Customer Stories
Have You Ever Seen a Deere Fly? Part I
Jackye Reynolds, EAA 744120
Building what you fly is sometimes a tall order.Especially if your building spaces are limited to your carport and other small places where all your other stuff accumulates as well. I have veteran roots in hang gliding, beginning on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Through the years, I observed some of my foot-launched pilot friends transition to early ultralights, and I lost a few friends to what I refer to as a “go-kart attitude.” Read more
I had hopes our group of flyers would build a motorized Birdman sailplane kit, but the developer died in an accident while flying it. I’d flown an early weight-shift Quicksilver, tried a Lazair, a Wizard, and had seen some Weedhopper kits. I was intimidated by my own lack of knowledge of engine-related stuff, but I was continually watching to see new flying things come on the scene. Luckily I lived in a great location for simple foot-launched flight.
Time passes and we’re destined to relocate at least a handful of times in our lives. Foot-launched flight was becoming more of a driving ordeal with rising fuel costs, and just crashing at someone’s home until the weather improved for flying wasn’t really on my list of fun things to do. Mountain launch and landing zone sites were dwindling, and later the truck-tow or aero-tow flight park became the surer bet for multiple flights.
I again revisited the local Cessna Flight Center and spent some of my minimal savings getting an occasional “air fix.” Over the next 10 years, I had increased my general aviation flying time by 7 to 8 hours a year. Not enough to really say, “Yeah, I’m a pilot!” without having your fingers crossed behind your back, or others proclaiming, “Well, a hang glider pilot!” In rare instances, someone would add, “I thought I detected a crazy look in your eyes!”
I realized I wasn’t going to be able to fly my own conventional aircraft with my limited earnings, home mortgage, insurance, and all the things that keep coming up to torpedo dreams. I had personally flown back seat in a few trikes and pusher type ultralights, but that engine and prop thing behind me always made me anxious.
The new Internet revolution helped me get more in tune with other options and knowledge basics for developing a better understanding of what I would need to know to fly an ultralight aircraft safely. There were a limited number of ultralight – basic flight instructors in my area, and many were just weekend, part-time, weather-permitting, LLC entities, with the number of instructors decreasing rapidly.
I decided that my best fit for an ultralight aircraft would have folding wings similar to a trike, and could be trailered, but with the engine up front – all of which were exemplified in the stability and docile handling of the two-axis Weedhopper. These single-seat aircraft were also selling for considerably less than a trike. So I bought my first, low-hour, 40-hp Weedhopper on eBay for about $4,000. I found a great resource for Weedhopper builders and pilots on Yahoo groups and have a great kinship with these fellow enthusiasts still. In time I did a little bit of “movin’ on up” to a nicer Hopper with real hydraulic disk brakes, electric start, BRS parachute, pod, and Lexan windshield.
Jackye in her customized Weedhopper
I learned more about maintaining my Rotax engine and aircraft from a great bunch of “coaches” both online and locally. It seems the ultralight community has an underground mystique to it which made locating it difficult at first. I have to thank the EAA chapters with their pancake breakfasts for helping with that. I enjoyed trips to some of the regional fly-ins I had to trailer my bird to, and I camped out in my van, sometimes with only a solar-heated hose and spray-nozzle shower in the grass.
Ah, but “trailering” to me meant all the work of properly padding and securing my baby for the road bumps and draft blasts from other vehicles speeding down the interstate, and a place to put that tail section that was still rather bulky. Setting it up and packing it up deterred me from going to all the fly-ins I’d contemplated. Over the years of flying my Weedhopper, I’d begun to hunger for a simpler way to fold up my bird and just be able to fly with a faster wing perhaps and maybe a little more storage space in my carport if I should bring it home for the winter. I was lucky to find a nice grass airfield only an hour’s drive from home with some shed hangars for less than $50 a month.
Maybe I should have looked at trikes again, now that I knew who could train me safely nearby. And maybe with more experience, on a good morning or afternoon, I could have possibly towed up a few of my hang glider friends as well as an aero-tow pilot that never had any free flight airtime unless he jumped out of an airplane with his parachute. I found that trikes were still pretty expensive, though, when considering the newer topless wing choices, and the majority of them were for two-seat wing loadings. In addition there was this dull buzz about light-sport aircraft making some changes in the sport flight community.
I was just interested in solo flight, with little restrictions that really didn’t present any problem to me! I found a Tukan “stick trike”without a wing that needed some work that I thought would be a good candidate for my first trike project. I ordered a wing that was just a few pounds too heavy to make the ultralight weight limitations, but I felt I could do a few things to get the weight down overall.
