Pterodactyl Update

I wanted to inform you with a quick update of the status of my Pterodactyl Fledge.

The two fuel tanks attached to my aircraft were split down the sides so they had to go. I've decided that the landing gear wires, wheels, sling/seat, and a lot of rusty hardware needs to be replaced as well. I could probably get away with keeping the old tires, but I would like my aircraft to look sharp and crisp. At the moment, the tires are faded and ugly.

I've decided to get steerable nosegear which will make taxing much easier. I understand the risk that it holds, but I'm willing to take reasonable actions to manage that particular risk. I've thought about creating a mechanism which locks the nosewheel for takeoff and landing, but am not really sure about how that would work.

Despite the temptation to keep one of the two engines that came with my place, I will soon put them up for sale. That's as soon as I figure out how to remove the massive bolts (suggestions appreciated) which cling on to the engine mount. I will be replacing those Cayuna engines with a Rotax 277.

I've built, covered, and painted the canard. One of my friends asked me if he could touch it because the paint still looked wet. I took that as a compliment as that's exactly what I wanted it to look like. After painting I had difficulty finding the control post hole, but thanks to the Pterodactyl
Yahoo group, I was able to locate it. At this moment, the canard is one-hundred percent complete.

Currently, I've been working on adding the noseboom, changing the control stick and attaching the canard to the airframe. Much more news to come. Perhaps even a video. At the moment, my Pterodactyl is still a Fledge, but soon it will be transformed into an Ascender!

Cody Nelson's First Time Into The Air

I would like to share a story with you that I'm sure you'll enjoy. It's a story about how a little bit of effort and motivation can change someones life. This is the story of Cody Nelson who contacted me after watching my Youtube videos. He was interested in flight, but didn't know where to go. After I pointed out that his local airport had a flight school that would be happy to take him up for an introductory flight, he quickly signed the dotted line. Cody didn't realize that his signature in this instance would change him forever.

The following is directly from Cody. I hope you enjoy it:

"This year so far has been a year of firsts. But they are all good in one way or another.
I’ve never been so nervous in my life when I climbed into a Cessna 172 for the time of my flying career. With airplanes it seems like seeing is believing. My instructor and I fought our selves into the cockpit with our big winter coats on because after all it was January after all. The cold winter air made it hard for the old girl to start up. After pre-flight we started the plane up and radioed in our clearance for our taxi to our runway, “Cessna three eight one ready for taxi for straight out departure on runway two four” after a while we got the reply “Cessna three eight one, you are clear for taxi on general aviation taxi way, taxi to and hold short of runway two four”. After all the radio work was done for a while we got in line for our departure. After doing another pre-flight we radioed into the tower, “Ann Arbor Tower this is Cessna three eight one ready for take off at runway two four”, then after a few seconds we passed “Cessna three one eight you are cleared for take off on runway two four”, then the fun began.
We ram the throttle into the dash for full throttle on the old girl. Then right when we hit sixty eight miles an hour and we both pulled back on the yoke and we were off. I didn’t notice or realize how much of my fear of heights was until we got up into our altitude of one thousand eight hundred feet and began to look around some. I couldn’t see my house but I did find my high school and when I say that it wasn’t bad for its view. But since I was afraid of heights I actually focused on the plane a lot more than view. But after flying for an hour we were ready to take back down. Before I knew it we were radioing our transmissions “Cessna three eight one cleared for full stop lading on runway two four, Ann Arbor Tower”. After a nice and soft lading we taxied back to the lady’s (the plane’s) hangar while I was saying thanks to the tower for a great afternoon flight in the sky.
You know I find it like it’s magic that an invisible force that we all breathe everyday and every minuet of the day and make a one thousand three hundred ninety six pound aircraft fly into the wind like it’s weightless."

Cody has plans to become a hang glider pilot next year. After that I have no doubt that he will move into powered ultralights, Light Sport Aircraft, and then General Aviation aircraft. His career might even involve aviation.

My work was simple. I only answered his questions and pointed him in the right direction. By doing those two simple things I converted a landlubber into a future pilot. We need more pilots and If you do those two simple things I am confident that the pilot population will expand. Creating a pilot is not only good for the aviation industry, but is great for the individual person. That person will be changed forever.

Go out to the airport, find those people who have their fingers in the airport fence and change their lives! We need more pilots.