paraplane
Well-Known Member
Haven't posted here in a while. About 5 years ago the goal of building and flying my own airplane felt tangible. I was working as a part time night dishwasher at a restaurant and had found a Dragonfly that was almost completed on craigslist (near where I grew up and my father was living) that was supposedly free for the taking. I talked with the owner and told him about why I wanted it and that I would ask my father to pick it up and store it for me. He said ok "it's you're airplane"
The guy said he was going to be out of town for a while. Supposedly my father tried to arrange picking it up but didn't hear from the guy. When I got to on the phone with him a couple weeks later he says "sorry I gave it to a friend"
I was pretty devastated. I told him I thought it was a crummy thing to do, promising me the project then giving it away to someone else. He said it was "his airplane" and he didn't need to answer to me about it.
Not more than a month later I see a Dragonfly project on Barnstormers. More complete than the last. Snap Kit with all the options, MK1 with gear bow option, instrument package, 90hp VW conversion by SKAT of Long Beach, California. Basically the works.
$1,000
The ad had been posted for almost a month and I thought no way it hasn't been sold. It was in New York state, I was in California and it took me everything I had to not call the guy at 12:00 at night.
Almost wasn't going to call. I did and asked if the project was available still. It was!
I still was a long way off. One I didn't have $1,000 at that moment. Second there was no way I could pick it up or have it shipped any time soon.
I told the guy (Bill) that if he could store it for me and take payments I would send him a down payment immediately. He said sure! Just pay what you can when you can.
So over a period of a little over a year I made payments.
In 2021 my father passed away and I moved back. I hadn't talked to Bill for a while but had paid all but I think 40.00. I called him from California while in the process of moving. I told him about my father and my plans to be looking at picking up the Dragonfly within maybe the next half of the year.
When I called Bill again two or three months later I didn't get an answer. I tried again and again. Nothing. Then I tried sending a nominal payment via PayPal to him. I got a message that his account was "temporarily deactivated" or something like that.
I basically realized that Bill had died.
I looked at obituaries and tried to contact his family without any luck.
It is what it is I guess but these experiences have taken a bit of a toll on me before I even got started.
I was able to acquire original Long Eze plans and they should still be buried in a sealed 5 gallon bucket outside of the town I lived in in California.
I also got to ride in a SGS 2-33 with the Akeflieger Niemann Walker out of Avenal. I was his first passenger flight and it was spectacular. Not a long flight but awesome. It was everything I had expected and more.
I knew for certain I still wanted to fly Sailplanes after that.
So this has already gotten a bit long and involved so I'm going to curtail the post for now. But wanted to say It's pretty cool to see that one of my previous posts is still active and that I've been reading about the future of Sailplane flying in the U.S. and discussions on declining numbers of pilots, aircraft availability and economics of operations and training.
I'll post again soon about speaking with a fairly well known Sailplane Designer and the opportunity I asked for and was granted. How I would like to see that opportunity develop. Ask for suggestions on how to achieve goals associated with that and my ideas for promotion of the sport wether in a competition or recreational capacity.
In the mean time I've been learning CAD, getting more proficient at 3D printing and staying obsessed with R.C. Models.
Brian H.
The guy said he was going to be out of town for a while. Supposedly my father tried to arrange picking it up but didn't hear from the guy. When I got to on the phone with him a couple weeks later he says "sorry I gave it to a friend"
I was pretty devastated. I told him I thought it was a crummy thing to do, promising me the project then giving it away to someone else. He said it was "his airplane" and he didn't need to answer to me about it.
Not more than a month later I see a Dragonfly project on Barnstormers. More complete than the last. Snap Kit with all the options, MK1 with gear bow option, instrument package, 90hp VW conversion by SKAT of Long Beach, California. Basically the works.
$1,000
The ad had been posted for almost a month and I thought no way it hasn't been sold. It was in New York state, I was in California and it took me everything I had to not call the guy at 12:00 at night.
Almost wasn't going to call. I did and asked if the project was available still. It was!
I still was a long way off. One I didn't have $1,000 at that moment. Second there was no way I could pick it up or have it shipped any time soon.
I told the guy (Bill) that if he could store it for me and take payments I would send him a down payment immediately. He said sure! Just pay what you can when you can.
So over a period of a little over a year I made payments.
In 2021 my father passed away and I moved back. I hadn't talked to Bill for a while but had paid all but I think 40.00. I called him from California while in the process of moving. I told him about my father and my plans to be looking at picking up the Dragonfly within maybe the next half of the year.
When I called Bill again two or three months later I didn't get an answer. I tried again and again. Nothing. Then I tried sending a nominal payment via PayPal to him. I got a message that his account was "temporarily deactivated" or something like that.
I basically realized that Bill had died.
I looked at obituaries and tried to contact his family without any luck.
It is what it is I guess but these experiences have taken a bit of a toll on me before I even got started.
I was able to acquire original Long Eze plans and they should still be buried in a sealed 5 gallon bucket outside of the town I lived in in California.
I also got to ride in a SGS 2-33 with the Akeflieger Niemann Walker out of Avenal. I was his first passenger flight and it was spectacular. Not a long flight but awesome. It was everything I had expected and more.
I knew for certain I still wanted to fly Sailplanes after that.
So this has already gotten a bit long and involved so I'm going to curtail the post for now. But wanted to say It's pretty cool to see that one of my previous posts is still active and that I've been reading about the future of Sailplane flying in the U.S. and discussions on declining numbers of pilots, aircraft availability and economics of operations and training.
I'll post again soon about speaking with a fairly well known Sailplane Designer and the opportunity I asked for and was granted. How I would like to see that opportunity develop. Ask for suggestions on how to achieve goals associated with that and my ideas for promotion of the sport wether in a competition or recreational capacity.
In the mean time I've been learning CAD, getting more proficient at 3D printing and staying obsessed with R.C. Models.
Brian H.
