Today's Message Index:
----------------------
1. 09:08 AM - Early Stuff (Edward Bonsell)
2. 09:38 AM - Re: Early Stuff (william sullivan)
3. 10:55 AM - Early Days (Edward Bonsell)
4. 07:36 PM - Re: Early Stuff (Richard Pike)
5. 07:50 PM - Re: Early Days (Richard Pike)
6. 07:55 PM - Re: Early Days (Richard Pike)
Message 1
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Good Morning All,
I thought since there's not a lot of posts coming in I would fill in by
posting some stuff from my earlier days.
I started flying in 1983. My father owned a tree nursery in Fort Washington
PA. One day I was out in the field digging a tree when a little airplane
flew over. It wasn't a regular airplane. It was all open I and could see
the pilot. The wings were different colors. He was a few hundred feet high.
I never saw such a thing and stood there thinking that is so cool. A half
hour later he came back going the other way.
I told a friend about it. He said that's one of those new Ultralight
planes. They only cost two thousand dollars. (not)
The next week we sought out a place that had them. We found the Davis
Brothers had a place in Phoenixville PA that sold the Advanced Aviation
"Cobra". The Cobra was like a quicksilver but more sophisticated. It had a
35hp Cayuna engine, silver anodized tubing, double surface wing, steerable
nose gear. It was a great plane. Didn't go much over 50 mph. But it flew
like a Butterfly. The Dais's had a 2 place Cobra they had for training and
fun. We each went for a 20 minute ride. Before I got back I decided I had
to have one. I'll have to tell you a few stories about that plane.
I flew it for 2 or 3 years.
One day I ran into Mark Christman. He was flying a Kolb Twinstar out of a
field owned by guy named Al Navarrow. A very Nice man. Al had a Cessna
Cardinal. He tought may guys how to fly. Marks Twinstar had a red and
white sunburst on the wings. I couldn't fly around with him his plane was
fast compared to my little Cobra. One day he said "when you get tired of
flying that lawn chair with wings I should consider a real plane. Like a
Kolb."
They had just come out with the Firestar the first time I flew over to the
factory. Needless to say I was Impressed. But the thought of building it
looked beyond my ability.
My advanced Aviation Cobra at Deverys. aka. A.G.A. Farm 1984. Behind my
Cobra is a Pterodactyl and a Maxair Hummer.
Message 2
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Thank you. Very nice story.
Bill Sullivan
do not archive
On Sunday, April 26, 2020, 12:09:05 PM EDT, Edward Bonsell <smedley945
@gmail.com> wrote:
Good Morning All,I thought since there's not a lot of posts coming in I wo
uld fill in by posting some stuff from my earlier days.=C2-I started flyi
ng in 1983. My father owned a tree nursery in Fort Washington PA. One day I
was out in the field digging a tree when a little airplane flew over. It w
asn't a regular airplane. It was all open I and could see the pilot. The wi
ngs were different colors. He was a few hundred feet high. I never saw such
a thing=C2-and stood there thinking that is so cool. A half hour later h
e came back going the other way.I told a friend about it. He said that's on
e of those new Ultralight planes. They only cost two thousand dollars. (not
)
The next week we sought out a place that had them.=C2- We found the Davis
Brothers had a place in Phoenixville =C2-PA =C2-that sold the Advanced
Aviation "Cobra". The Cobra was like a quicksilver=C2-but more sophistic
ated. It had a 35hp Cayuna engine, silver anodized tubing, double surface w
ing, steerable nose gear. It was a great plane. Didn't go much over 50 mph.
But it flew like a Butterfly. The Dais's had a 2 place Cobra they=C2-had
for training and fun. We each went for a 20 minute ride. Before I got=C2
-back I decided I had to have one. I'll have to tell you a few stories ab
out that plane.I flew it for 2 or 3 years.One day I ran into Mark Christman
. He was flying a Kolb Twinstar out of a field owned by guy named Al Navarr
ow. A very Nice man. Al had a Cessna Cardinal. He tought may guys how to fl
y.=C2- Marks=C2-Twinstar had a red and white sunburst on the=C2-wings
. I couldn't fly around with him his=C2-plane=C2-was fast compared to m
y little Cobra. One day he said "when you get tired of flying that lawn cha
ir with wings I should consider a real plane. Like a Kolb." =C2-=C2-
They had just come out with the Firestar the first time I flew over to the
factory. Needless to say I was Impressed. But the thought of building it lo
oked beyond my ability.
My advanced Aviation Cobra at Deverys. aka. A.G.A. Farm 1984. Behind my Cob
ra is a Pterodactyl=C2-and=C2-a Maxair Hummer.
