If You Bust It, We'll Fix It for Free" Airframe Warranty

Arrowquest Aviation's 2-seat trike is called the Everest, and like all Arrowquest trikes, it features no landing gear suspension. "We do not use any type of suspension," Arrowquest owner Brad Waters says. "We tried lots of different types of suspension, and found if you land the trike the way you were taught, you don't need any." According to Arrowquest, having no suspension makes for a tougher frame with fewer moving parts to fail, and it also reduces the manufacturing cost, and thus the retail price to the consumer. Price for Arrowquest's 2-seat Everest trike (with 2-cycle engine and prop, but without wing) is $3,995 (U.S.).

Canadian ultralight manufacturer Arrowquest Aviation is unusual for a number of reasons, including their low prices and the airframe warranty on their trikes. The company offers an ultralight airframe warranty that states: "If you bust it, we'll fix it - for no charge."

Couple this with the fact that Arrowquest's trikes - the single-seat Elan and Elan SL (a soaring model), and the 2-seat Everest - do not offer any type of landing gear suspension (other than "air in the tires") on their all-welded steel frames, and you get a company very confident in their products. "We do not use any type of suspension," Arrowquest owner Brad Waters says. "We tried lots of different types of suspension, and found if you land the trike the way you were taught, you don't need any."

According to Arrowquest, having no suspension makes for a tougher frame with fewer moving parts to fail, and it also reduces the manufacturing cost, and thus the retail price to the consumer.

"Some people may argue the lack-of-suspension point, but there are a lot of other ultralights out there with no suspension either," Waters points out. But do they have a we'll-fix-it-at-no-charge warranty? "We are pretty confident on this part," Waters notes, "because there is just nothing to break on this thing. Because some customers are far away, if they do have a problem we send them the replacement parts instead of having them ship the whole trike back to us. We ask for a picture to be taken at the time of repair, so we can put it in our files." Arrowquest Aviation claims they have never had a structural failure with their all-welded frame. And because there are no bolt holes, there are no holes to round out or bolts to get loose.

Arrowquest Aviation mounts their 2-cycle engines inverted on their trikes. "This lowers the center of gravity so the risk of taxiing incidents is reduced, and produces less swing-through of the trike carriage on full-power takeoffs," Waters explains. But "we also build trikes with upright-mounted engines for pilots who do not want an inverted engine," Waters notes. A variety of 2-cycle engines are available from Arrowquest, including Rotax 2-stroke aircraft engines.

Arrowquest can custom-build longer or shorter frames for bigger- or smaller-than-average pilots, according to the company. All their trike frames are powder-coat painted "in colors upon customer request, at no additional charge," Waters notes.

How did Waters, a certified welder by trade and mechanical engineer by education, end up in the trike manufacturing business? "It all started about 5 years ago," he relates. "I had always wanted to fly, but work and family obligations prevented it. I just kept putting it off."

Until a buddy of his got him flying. "I did a lot of research," Waters says, "and found that all aircraft were expensive for what I thought was there. What I mean is, a typical ultralight doesn't have a lot of expensive parts - an engine, some fabric [covering] and aluminum tubes [and hardware]. Why should they cost so much money?

"I looked at the incident rates of ultralights, and [my research here in Canada showed] that trikes had the lowest," Waters says. "They were easy to learn to fly, and had the least number of moving parts that could fail. So I chose trikes.

"I bought an Airborne wing, and the trike dealer I learned to fly from found me a used trike carriage - which still would have cost me $12,000 (Canadian). I looked at it and thought to myself, I can build this thing myself [for less].

"I made a trike carriage from pictures off the Internet, from some measurements taken from other trikes, and from just plain common sense," Waters admits. "Our first trike was all welded aluminum.

"I flew that trike every chance I had. I had just about 100 hours on it when another friend caught the flying bug. I built a trike for him, but this time out of mild steel, which is easy to weld and repair and just as strong, and only added 7 pounds to the weight. This reduced the cost by about $200 (Canadian). We flew those things all that first year, even during the winter.

"In the spring, we decided to build [trike carriages] for others at a retail level. We went with the all-welded steel trike design for the ease of getting materials and ease of construction. We never copied any one trike exactly - no one trike had what we wanted." Waters indicates they build Arrowquest trikes from November until April, spending the summer doing promotion, taking orders and going to fly-ins (and flying his trikes - he claims 200 to 250 hours personal flight time per year). But, like some others in the aviation industry, he hasn't "given up his year-round 'day job'" as co-owner/operator (with his wife) of a quick lube/muffler shop.

