocopter. It was powered by a 75 HP McCullough drone engine which weighed 75 LB. Starting was by hand-propping. Before I crashed the thing (and buried it), I made it onto the cover of Popular Rotorcraft Flying magazine which, at that time, was run by none other than John Shuttleworth who subsequently became better known as Founder and Editor of the Mother Earth News. (for full page photo: (click here) |
| I also worked on a Hot-Air Airship For story and photos click here |
| See my new boat page: Sno'Dog Log |