Subject: Re: Where are all the Happy Adventure Amphibian Pilots?
Craig Wall
>He was
>recently killed flying a toy airplane, a Buccaneer II.
You know, your credentials are impressive.
You ought to lose that "Holier-than-Thou" macho shit that
leads you to look down your nose and call other people's
airplanes "toys", however.
That's the mark of a huckster. You might indeed have a
superior product, but you won't convince anyone by putting
down other people's products in a way that implies that
the owners and operators are somehow the "unwashed".
Of course, you probably won't see this, since you have
better things to do than sit in front of the "boob" that
we, the great unwashed masses of toy airplane drivers,
inhabit. Perhaps you should sail off with another all-
female crew and leave us panting at the thought.
Craig (...as *IF*!...) Wall
AdvAirLtd
I too have read the paper on amphibian aircraft design authored by David
Thurston, an engineer I respect. After reading it, I set out to design,
build, and kit the finest all-around personal amphibian/flying yacht in
the world; and, hopefully, to make money in the process. I was not
without knowledge about those subjects necessary to reach my goals.
Before going into the airplane business, I spent 35 years in the following
areas:
1) Building and sailing multi-hulls throughout the world, mostly
single-handed or with all female crews. I sailed more than 250,000 miles,
or 10 times the distance around the world.
2) Built the first tri-radial spinnaker and was sailmaker for Arthur
Piver, Jim Brown, and Norm Cross. I built the Big Cat sails on the 47’
and 65’ boats owned by the Hawaiian Hilton.
3) Built a 62’ power boat, the last boat I built, which became the
honorary tender to the nuclear submarine Guardfish.
4) Owned over 150 airplanes and owned or flew the following in some 35
countries:
5 Lakes, 2 Piaggio Royal Gulls (an L-1 and an L-2), PBY-5A, PBY-6A, DCB-26
(A-26), Riviera, B-25, B-17, HU-16 Albatross, and best of all the
Adventurer, just to name a few. By the way, I owned 5 Lakes because they
corroded badly in salt water and literally rotted away while using them to
fly to my private 18 acre island in the Xumas, a group of islands in the
Bahamas. Maybe you saw me in 1975 land my LA-180 in Lake Lloyd in the
middle of the Daytona Speedway during the Daytona 500. The plane was
called “The Spirit of Miami ‘76.”
5) Worked for many aircraft companies including OMAC, of which Grumman’s
own Corky Myers was President and David Thurston was a consulting
engineer. After OMAC spent $60 million they failed to certify.
Enough of my bio, let’s address core separation and shear. You cannot
compare an around-the-world single-handed ocean racer with an amphibious
airplane. By the way, renowned boat builder Don McIntyre, who built a 53’
single-handed racer and sailed it to a second place finish in the ‘90-’91
Whitbread, has purchased 10 Adventurers and wants to be the dealer for
Australia. Composites are in their infancy. Every time some new
materials come out, many choose to believe they are the answer to every
problem. This is not so, which is why we engineered our plane around a
proven resin and foam combination with which we had worked for 35 years.
We carry all major loads with 4130 chrome-moly steel. Our hull bottom is
1.5” thick at the step and has withstood water loads of 11.7 g’s with no
separation.
As for car engines, they have been in airplanes for over 60 years. Don’t
feel bad, up to a few years ago I was ignorant of this fact as well. We
use a new HO 350 Chevy that we buy directly from Chevrolet. We mate this
to a belt drive from Northwest Aero Products. We then do all of the
external modifications that turn it into an aircraft engine. I ask you,
for the same money would you rather fly behind a Rotax engine in a toy
airplane with 500 lbs of useful load or behind one of the most proven
engines in the world, giving you 1,333 lbs of useful load, a 1,600 mile
range, and the ability to take off and land on land, water, snow, or
tundra?
As to the fact of the (new) “Adventure Air, Ltd.” being a British Virgin
Islands company, that is where the money people wanted it. I am sure they
wanted as much protection as possible. They also contract to a Mexican
company for glass work, simply following the lead of the most successful
company, Lancair, who has for years produced their hulls in the
Philippines. However, since N.A.F.T.A., it made more sense to do it in
Mexico. Why was Britten Norman Islander production moved to Romania?
As to our USA company, the name is “Aero-Marine, L.L.C.”, a limited
liability company. Yes, I and my partners want all the protection we can
get. This month we will deliver 10 “Rapid Assembly” kits for Adventure
Air, Ltd., including two to Spain, one to New Zealand, and one to a former
Osprey owner. This aircraft, which we took in on trade, is available for
$22,000. We would have delivered 11 kits this month, but, unfortunately,
one intended for Don Speaker in Venezuela will not be needed. He was
recently killed flying a toy airplane, a Buccaneer II.
Don’s death saddens us as well as the passing of my good friend and
co-designer, Molt Taylor. I was lucky to spend 5 of his last 10 days with
him at Oshkosh to see him inducted into the EAA Homebuilder’s Hall of
Fame. Good bye, Molt. We will all miss you.
I think this is enough for now. Between the 120 Adventurer builders, our
work to get the 333 flying for Sun ‘n’ Fun, finishing the flight testing
on the 2+2 200 HP Lycoming version, plus the work on the
fire-bomber/sprayer and military versions, I really do not have time to
sit at the boob and do this often.
Happy Miles
Manager
Aero-Marine, L.L.C.
PO Box 368
Carroll County Airport
Berryville, AR 72616
(501)423-5350
(501)423-5366 (fax)
Bruce Frank
: Ken and others,
: Happy Miles
: Manager
Well said; it does eat up time doesn't it. That should quiet most of the
grumbling.. Continued good luck.
Bruce A. Frank, "Ford 3.8L Engine and V-6 STOL
b...@marlin.ssnet.com Homebuilt Aircraft Newsletter"
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O O
Basacwards
: 1) Building and sailing multi-hulls throughout the world, mostly
: single-handed or with all female crews.
At least we know how he got his nickname ;)