By Anibal Michel, EAA 643160
Reading Paul Dye’s commentary “Without a Checkout” about first flights in a single-seater in the November issue of Sport Aviation reminded me of the dilemma I faced after having bought a single-seat Quicksilver GT400 with my son a few years ago. Although I didn’t build it, I faced the same first-time jitters as the original builder must have.
I received my airman certificate in 1983 and flew rental airplanes, mostly Cessna 152 and 172 trainers and, occasionally, a Beechcraft Debonair owned by the FBO I was based out of. I enjoyed the freedom of flying with friends and family for many years until the rising cost of aircraft rental and the increasing demands of my career made me set aside my hobby. After 20 years of flying, my certificate and my flying skills went dormant for more than two decades.
About three years ago, my son Joshua, EAA 1600396, who recently obtained his LSRM certificate and has consistently shared my enthusiasm for aviation, learned of a Quicksilver GT400 available for purchase at the Lodi, California, airport (103), which is located not too far from our hometown of Sacramento. Although I had experience flying traditional certified aircraft, I hadn’t really thought about trying out ultralights until my son persuaded me to visit Lodi and check out an attractive red single-seat model, the GT400. It was love at first sight. I had always dreamed of owning my own airplane, but it seemed like it was always just out of reach for me. The price was right for the two of us to share ownership of this airplane, so we went for it.
Thus began my dilemma. I realized that although we had all the documentation we needed about the building of the aircraft and details about its maintenance, neither my son nor I were trained to fly an ultralight. I was the one with the pilot certificate (my son was still training and has ultimately decided to pursue the maintenance and repair side of aviation); therefore, I was the obvious choice to fly it. It quickly became clear to me that I would be taking my very first flight in this unfamiliar aircraft all by myself!
We decided to hangar the airplane at different location about 40 miles away from Lodi and recruited the help of a very experienced pilot friend to ferry it from Lodi to its new home base just north of Sacramento. It was during that flight that my friend told us that the airplane “flew crooked” and needed some work to get it to fly straight.
My son and I, with the help of our newly found community at the new home base, spent the next year going over every nut and bolt of the airframe and engine, performing high-speed taxiing and hopping it until it seemed ready to take wing safely. As Paul mentioned in his commentary, getting to know the aircraft and “practice, practice, practice” became my focus for the next few months. I also decided to refresh my proficiency training by getting a few hours of training with a CFI at a local flight school. That gave me the confidence I needed to fly solo again, something I hadn’t done in over 20 years!
The day finally came when I felt that the airplane was ready and I had the confidence to take off in the GT400, almost two years after we bought it. The exhilaration I felt when the wheels left the ground that day was greater than the day that I first soloed in a Cessna 152 more than 40 years ago!
The rewards gained from practice and persistence have been immeasurable and the thrill of flying solo in an open cockpit airplane is beyond description. Also, as Paul mentions in his article, the quality of the social experience is priceless!
I hope that Paul’s article encourages others considering the purchase of a single-seater, whether they build it or buy it already assembled, to go ahead, albeit with caution, and pursue their dream of flying.