Message 3
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Good Morning All,
I thought since there's not a lot of posts coming in I would fill in by
posting some stuff from my earlier days.
I started flying in 1983. My father owned a tree nursery in Fort Washington
PA. One day I was out in the field digging a tree when a little plane
flew over. It wasn't a regular plane. It was all open I and could see
the pilot. The wings were different colors. He was a few hundred feet high.
I never saw such a thing and stood there thinking that is so cool. A half
hour later he came back going the other way.
I told a friend about it. He said that's one of those new Ultralight
planes. They only cost two thousand dollars. (not)
The next week we sought out a place that had them. We found the Davis
Brothers had a place in Phoenixville PA that sold the Advanced Aviation
"Cobra". The Cobra was like a quicksilver but more sophisticated. It had a
35hp Cayuna engine, silver anodized tubing, double surface wing, steerable
nose gear. It was a great plane. Didn't go much over 50 mph. But it flew
like a Butterfly. The Davis's had a 2 place Cobra for training. We each
went for a 20 minute ride. Before we got back I decided I had
to have one. $5,200.00 in a kit. I'll have to tell you a few stories about
that plane sometime.
I flew it for 2 or 3 years.
The second year I ran into Mark Chrisman. He was flying a Kolb Twinstar out
of a
field owned by Al Navarrow. A very nice man. Al had a Cessna
Cardinal. He tought a lot guys how to fly. I ended up keeping my plane
there. Marks Twinstar had a red and
white sunburst on the wings. I couldn't fly around with him his plane was
fast compared to my Cobra. One day he said "when you get tired of
flying that lawn chair with wings I should consider a real plane. Like a
Kolb."
They had just come out with the Firestar the first time I flew over to the
factory. Needless to say I was Impressed. But the thought of building it
looked beyond my ability.
My advanced Aviation Cobra at Deverys. aka. A.G.A. Farm 1984. Behind my
Cobra is a Pterodactyl and a Maxair Hummer.
Message 4
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Thank you for sharing. I had a Maxair Hummer and put 750 hours on it. It was not
as versatile as a Firestar or Firefly, but it was not too far behind. In smooth
air - 62 mph cruise, and the later versions with the spoilers it was about
as agile. But a lot worse landing in a crosswind.
Interestingly, mine had a Rotax 277, and the mounting system for the engine had
no engine vibration. With our Firefly & 277, we could not come up with an engine
mount that got rid of the vibration. No matter what we did, it shook. Gave
up and went with a 377. Problem solved.
The Firestar & Firefly are excellent little airplanes, but the Hummer was a genuine
(easy - no weight problems) ultralight, and was about 85% as good. (Unless
you had to land it in a stiff cross wind!)
--------
Richard Pike
Kolb MKIII N420P (420ldPoops)
Kolb Firefly Part 103 legal
Kingsport, TN 3TN0
Forgiving is tough, being forgiven is wonderful, and God's grace really is amazing.
Read this topic online here:
http://forums.matronics.com/viewtopic.php?p=496055#496055
Message 5
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Thank you for sharing about the Good Old Days!
Yeah, since there is not much going on - I started with a Quicksilver B (plans
only) My wife sewed the sails on her antique Singer sewing machine in our living
room when she was 8 months pregnant! It flew, but only barely.
I got a Yamaha CT-1 175cc engine and hacksawed off the crankcase until I could
make it work with a big flat washer welded to the primary gear, and a 36" home
made wood prop bolted to the flat washer. It flew, but would not get out of
ground effect. I sold it to a guy who was dumber than I was.
--------
Richard Pike
Kolb MKIII N420P (420ldPoops)
Kolb Firefly Part 103 legal
Kingsport, TN 3TN0
Forgiving is tough, being forgiven is wonderful, and God's grace really is amazing.
Read this topic online here:
http://forums.matronics.com/viewtopic.php?p=496056#496056
Attachments:
http://forums.matronics.com//files/quick_626.jpg
Message 6
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My next fiasco: Back around 1981, Dupont sponsored some sort of contest promoting
ultralight aircraft. Don't remember the specifics. But I just happened to
have a couple of 8 hp engines that had been marketed for attaching to the crossbar
of a hang glider to convert it into a ground launch hang glider. So I got
busy.
Here is the result: it wouldn't get out of ground effect either.
--------
Richard Pike
Kolb MKIII N420P (420ldPoops)
Kolb Firefly Part 103 legal
Kingsport, TN 3TN0
Forgiving is tough, being forgiven is wonderful, and God's grace really is amazing.
Read this topic online here:
http://forums.matronics.com/viewtopic.php?p=496057#496057
Attachments:
http://forums.matronics.com//files/windspear2_113.jpg
http://forums.matronics.com//files/windspear1_185.jpg
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