Experimenter is a magazine created by EAA for people who build airplanes. We will report on amateur-built aircraft as well as ultralights and other light aircraft.
Issue link: http://experimenter.epubxp.com/i/96284
W h a t o ur M e m b e r s a r e B uil d in g Lots of windows ofer great visibility. assistance; and builders who want to modify their kit's fabrication and assembly process. David planned out the work using the 51-percent checklist, deciding what Chuck would build and what factorymade components they could use. "Fortunately," Chuck said, "David had a hangar full of old parts." They also reviewed the FAA's list of components that are excluded from the 51-percent rule: "Items such as engines, engine accessories, propellers, rotor blades, rotor hubs, tires, wheel and brake assemblies, instruments, and standard aircraft hardware, including pulleys, bell cranks, rod ends, bearings, bolts, rivets, hot air balloon burners, and fuel tanks, are acceptable and may be procured on the open market. The use of these items is not counted against the amateur builder or kit manufacturer when the FAA determines whether the amateur-built aircraft has met the major portion requirement." If designing and building a clipped-wing factory aircraft wasn't amazing enough, here's where the story gets fantastic: Maule Air Inc., rather than seeing David and Chuck's Wright Rocket as competition, was actually supportive of the project. Extremely supportive of 30 NO. 4/ DECEMBE R 2012 the project. David Maule, son of company founder D.B. Maule, let the team use the factory jigs after hours. Since the jigs were available, David and Chuck simply laid out the wings, skipping a 36-inch section outboard of the struts. The wing root and tip are identical to those of a Maule factory airplane. David Maule wanted to help more, so he even built some parts himself. David Wright spoke with admiration of David Maule: "When you go to the factory, he (David) looks like one of the employees. One time a man asked David, 'What do you do?' and David, who was in the factory working, said, 'President.'" Wright said that David Maule is following the example of his father. D.B. completed the first Maule aircraft in 1957, winning an EAA award. D.B. wanted a plane that could go anywhere and be used in rugged and unimproved environments. Father and son were known to work tirelessly on product improvements—people passing the factory late at night would see the lights on and the two of them still working. As a result of this work ethic and openness to trying new ideas, Maule Air's engines, avionics, and other features have been upgraded over the years. Fortunately, the Maule's basic mission— to be rugged, simple, and reliable in unimproved environments—remains the same. Maules retain what D.B. valued in his slogan: "It's performance that counts." Photography by Jim Raeder