Arrowquest Aviation's trikes feature "high headroom," according to the company. "We have a curved main pylon [to which the trike wing is attached] that does not bang your head," Waters notes. Their trikes also feature "individual bucket-type seats with good back support," he adds.

Safety backup cables are found in the main pylon and around the wing's keel tube. "Safety is our biggest concern," Waters says. "We offer a 50-hour hangbolt change-out time. The customer just telephones us, and we send him a new one at no charge (for the first 100 hours). And we have a 1-year 100-hour frame warranty which states 'If you bust it, we'll fix it, no charge.'"

Arrowquest Aviation manufactures three trikes of their own (the single-seat Elan and Elan SL models, and the 2-seat Everest trike) and also markets a top-of-the-line trike, the Griffon, made by Aeros in the Ukraine.

Arrowquest's single-seat Part 103 trike is the Elan, featuring a 5-gallon fuel tank/bucket seat combo and (shown here) an inverted 2-cycle engine, for lower-center-of-gravity stability. Arrowquest notes that upright engine position is available for pilots who prefer an upright engine. The Elan SL (a soaring single-seater model) is also available.

Price for the 2-seat Aeros Griffon is $7,995. Arrowquest Aviation's 2-seat Everest is $3,995; their single-seat Elan trike is $3,295; and single-seat Elan SL is $2,995. All prices are base prices (options are extra) in U.S. dollars, and include the trike unit (carriage), engine and 2-blade GSC wooden prop - the trike wing is extra.

- Buzz Chalmers

Info: free. Video: $9.95 (U.S.). Arrowquest Aviation, 4214 49th St., Dept. UF, Vegreville, Alberta, Canada T9C 1B4. Phone: (780) 632-4416 * Fax: (780) 632-6150* e-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Perfect weather conditions blessed the 4-day event, allowing lots of flying throughout the long weekend. Fun flying contests added spice to the flying, with first- and second-place winners honored.

Rick Siegfried and Clyde Poser placed first and second respectively in the Five O'Clock Charlie contest, John Wilson and Reggie Toler won the top two prizes in the Closest to the Pin contest, and Jim Reed and Dave Krause were first and second in the Leap Frog contest. Top Gun honors went to John Wilson.

On Saturday morning 80 powered parachutes launched in 20 minutes, 11 seconds, filling the sky with color.

An outstanding feature this year was a 14,600-square-foot bald eagle with the American flag as its canvas and below it the Powrachute Company logo, airbrushed in the flying field. Brothers Bill and Galen Mast of the Land of Ahs - new dealers for Powrachute - worked for 2 days bringing this masterpiece together.

Another highlight of the Extravaganza was Powrachute founder Bill Amyx's flying pyro show. Flying Bill flies through the sky launching fireworks from his powered parachute while ground crews launch fireworks up in the air where Bill is flying.

Probably the biggest highlight of the Extravaganza was the drawing for a Powrachute Sky Rascal, the company's new single-seater. The drawing was open to all pilots who registered an airworthy powered parachute at the fly-in. And the lucky winner was Mike Peterson of Carthage, Missouri.

Powrachute plans to hold the Extravaganza again next year. For 2002 dates, phone: (620) 429-1397 * e-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Tom Peghiny has been selected to receive the 2001 John Moody Award. USUA Regional Representatives, past Moody Award recipients and the USUA Board of Directors ratified the selection of Peghiny. The award will be presented at the 2002 Ultralight Awards Ceremonies during the USUA Annual Convention on Saturday, February 9, 2002.

The John Moody Award, named in honor of "The Father of Ultralights" John Moody, was established in 1991. In 1976, Moody was first to provide the public a complete ultralight kit including both engine and airframe. It is ultralight aviation's highest and most prestigious award honoring the history and development of ultralighting.

The John Moody Award is presented annually to an individual, a group of individuals or an organization for efforts over a period of years that reflect credit upon America and themselves by having made significant contributions or advancements of enduring value to ultralight aviation in the United States. Past recipients of the Moody award include Dennis Pagen, Chuck Slusarczyk, Dr. Henry O. Malone Jr., John Ballantyne, Boris Popov, Vincent Vitollo, Ultralight Flying! magazine, Dan Johnson and Homer Kolb.