I took a few hours of weight-shift-control instruction from the certificated flight instructors at TampabayAerosport in Zephyrhills, Florida. When I mentioned the lime-green Tukan I’d purchased, they remarked, “Oh no, you bought Grave Digger? [nicknamed after its monster truck color scheme] I hope you’re going to paint that thing, ’cause it’s ugly!” Well, my heart sank a bit, and then my reply just came out: “I’ve got a yellow wing now, so it’s going to become a John Deere trike!” I couldn’t afford all the pretty cool-looking things I was seeing on the newer breeds of trikes, but I remembered meeting Don Cooney and admiring his Prowler trike at one of the fly-ins I had attended years earlier. “If it had just a little more ground clearance for my farm field type flying, that would be for me!” I had told him. “Well, you could build it that way!” he had said. I had been under the impression that building a trike and wing probably involved some voodoo. Over that summer, I made changes and repairs and got my ultralight Tukan trike airworthy, and I was enjoying the confidence that the sturdy Manta 15 strutted wing was instilling in me.
Jackye’s Tukan ultralight trike with Manta 15 wing
In the distance there were more rumblings about N-numbers and deadlines in the year to come, but that was for those guys that wanted to fly fast and far with two seats and passengers. I was just going to keep to myself and fly around the patch at 50 mph max. Maybe trailer to a fly-in or something, but I still had the Weedhopper for wintertime flights, too.
That October, I had an opportunity to make my first real cross-country flights with another Tukan trike pilot, Larry Wallace, from Tuscaloosa, Alabama.We flew to and from the Outer Banks of North Carolina over a beautiful three-day weather window – that was literally monumental for me. We flew and landed at the Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina. Larry shares our flight and other great adventures with readers in numerous flight publications for the sport flyer, including stories such as “Slow Trike to Kitty Hawk,” “Poor Man’s Hangar,” etc. Naturally, my eyes were even more opened to the possibility that with proper planning and support I could really go places with a trike.
Well, I was spending more money on two hangars now, and twice the maintenance concerns for aircraft and hangars. I guess Angelfire, my Weedhopper, would be the easiest to part with now. (Not!) But I sold her semilocally anyway with thoughts I could fly my trike sometime to go visit her. I’ve not seen her since! (Sniff.) The sale was to be part of my debt reduction program, but it was also a temptation to spend my new earmarked reserves on more parts to completely rebuild a trike to my whims.
All too soon, that deadline date for U.S. ultralights to have applied for N-numbers and airworthiness certification was history. I still wasn’t sure what I was going to do with my single-seat trike that would be just a bit fat because of the wing’s weight. Talk of uncertificated or fat ultralights being “yard ornaments” was everywhere. I figured, “Okay. I’ll get the lightest weight trike wing I can find and continue to fly my trike as an ultralight.” The 5 gallons of fuel capacity was no problem, and the single-place wing would still be within tolerances for maximum takeoff weight. But I wouldn’t be able to add the safety and comfort features I had hoped for with this trike.
I flew a few more times and was finding myself thinking about zooming off to places farther than my ultralight restrictions would realistically allow. I didn’t have the funds to buy a bigger engine four-stroke trike that I’d have to build a better hangar for or spend more of my flying reserves on county airport hangar rental if one was available. Ding dong! I was going to just work with what I have and what I could learn to do. So began the evolution or remodeling of my new trike. I was able to start making a plan for building my DeereFlytrike to be nearly the trike I had envisioned. Thanks go to Mark Gibson of Manta Aircraft who helped me build and assemble my own experimental amateur-built trike wing, the Orca.
Final product is the new experimental DeereFly trike with homebuilt Orca wing.
If you didn’t know you could build your own trike wing, read part two of this story in the next issue. And remember what Jackye always says: "Any time off the planet is a good time!”
Have You Ever Seen a Deere Fly? – Conclusion
By Jackye Reynolds, EAA 744120
I flew a few more times and was finding myself thinking about zooming off to places farther than my ultralight restrictions would realistically allow. I didn’t have the funds to buy a bigger engine four-stroke trike that I’d have to build a better hangar for or spend more of my flying reserves on county airport hangar rental if one was available. Ding dong! I was going to just work with what I have and what I could learn to do.
So began the evolution or remodeling of my trike, but I faced a minor setback; I broke my wrist in September of 2009, tripping over my own blue tarp on a garden shed project. No more flyin’ for a while, and I’d be limited in my work income with a gimp wrist, too. On another front, I had sent an e-mail to Timm Bogenhagen at EAA regarding the continuation of building a “UL–exemption 103” aircraft into an experimental amateur-built (E-AB) aircraft. He promptly responded and sent back some important information about documentation such as E-AB builders logbooks or a diary with photos. These records would be evidence of my overall building in excess of 51 percent of the aircraft and help qualify it as amateur-built.
