Primarily for general aviation discussion, but other aviation topics are also welcome.
#1938207
New here because of the Scorpion ultralight mentioned in this thread by Mr Gordon Freeman and others but especially for Mr Freeman as he was a dealer for the Scorpion.

I , with my dad could be perhaps the last persons who flew with a Scorpion as late as in 1998.
My dad ( with a PPL ) did an initial payment on a 2 seater here in the Netherlands around or in 1982
It was then transferred to our place and the final payment was planned for after the '' certificate of airworthiness '' would be given.
It never came that far as the type was grounded after the accidents in Britain.
The Dutch seller disappeard and the Scorpion was hoisted to the ceiling of the barn.

After a couple of years it was lowered and with the accidents in mind evaluated with what i would call ''farmerswisdom''
It was indeed a very roughly put together combination of tubes and wires.
Tubes just drilled and bolted between brackets without inner support so the thin wall was all what carried loads and if bolted to tight made the tube oval in shape.
So every tube was fitted with nylon caps giving it more strenght and keeping it round.
More worrisome was the attachment of the two upper tailbooms to the trailing edge tube of the wing.
Just two brackets in a 90 degrees angle on top of the trailing edge tube and the same as above when it came to tightening and strenght.
No inner tubes between the front and leading edge tubes at that point so any force applied when pulling up or pushing down only pushed/pulled at the trailing edge.
Also because the wings were foldable the ''flying'' wires were attached at the aft position of the seating frame.
So the backward forces on the wing when flying were not dissipated equally.
We attached an extra flying wire to the front tube of the seating frame.
A lot of attention was given to the controlstick and elevator.

With those modifications ... of we went to France and found a airport where nobody asked questions ... sorry France.
We had 6 uneventfull flights but on the seventh the Robin burned a hole in a piston...
It went down faster then a rock in freefall but dad managed to make it to a meadow and if not for some barbed wires it would have been a succes.
But the Scorpion saved him also since there were 3 uprights in front of him which kept the barbed wire away from him although bended after hitting the wires.
Back to home , we fitted a new piston and uprights and a year later we did it again, this time 4 flights before we decided it was enough.
It flew but had no margins left in power and more so, it was completely illegal without the CoA
The Scorpion was hoisted back to the ceiling where it still hangs today.
He bought a Skywalker 1 + 1 and later a Comco Icarus C22 with all the right papers and yearly checks and we have flown for a couple of years together on holidays in France, very good times.......
Last edited by farmfly on Sat Nov 12, 2022 7:37 am, edited 2 times in total.
Rob P V2.0, Ian Melville, patowalker and 5 others liked this
#1938252
Groundspeed wrote:My recolection of the handling (Shadow) is that it was delightful, from the front anyway, and I have the greatest respect for those who instructed from the rear seat

I flew several of the Shadows operated by Phil James at Redhill. The handling was OK but after flying Cyclone AX3s then Chevvrons, I found the controls of the Shadow to be extremely heavy and certainly not as responsive as the other types.
#1938400
Perhaps we should have a special "Early Microlight Shenanigans" feature on Flyer Live. Great post Farmfly, your description of routine engine failures takes me back to those very exciting days, albeit, a little too exciting at times.

During the early 'experiments' period, I happened across a chap one day who had just built a powered "Easy Riser". This was a hang glider with a semi rigid swept Biplane Wing. It was powered by a McCulloch 101cc Chain saw engine. The owner implied that he had flown it several times before, (subsequently found to not be true), so when offered a "Go", youthful stupidity saw me strapping the aircraft on. It was foot launched and had a 'Mouth Switch' for the ignition. The idea was to clamp the switch in between your teeth so that if you fell over during take off, you would spit the switch out to prevent the pusher propellor from severing the legs.

I eventually got airborne after a few attempts and found that when any power was applied, it turned uncontrollably to the right. I remained airborne for less than a minute, flailing around the sky, totally unable to control it and subsequently landed/crashed into a downhill section of grass. I think if it had been level ground I'd have come off much worse. I had cuts to my face and ear, a substantial gash to my leg, and heavily bruised ribs.

It was at this point the owner/builder admitted he had never flown it, and my failed attempts at controlled flight were in fact the first time it had been flown with the engine attached. Looking back, it was a very silly thing to do, but in those days my motto was, "when in doubt, try it out". Huge fun though.
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#1938419
There is part of me hankers after the carefree era of early microlighting.