Peghiny has distinguished himself as a true pioneer of ultralight aviation. As a champion competitor, Advanced Flight Instructor (AFI), innovative designer and engineer, test pilot, and manufacturer for a period of almost three decades, he has made significant contributions of enduring value which have helped shape the sport and industry of ultralight aviation in the United States.

At age 13, Peghiny began his life's journey in air sport aviation by devoting himself to the designing and building of light aircraft. From the beginning he established himself as a leader and in 1969 while still a junior in high school, started an aviation club, which among other projects lead to the building of a very early bamboo "Batwing" Rogallo hang glider. But just designing and building was not enough. As a result of a dream and passion for flying, Peghiny became heavily involved in competition flying. He was the youngest competitor in the First National Hang Gliding Championships in 1973 and throughout his competition career has captured 35 first-place awards, including the prestigious Masters of Hang Gliding at Grandfather Mountain in North Carolina.

Peghiny's substantial reputation in the sport led to his appointment as Vice President of Research and Development for Sky Sports, upon graduation from high school in 1974. With his active participation, Sky Sports became one of the largest hang glider manufacturers in the United States. While a partner at Sky Sports he is credited for designing the first double-surface flex-wing hang glider, the Kestrel. During his tenure at Sky Sports, the company began to conduct early experiments in developing powered hang gliders. These efforts contributed to design evolutions, which became the genesis of the ultralights of today. His first powered hang glider flight was in the fall of 1975.

In 1981, Tom joined Pioneer International Aircraft, initially as test pilot. Because of his engineering, design talent and experience, he was promoted to engineering manager. Under Peghiny's leadership a design team was formed which led to the development of the Pioneer Flightstar and Dualstar ultralights. These were a new breed of ultralights and one of the first "advanced" ultralights available to the industry. Quality engineering, unique design, superior materials, and parts manufacturing were their trademarks. Pioneer produced more than 700 of the early model Flightstar ultralights, ending production in 1984 when the company was sold to an Argentina firm. Tom remained in a design consultant role with the new company, and through his work, a 2-seat version called the Aviastar was developed. Aviastar was the name of the Pioneer planes produced in Argentina.

In 1991, Tom and a partner Mark "Spark" Lamontagne formed Flightstar, Inc. to manufacture updated versions of the Flightstar single-seater, and in the process, designed and developed a basically new 2-seater which they named the Flightstar II. In 1995, Flightstar formed a partnership with Lockwood Aircraft in Sebring, Florida to produce the Flightstar line of products. Since then, more than 600 aircraft kits have been produced and sold by Flightstar dealers worldwide.

In 1997, Tom and Spark established a relationship with the Japanese company HKS, a major after-market automotive parts manufacturer. HKS now produces 4-stroke engines for the ultralight industry and Tom has formed HPower, Ltd. to distribute the HKS engines in North and South America.

For almost three decades, Tom Peghiny has played major roles in the air sport and ultralight aviation industry as an innovator, designer, and manufacturer. Because of his experience and reputation in the industry, Tom was asked to appear before the Congressional subcommittee hearings on the original FAR Part 103 ultralight regulation. He was also appointed as a manufacturer representative to the Part 103 Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee (ARAC).

In 1997, Tom and his company Flightstar, was awarded the U.S. Ultralight Association Meritorious Service Award and in 1998, Tom was awarded the Light Aircraft Manufacturers Association President's Award for Outstanding Individual.

Tom Peghiny holds a Pilot, Basic Flight Instructor, and Advanced Flight Instructor rating with USUA.

Significantly, USUA made major efforts in the early days of the flight restrictions to get most ultralighters back in the air by September 20, well before other components of general aviation were allowed to fly in the same airspace.

"This action will allow most general aviation flights to resume their pre-Sept. 11 service," U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta said. "This reinforces our commitment to getting America back to business while maintaining the highest standards of safety and security."

Also, newsgathering, traffic watch, banner towing, blimp and commercial sightseeing VFR flights will be allowed to resume except where local restrictions apply.

"These are significant steps in our phased program to safely and securely restore full access to U.S. airspace," FAA Administrator Jane F. Garvey said.

As before, USUA strongly urges all ultralighters flying in or near Class B airspace to check Notices to Airmen (NOTAMs) for temporary flight restrictions and to call their local Flight Service Station at 1-800-WX-BRIEF before taking off.