Summer, 2009

I decided that I wanted to own and/or fly an ultralight, but it finally occurred to me that I really didn’t want an MX or something configured like a conventional aircraft; I wanted something I could store and carry on the trailer, haul it out to my airport of preference that day or a nearby field, put it together and go flying. So as a result of my research, I began to look into weight-shift control trikes. It is not very mysterious why they are called “trikes”—they are 3-wheeled vehicles with a single overhead wing and, instead of having a rudder and elevator to control yaw and pitch, the single flexible wing provides those functions. So there are no rudder and elevator controls…it’s a different type of aircraft. Barnstormers had one; it was a Flight Design Trike, Kawasaki 440A engine, located in Dayton, TN, near Chattanooga. The owner’s name was Larry Ramsey. He was asking $3,600, which was $600 over my budget. I told him I was interested but needed to scare up the extra funds. He said that was OK, and to let him know how it was going.