My own experience dates from the mid 80s when I owned a Flash2A trike. Nowadays I simply blanche at the memories of: filling up at local petrol stations having landed in the field opposite; landing wherever one felt like; multiple engine failures; and Air Law a distant and scarcely relevant concept - like astrophysics.
#1938423
I seem to recall an early microlight accident that, very unfortunately, led to the death of the pilot. The aircraft, built from a kit, was constructed by a gentleman with little previous experience. Once complete, the constructor tried to take it into the air but without success. Received wisdom was that the angle of dangle of the thrust line was wrong and the builder went away and realigned it. Unfortunately, (although not for him) the beast still refused to fly and he turned to a more experienced pilot who, after assessing the situation, decided to give it a go. The first attempt met with the same result so a return to the threshold was made before a second attempt. This time, power was applied and a higher speed achieved but the craft remained grounded until thrust was reduced when flight was achieved until, at a fairly low height, the wings collapsed and a fatal crash was the result. Post accident investigation revealed that, even after realignment, the engine’s thrust was pushing the aircraft into the ground but on the final attempt sufficient airspeed had been achieved to provide lift once the downward thrust had been reduced. Further investigation showed that the situation had been exacerbated by the installation of a plywood board mod behind the pilot’s seat designed to stop coins falling from the pilot’s pocket and hitting the prop just a few inches behind him but which also made a pretty impressive air brake. In addition, amongst the wreckage two strands of “bungy” cord were found with wooden wedges at each end. At first it was thought that these were designed to assist rigging and had been overlooked prior to departure but, it turned out, that they were installed to stop the wings “wobbling about” once initial construction had been completed. Many years ago now and I can’t find the AAIB report now but a really sad event. Convinced me that total deregulation wasn’t the way to go .
#1938561
David Wood wrote:There is part of me hankers after the carefree era of early microlighting.

My own experience dates from the mid 80s when I owned a Flash2A trike. Nowadays I simply blanche at the memories of: filling up at local petrol stations having landed in the field opposite; landing wherever one felt like; multiple engine failures; and Air Law a distant and scarcely relevant concept - like astrophysics.


... and I bet you never killed anyone doing it ........ but you could have so you must be regulated, licenced, relieved of monies and inspected by your overseers and insurers


OOps sorry wrong forum :D
#1938573
Red wrote:
David Wood wrote:There is part of me hankers after the carefree era of early microlighting.

My own experience dates from the mid 80s when I owned a Flash2A trike. Nowadays I simply blanche at the memories of: filling up at local petrol stations having landed in the field opposite; landing wherever one felt like; multiple engine failures; and Air Law a distant and scarcely relevant concept - like astrophysics.


... and I bet you never killed anyone doing it ........ but you could have so you must be regulated, licenced, relieved of monies and inspected by your overseers and insurers


OOps sorry wrong forum :D


I believe Section S to have been a good thing.
#1938588
Red wrote:... and I bet you never killed anyone doing it ........ but you could have so you must be regulated, licenced, relieved of monies and inspected by your overseers and insurers


OOps sorry wrong forum :D

Pilots weren't killing anybody, but unregulated microlights were. The Scorpion killed three and badly injured one before it was grounded.
#1938599
Red wrote:
... and I bet you never killed anyone doing it ........ but you could have so you must be regulated, licenced, relieved of monies and inspected by your overseers and insurers


OOps sorry wrong forum :D


I nearly killed myself on one memorable occasion. And I did some monumentally stupid things. But I'm not sure that regulation would have limited that.

And, you know what, I learned so much from the wild-west flying of those days. Things that I just don't think more modern youngsters get the chance to learn. And who can say where the balance is in that cost/gain equation?
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#1938614
I used to look upon the microlight World with a little bit of envy.
There I was complying with the requirement to have a Public Transport CxA, and accept a whole load of restrictions on what I could do with my certified aeroplanes.

As for the microlights, they could do all sorts of things that I couldn’t.

It was even worse in Canada, and still is!
‘Ultralight flying is never touched by Transport Canada, and the number of accidents every year, many of which are never reported (unless they’re fatal) is incredible.

I reported a ‘microlight’ to Transport Canada in the name of safety... This microlight is an Andreasson BA4 biplane fitted with a Lycoming O-290. I would approach this aeroplane with considerable trepidation, at least I have Pitts experience!

Then I considered calling the police. The RX550 had its front controls sawn off, the front switches taped over.
It’s 503 engine failed on takeoff and the aeroplane landed in an adjoining field.
The front seat passenger was disabled...
Very nice giving disabled people aeroplane rides, but at what risk.
Yes there is still a wild west for microlight/ultralight aircraft, just go to British Columbia.
#1938661
I have to say chaps, this thread has made me almost wet myself with laughter. Some of the wacky ideas are superb,

I particularly like the 'gob switch', or whatever it was called, that you're meant to spit out just before impact to reduce the likelihood of having your legs amputated, Just brilliant...

Even now, I'm having to stop typing because I'm laughing so much :thumright: :thumright:

More please