My story is a bit different, I guess. Back in 1984 my friend asked me if I'd ever heard of something called an ultralight. I had no idea, but when he said they were little airplanes it rekindled a fire that will never go out.
My dad got his certificate when I was about 6 years old and bought a Stinson 108-1 Voyager. I loved that plane and flying, and more than once woke up with mohair imprints on my face from falling asleep against the upholstery in the back seat of that old classic. We couldn't really afford it, though, so it was gone in about two years and flying was put on the back burner. Then when I was about 16 he got the bug again and bought a C model Ercoupe. It was a neat little plane, but without rudder pedals of course. It had the third wheel on the wrong end and those steering wheel thingies, but I didn't know better then.
So in 1984 my friend and I bought matching Teratorn Tierra ultralights. I believe they were about $4,600 each, and I traded my sailboat for mine. They had Rotax 277 28hp single cylinder two-stroke engines. The instructor had a two seat version and agreed to train us, and I soloed in 6.5 hours in my own plane. That was on December 5th, 1984. I loved that little plane, but due to flying alone (my friend developed other interests and let his plane rot), open air flying in Michigan winters, and the slowness of the cruise (45mph, though stall was about 15), I only put 160 hours in it in 10 years.
Not my plane, but the same model.
After joining an active ultralight group and not being able to keep up with anyone, I built a Rans S-4 Coyote. It was a big jump. Enclosed, 52hp Rotax 503, cabin heat, and a real performer for an ultralight. I started flying it in 1993, and immediately started logging 150 hours a year. So many stories to tell from the three years I owned it...
After a few years I got the bug to try water flying. Being a Parrothead, it had to be a flying boat. I also trained to be an ultralight Basic Flight Instructor, which gave me the right to fly a two-seater. In 1996 I built an Aventura 2 with a 65hp Rotax 582. If you haven't flown off of water, I highly recommend you try it. It's an obscene amount of fun. My build log is here:
http://lonepalmaero.com/aventura/
Seaplanes are great fun, but again I was flying alone if I headed for the water, since none of my friends had float planes. We could all land on the water, but I was the only one who could take off again. Flying was as much about the social aspect as the fun and skill of piloting, so I went looking for something new. About this time I befriended the unique and eclectic owner of CGS Aviation. I decided my next plane would be one of his Hawks. I started building it in 2001. In the middle of the build I moved to Florida, so it didn't get finished until early 2003. It was my first build using "dope and fabric" instead of presewn Dacron sailcloth covers. I developed my covering skills with the Polyfiber process on this plane, and it ended up winning awards at Sun-N-Fun every year I took it, culminating in Grand Champion Light Plane in 2009. The build log is
here.
Back when I was flying the Coyote, our group got into inter-club competitions with others in the Michigan and Indiana area. It was incredible fun, and we developed a reputation for showing up and taking all the awards home. The tasks were just fun stuff, like beanbag drops, spot landings, lawn bowling, and some simple navigation tasks. Those watching from the ground had almost as much fun as we did. Then things started to heat up. We developed National Competitions, and the tasks started getting more serious. Deadstick landings, fuel economy tasks, and precision navigation based solely on pilotage - charts and a stopwatch. I helped develop a tracking system based on putting a sealed GPS on the plane with the tracking log activated. After landing, we uploaded the log to a computer and overlaid the track on a chart. Before then we'd have to have an observer on the ground at every checkpoint. This was a lot more accurate and only took one person on the computer.
Then we found out about international competition. In 2003 the World Microlight Championships were held in Long Marston, England, and I won a spot on the US team. But... I didn't have a suitable plane. I got with the owner of CGS, and bought a single seat Hawk Sport kit. I had about 6 months to get it built and tested and learn the speeds and feeds, so it was a mad scramble. But what a fun plane! I wish I still had it today. Build pictures, in seemingly random order, are
here. I put it, along with two other planes, in a shipping container and sent it off to England on a boat. We followed a month later, and it was an incredible experience. We thought we were good, but the Europeans do this all the time, and left us in the dust. The tasks were incredibly intense, and they threw at least four of them at us a day, for 5 days straight. It didn't help that in the three weeks before the competition, when we were staying in a cottage in the Cotswolds, it was incredibly hot and dry, but the week of he competition the weather reverted to typical UK standards: cold, low ceilings, windy, and rainy. The best I can say was that in the class I was flying in, I was the best single-seat fixed-wing American pilot in the world. That means, out of 10 in our class, we Americans finished 8th, 9th, and 10th. I was 8th.
Back home, I started putting my skills to work and teamed up with CGS to build planes for them. I started up my (
own company), and over the time I worked with them, I must have built or rebuilt about 12 of them. I got to be known as the expert on that particular plane. Even now, years after I moved on, I get calls with questions about them. Unfortunately, they ask for someone who no longer exists, if you know what I mean. If it's a simple question I just answer it and move on, but if it gets in-depth, I end up having to out myself. Surprisingly, I've never had any problem with it.
During this time I continued to do competitions with my beloved single seat Hawk. I took second place in the Nationals in 2004, then in 2006 I won National Champion. And that was the last Nationals held in the US. So I am still officially US National Ultralight Champion 12 years later. Of course,
his name is on the certificate, but we know who they're talking about.
I worked with the new owner of CGS for a while after the old owner sold out, but it was an uncomfortable arrangement and we parted ways after a few years. With the new Light Sport category starting to supplant ultralights, I found a cool little plane being manufactured in Italy, and when they came looking for US dealers I signed up. The Groppo Trail is a great plane, but business is nearly non-existent for an imported kit that uses metric hardware. My website for it is
here. I have a kit of my own that I'm slowly building, and I take work where I can building, restoring, or rebuilding other experimental aircraft, but have pretty much gone into semi-retirement mode.
I did build a plane with a friend recently. It's another Rans, this time their relatively new S-20 Raven. After we'd had it flying for a while he bought me out, but I do get temporary custody occasionally when he brings it back for work. Since I built it, I was eligible for the official FAA maintenance certificate, so I just did its first annual condition inspection. Build pictures, again in random order
here.
With the S-20 gone and my kit still partially built, I fixed a neighbors plane with the understanding that I'd donate the labor in trade for flying time. It's an Aeroprakt A-20 Valor, and a sweet flyer but with a nose wheel and steering wheel thingies. I much prefer a Taildragger with sticks. The only advantage to yokes, as I told my neighbor, is you can fly it in a skirt. He said he'd keep that in mind.
I have tons and tons of stories to tell about the almost 4000 hours of recreational flying I have. Maybe some other day...
Flying with
@SassyCassie 
Stephanie
