Not Nortons, but they've got engines!

grandpaul

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It started out as a plan to turn this...

Not Nortons, but they've got engines!


Into one of these...

Not Nortons, but they've got engines!


It's a Quicksilver MXII Sprint with Rotax 503 (46hp w/ single carb). It started life as a 2-seater but is now configured as a single-seater (which requires no license).

I'm basically just short a propeller, rudder, seat, and a bunch of refurb and assembly hours to fly. I used to fly these in the early 80s, so it should be like riding a bicycle...
 
I immediately ordered a parts/assembly book and set down to compile a parts list in order to re-assemble it after the previous owner crashed it and replaced most of the broken/bent parts. Once I got to calculating the cost, it turned out there was a ready-to-fly single-seater for $500 less on the fecebook Quicksilver group!

Not Nortons, but they've got engines!


Cooll thing is, one of the guys on the FB group mentioned he flew out of his own private strip just up the road (exactly 20 miles driveway to runway), and I'd be welcome to stash the project in a corner of his hangar, and fly out of his place anytime! We got to discussing it at length, and he let on that he'd been considering starting a local flying club (he also has a Pipistrel SINUS 2-place and knows a few folks in the area that he's going to invite over to get the ball rolling.

It also occurred to me that once I complete my move from Laredo, I will have a perfectly good hangar, disguised as a former garage/shop! So, that's on the books for the near future...

Not Nortons, but they've got engines!


All of a sudden, I'm liking this move....
 
Newspaper article from back in the day, I used to help my brother-in-law build them and helped train new clients in getting off the ground (it was fast and loose in the early 80s)

I hope it's like a bicycle; you know, once you learn...

Not Nortons, but they've got engines!
 
Go for it, Paul! I've looked at ultra-lights and gyrocopters as a possibility several times in the last few years. I have a pilot's license, but it's way out of date, and flying has become way too expensive. I haven't flown since 1992, and have never tried an ultra-light. But I've been entranced by gyrocopters since I saw a how-to article as a kid in Popular Mechanics back in the '50s. Please keep updating your progress.

Ken
 
Quicksilver are the premier ultralights in the market and vastly outsell all others for more than one reason, but the main reason is: you get unparalleled assembly instructions and EVERY LAST NUT AND COTTER PIN is blister packed in sub-assemblies. TRUE kit plane. Also, true 3-axis controls, and AMPLE power.
 
Good luck with it Paul, just like motorcycles they both are very similar just different heights, wind in your hair and freedom that comes with it but they also both share the same dangers and a lot of experience people have been injured as well killed, just like motorcycles.
Taking risks is all part of life we do what we like best, so keep safe and have some fun.

Ashley
 
Bryan Hindle was one of our fastest road racers - killed in an ultralight. Staying alive is about managing and minimising risk. When you fall off a motorcycle, even if you are hi-sided, the max fall is about 2 metres.
 
Go for it, Paul! I've looked at ultra-lights and gyrocopters as a possibility several times in the last few years. I have a pilot's license, but it's way out of date, and flying has become way too expensive. I haven't flown since 1992, and have never tried an ultra-light. But I've been entranced by gyrocopters since I saw a how-to article as a kid in Popular Mechanics back in the '50s. Please keep updating your progress.

Ken


Ken I can visualise the 1007cc Norton Commando powered gyrocopter taking shape in your head...

You’ve got enough projects on the go Ken... let it go...!
 
I also have my Single Engine Land (SEL) ticket but it is way out of date too, there is a flying club over at the Airforce base in Yakota that close to me and I've been thinking of getting current again and taking a couple of my kids up for a ride around the patch so to speak. Just to see if any of them absolutely love it and want to pursue it as a career. A few years back I was looking at Gyrocopters myself, but was too tied up with other projects and their performance is kind of off putting. pretty safe though.
 
Ken I can visualise the 1007cc Norton Commando powered gyrocopter taking shape in your head...

You’ve got enough projects on the go Ken... let it go...!
I once bought a pre unit triumph engine that had been in a gyrocopter
 
i can feeel the excitement...

on a side note what's your location ? it flying a german flag instead the stars and strips?
 
Yes, I am in North Bavaria, Pressath, Germany.

It would have been a wonderful vacation including traveling thru Austria and Lichtenstein to ski Switzerland (which we did), but my wyfe suffered a fall and fractured her radius, so she will need a plate and screws (currently in a temporary cast until we can arrange logistics).

Otherwise GORGEOUS scenery, plenty of snow, and we all had a nice time on the slopes (until the accident).

On the way home, near Weiden, I photographed a glider (sailplane), and an AMAZING array of airliner contrails that made the sky appear as a checkerboard; that is the extent of my aviation exploits since last checking in.

To close the present discussion (for now), I have purchased a 4-acre unrestricted lot very near our home in Leander, TX where I plan to re-configure and re-erect my previous 2-bay garage into a single-plane hangar, proper bike garage, and SHOP!!! (a good bit nicer than the drawing above) The "flagpole" of the flag-shaped lot is slightly more than 700' in length, so it will make a very nice runway. The lot has no utilities, so I will start with a large 230V 9KW generator and a portable 1,000 gallon water tank with pump.

I hope everyone had a very nice Christmas, and have a wonderful New Year including many fun Norton/Commando times...
 
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