Quickie and look-a-likes
No no ...not a bi-plane!
In the 30's France had Henri Mignet to give it "a airplane for
the man of the street". The USA had Burt Rutan in the 70's.
Mr. Rutan already gained fame by his two canards, the VariViggen
(first flight 1972) and the VariEze (first flight 1975). Due to the
use of a foam core with glassfibre and epoxy skinning, construction
time was reduced and a strong, smooth, corrosion resistant, cold
and noise insulated wing was the result. For the second time,
somebody (Burt Rutan here) convinced the world that you can built
your own airplane in your garage.
Maybe it was that fame that brought Gene Sheehan (working in
aerospace industry since 1964) and flight test engineer Tom Jewett
to Burt Rutan. They asked him to design a airplane around their
modified Onan two cylinder engine of 18 HP. The result became ...
the Quickie!
The Quicky was presented at Oshkosh (THE place to show off
during the annular meeting) and it received the award "Outstanding
New Design". Many bought the plans or kits and started their
construction. A Quickie construction fever came to live!
The design was really spectacular. See below links for more
details.
I got notice that the plans and kits are no longer being
sold by a firm. You need to find a unopened or unfinished kit from
a previous buyer. The Quickie builder organization might be a
help.
its
advantages
the why's of the wing
design
its
disadvantages
specifications
of the three versions
Dragonfly
The Quickie has some look-alikes. The first one is the
Dragonfly. Call it a copy? No. You can see the reasons on the
special page about the Dragonfly. Just click the picture.
The Dragonfly is a two-seater. You can have it in three version.
Wingtip wheels (Mark 1), classic gear (Mark 2) or trigear (Mark 3).
Just pick your favorite.
On the Dragonfly page you also can see how they solved the typical
front wing problem. Looks easy.