Pile of tubing needed to build an Orca trike wing
I was able to further consult with trike and wing builder Mark Gibson of Manta Aircraft about the E-AB process for building a trike wing. He offers parts and sail-making services as well as builders assist programs “if you want to really know your wing intimately”!
With this invaluable information and service available in the United States for the trike builder, I was able to start making a plan for building my DeereFly trike to be nearly the trike I’d envisioned. Despite knowing where to find most of the basic, necessary FAA forms online, I decided to purchase the EAA certification kit with tips and advice on getting it right the first time. It comes with lots of forms, examples, stickers, and other stuff to help you letter and label important things on your aircraft. I also had fast responses from the government agencies to which I’d sent my N-number requests, so with all the forms notarized and signed, it was easy and quick to get through the red tape. I guess I had feared, because of the prior E-LSA grandfathering backlog, that red tape would always be a perpetual situation as with anything that’s “gubmint”!
During the summer before I broke my wrist, I had been able to do some of the trike carriage modifications. And it was a blessing to know I couldn’t fly anyway because of the cold winter months coming. I had rebuilt the Azusa wheels with new precision roller bearings and used Michelin Classic Scooter tires instead of the “low speed, not for highway use” wheelbarrow tires. I built a new front fork from parts of the old one in order to have the foot pegs inside the new lightweight fiberglass pod from Precision Composites.
On eBay I found high-finned wheelpants and the pod which weren’t fitted with mounting hardware or brackets, so that was all in the scope of my problem-solving process. No longer would the front wheel “Flintstone” friction plate brake be of any use. I found a hydraulic disk brake assembly from Believe Aviation that was designed for PPCs and would fit the bill, but it had a brake handle lever and reservoir. I said to myself, “I’ll figure something out!”
I’d been to Sun ’n Fun in the spring of 2009 and had opportunities to look at numerous production models of trikes, and other aircraft, too. They all had really nice finishes and professional-looking gadgetry and hardware. I came away with more wants, but few new solutions to my project problems. It was my good fortune to chat with Prowler trike builder Don Cooney of Concept Aviation, though. He reminded me that my fiberglass products may have a light coat of paint covering the inside fibers not protected by a gel coat. He advised I should sand away the paint coat, before any epoxy bonding of mounting plates and brackets. D’oh! This was good information, because I had already started the backing plate bonding process to the wheelpants but hadn’t sanded the paint off in some of those areas. This later became a necessity; I detected some separation signs that required a whole lot of work to do right the second time around! Sometimes my project just had to sit out there in the carport and wait for work schedule lulls, warmer weather breaks, or divine revelation!
I made plans with Mark “Gibbo” Gibson of Manta Aircraft in Magnolia, Texas, to help me build and assemble my own E-AB Orca trike wing. Unfortunately, about 4 weeks later, Gibbo sustained serious injuries in an incident with unseen utility lines during an emergency landing. Scores of prayers and healing energies from friends all over the world were offered up for his survival and recovery. I’m happy to report it was a success,
and he has just recently resumed his flying, in better health than ever and with more insight into the importance of headgear and safety equipment.
It would not be until March that he had the strength and endurance to sit at his sewing machine he calls his ATM machine and begin on the backlog of orders for work he had accepted prior to his accident. I had called him periodically to assure him that his recovery and mental health were paramount to my particular plans. A short while later, I got an e-mail from him saying, “Let’s make a plan for you to build your wing! When can you come here?”
Mark Gibson, designer of the Manta trike wings.
A few weeks later, after a little juggling of the schedule and a pleasant weekend road trip with a Saturday stopover in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, to visit my Kitty Hawk trip wingman Larry Wallace, I drove into the small town of Magnolia, Texas, and checked into the Super 8. At 8 a.m. Monday morning I arrived at the Manta Aircraft factory, and Gibbo was ready to work! The Manta factory is a well-appointed two-and-a-half car garage set up with a large sewing table, overhead shelves, and work benches. Wow! A real garage industry! “Gimpo” was all smiles and grimaces from some latent pains of surgeries, but still ready to get goin’! “Let’s make it happen!” he said. So we did!
Cutting tubing for the leading edges.
I set out my point-and-shoot camera with tripod and my builder’s logbook, and I put on my work gloves. While I was setting out inventory, cutting lengths of tubing and stock, and making myself familiar with his work areas, Gibbo was laying out sail panels and parts, snippin’ and stitchin’, and we just had a grand ol’ gab fest as we worked away the daylight. Gibbo’s lovely wife, Sascha, and family peeked in from time to time but generally left us alone to create a beautiful 12-meter strutted trike wing in 5 days.
