Q-talk 14 - REPORT FROM ACROSS THE POND

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Category: Q-Talk Articles

Published: Tuesday, 28 February 1989 06:11

Written by Don Johnson, Licensed distributor

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First, let's get the apologies out of the way!

1. For using many of the valuable tips and guidelines in the QBA without passing on any from this "theatre" to our fellow builders in the USA.

2. For not congratulating you personally, Jim, for the continuity you have sustained in producing such an excellent publication in spite of many setbacks and criticisms. We all like your "call a spade a spade" policy and the fact that you have published the bad as well as the good.

Now for the update, Folks!

We are Quickie Aircraft (Europe) Ltd., based at Coventry Airport, England and are the European distributors for the Quickie range. Made a grand start in 1983 with Gary LeGare when we air freighted our demonstration Q-2 kit from Mojave. "We" consists of Nora and Don Johnson plus a flying family of Ann, Ian and Mark. Between us, with time of the job dictated by earning livings, we had our Q-2 flying in December 1983. The first one in Europe. From then on Nora and I became fully committed to the Quickie with great aspirations for sales over here. Seven years later we can look back and think of all the reasons our sales forecasts were not achieved in spite of the actions we took and are still taking.

We initially concentrated our marketing efforts in the UK (home patch) rather than toward some of our wealthier friends on the other side of the English Channel. We attended all the major air shows and our mini Oshkosh, the Cranfield PFA Rally, every year.

We were constantly featured on TV and in major aviation publications. You can imagine the interest created by such a futuristic flying machine. Selling Quickies? Talk about labor intensive! "Please bring it from halfway across the country so my pal and I can test fly it" -- no charge of course, etc., etc. We got in an awful lot of flying and experience on Quickies! Ian and Mark learned to fly in ours. Talk about cheap PPL's. Also dashed all over Europe - Venice, Paris, Lyons, Marseilles, Lisbon, Jersey, Dusseldorf, Cannes, Nice, Ireland and Scotland, on and on.

Prince Andrew and Fergi showed considerable interest in it during one Shneider Trophy Air Race on the Isle of Wight. In fact, we were on television this last weekend when we were slipped into a program on Concorde. I could go on recounting flights and experiences for ages, but let's categorize:

THE AIRCRAFT: An exciting futuristic design with fully reported handling problems and faults sorted out over the years by "quick fix" action and modifications. The construction materials and techniques are great even though there is a long learning curve, and builders tendency to load on more epoxy, etc., particularly in our cold climate (we love the post-cure suggestion of leaving the wings outside in the sun for a short time!! We should wait so long!!).

Hey Ho - maybe we should have chosen a more traditional design. Well, we have a lot more Quickies flying here than some of the conventional types, so perhaps we could have done worse. There are plenty to choose from in your country. The trouble is they are obsolete by the time you have made your decision!

We think our fellow QBAers are great - even the weary Willies. Some of the tips we have used, with apologies for not putting names to them:

-- Simple aileron reflexor. I have made loads of them.

-- In-line brake torque plates.

-- loading laid-up flying surfaces with microballoons when wet.

-- 16 G steel axles.

-- Forward hinged canopy.

-- NASA vents.

-- Level line confusion cleared up.

-- Buried antenna.

-- Gary's T-tail.

-- The courage/foolhardiness of design changes.

-- Many builder/flier reports (some in dream areas of your country.)

Anyway, Gary and Debbie LeGare were most helpful up to a time they opted out. Revmaster's Joe and Roberta likewise, and we still have good relations with them. Custom Composites' Bill Forrest, Tom Wright and their team are always helpful and efficient. We buy ALL our Q-kits from them and they sure know their composites. Jim Masal - 'nuff said. Scott and Duane Swing always helpful (we are the European Tri-Q dealer).

Nora and I will be visiting Florida for 3 weeks in April. Guess where?!?! So we will see you all at the forum. I'm bringing my log books, photographs and some more orders for Q-2/200/Tri-Q......

Now to the stable of Q's here:

G-OICI now registered as G-BPMW. This was originally our personal plane but is now owned and operated by Paul Wright although we still have an interest in it. It has now flown over 500 hours with Paul flying 100 in the last 6 months. We are now trying to arrange a Concorde/Q-2 formation photo session! (ED. NOTE: I'll made a cover photo of that one for sure!!!).

G-BMVG, Global Quickie - Paul Wright's of course. It was going great until a Harvard was blown onto it at Ipswich in October '87. Nora and I repaired it here at Coventry and while I was over in South Africa last March (testing a Q-2) Paul unfortunately ran out of engine and bent the canard. It will be flying again in about four weeks time.

G-BMFN, Bill Blair Hickman's Q-200, then converted to a Tri-Q by Mick Allford.

G-BKSK, a great Q-2 with a Limbach engine that first flew about the same time as ours. Had fuel failure last year in the hands of Brian Wronsky over the Cotswolds. Now being re-built as a Tri-Q200 by Huw Jones of Birmingham. Will be flying this summer.

G-BKSE, a Scottish Quickie by Martin Burns. A beautiful aircraft. His report is in QT #13.

Tony Wahlberg's Quickie getting near to flying.

Roy Murray, London, progressing.

The Q-1 scene is not small because of any shortcomings on our part. Just small on everything to do with homebuilds. I wish we could see more Q-1 plans/kits. All our literature mentions this great little bird.

N227T, a Q-2 imported to France by Bruno Samin - beautifully built if basic - is struggling to get it through the French RSA (Homebuilders) with, I hope, our help.

G-BOBS, owned by Bob Stevens - beautifully kitted - just up for its permit renewal.

G-BMZG, well built by Keith Brooker who is putting a LS-1 canard on it ready for the season.

G-BMJO (N17LM), brought over from the US last year by Mike Crymble in the back of a transport aircraft.

N250CE. Guess what? The elusive Q-200/Q235 Lycoming built by Bill Elliott in Alabama and now owned by Yorkshire man Ray Wells. It is just going through the FAA permit procedure and should be flying in a week or so.

Some others are getting near completion: John Catley, 75 hp Revmaster Q-2, Terry Francis building his Q-2 in Dusseldorf, Swissair engineer Rudi Brandenberger building his 75 hp Rev. Q-2 in Manchester (he just purchased a double garage with a house attached). David Chalmers has a Q-200/Tri-Q in progress but he's moving soon to Washington, D.C. complete with his Quickie. Paul Buckley's Q-200/Tri-Q is making progress in between his flying 737's for Danair.

I have flight-tested about 8 Quickie variants to date with, I hope, many more to go. I could write a book on just this subject, believe me! I had the advantage of learning to fly and flying in WWII - Tigers, Harvards, Hurricanes, Spitfires, L-5's, etc. The tail dragger time proved to be invaluable to me in handling Quickies. I admire the attitude of the majority of my fellow builders in looking to the Quickies as their dream machines. As one of you said, "If you want to go fly a 90 mph modern (?) aircraft, stay with your 150/52's and PA's etc." What happened to them anyway? It's a shame there are no replacements.

I'm bringing some of my designs to Sun 'N Fun. See you there!

And this came in from a pair of Austrian builders (Ernst Knoch and partner):

OE-CSK, our Q-2 flew last July for the first time. Just minor problems with baffling (cylinder heads too cold, the rest of the compartment too hot). After 12 hours the tailwheel fork broke and a no-damage ground loop resulted. We decided to go to the Tri-Q. Work is now in progress in Austria while I am in CA until July.

You can order a PDF or printed copy of Q-talk #14 by using the Q-talk Back Issue Order Page.

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