At night in my hotel room, I’d try to upload a few pics to some web albums and share “The Manta Files” with various e-groups.
Beginning the builder’s log for the Orca wing
Larger view
On Friday morning we were slipping the sail on the frame and completing all the tensioners and nifty wear-reduction aids that are necessary for a foldable flex wing. After a quick video session, bagging and loading the folded wing on my truck racks, we made our final goodbyes, and I was on the road again!
I rolled back into Tuscaloosa, Alabama, late that night and awakened Saturday morning at Larryboy and Marygirl’s. After a great homemade breakfast of bacon, eggs, and biscuits with Golden Eagle syrup, we headed over to Deerlick Airfield and Wild Pig Resort for a morning flight in Larry’s Geo-powered Aeros trike with the Cadillac emblem on the hood, don’t ya know! It was still a chilly morning, and after about an hour in the air, we’d both had enough; the turbulence was beginning to assure us we’d be smart to make a controlled landing ASAP. Afterward, I was treated to some quality touring of the area and sharing family time with their young-uns and grandkids.
By Sunday morning I was up before the family headed off to church and was rockin’ up the interstate for my home in Raleigh, North Carolina. Those last few hours of driving in rain showers were the worst because my brand-spankin’ new wing might be getting waterlogged and then mildew. Finally, I’m home, I’m reunited with my kitty “Prince,” and I begin the grueling task of trying to single-handedly get my folded wing bundle off my truck and into a dry space out from under my leaky carport. My back really hates me when I do things like that, and it lets me know I’m not allowed another chance to bend over for a couple of days!
It was now time for me to get back on the paperwork path, lettering, labeling, painting, wiring, and detailing again. Multiple logbooks for airframe, engine, and propeller are all part of the typical record-keeping regimen that seems redundant but necessary. I also acquired lettering and labeling supplies from various sources on the Internet, and some were rather excited to see where their craft or handiwork would be applied. The EAA had sent me the experimental fireproof data plate that I proceeded to butcher with my “chicken scratch” engraving. I had to do that one over with the pros that can engrave on steel. It seems some trophy shops and jewelry services just aren’t equipped for that sort of thing!
The finished product ready for inspection.
The window of opportunity had finally opened, and I was about to fly out through it! Sizing up my chances of getting an airframe and powerplant certificate with inspection authorization at the flight standards district office in Greensboro, North Carolina, to visit me, or I them anytime soon, just didn’t have much appeal to me. Instead I could schedule it for next week and just an hour drive from home with a weight-shift-control Designated Airworthiness Representative (DAR). His rates were reasonable, plus he was within flying distance once my phase one testing stage was completed. I summoned up my courage, called the DAR, and spoke with him about my need to schedule an inspection for a special airworthiness certificate. I had an E-AB weight-shift-control aircraft. “Well, did you build the wing?” he asked. “You bet your bippie I did, and I got the pics and logbooks to prove it!” I replied. Boy, that felt good! “Well, you send me the paperwork and pictures or drawings, we’ll look it over and schedule for you to bring it here to my shop,” he said.
The inspections went well, and the 40-hour phase one test area restrictions were better than expected, realistically allowing me to fly from airport to airport to airport for a great circular course that I still have yet to complete. My phase one is about over, so I hope to have that trip completed by June 15, 2011. I’ve had a thrill building and flying my new DeereFly trike, and I’m still adding little things to it here and there that make flying an experimental aircraft the best way for me to go.
I contacted someone at the John Deere Corporation with a picture and the caption “Have you ever seen a DeereFly?” The response that came back to me was, “That’s really cute. I hope you enjoy flying it!” I still have no desire to take passengers, but I hope others will realize that the road to experimental aviation isn’t all red tape – it’s more about friends and experiences you learn from along the way!
Jackye and her DeereFly trike after a cold winter flight with a friend in a Phantom.
I’m sorry if I’m boring some of you, but this account has also become an essay about the journey and the people and relationships you develop while building an aircraft. That’s what I’ve learned throughout the building and remodeling projects I’ve done on homes and businesses, and it’s that same family relationship you develop in the company of people with whom you share ideas and aviation thoughts. Just like here and now.
Check out the Manta Aircraft factory website for more information about the complete range of topless folding strut wings that are available as amateur-built kits. Manta also offers trike kits and factory-built trikes and wings. More pictures of the DeereFly project can be found on Jackye’s Flickr page.
