Rest in peace, Gene (2016). I wish your survivors continued making the BYF & modified Generac firewall forward package. You died too soon, sir. The BYF is a great feat of engineering. At the very least, I wish the BYF plans were available for sale/download.

@zubzub8280

Жыл бұрын

I would love plans for the BYF! I am going to build a modified legal eagle xl instead I’m thinking.

@BrianFitzGerald-TheSkySurfer

Жыл бұрын

Here is the BYF page on their website. Ask them. Maybe they will sell you the plans: culverprops.com/for-sale.htm

I want one! Such a beautiful,well thought out design.

What a great design for an ultralight. 4 stroke engine, wings that rotate, well thought out design by someone who knew what they were talking about.

@electoplater

4 жыл бұрын

and welded

@BrianFitzGerald-TheSkySurfer

3 жыл бұрын

Don't miss the other Ultralights! Go here: www.fitzvideo.com/Pages/UFM2.htm

Such a sweet,sweet stable little plane.Lovely slow flying. :-)

What a pleasant video to watch. The amazing thing is you were able to stay so calm while you explained the design points while meanwhile all around you there was an air war in progress.

so sad to see this go out of production, what a clever machine and man

One of the coolest things I’ve ever seen in my life

Two thumbs up! I'm an ATP with four type ratings....and his plane looks FUN!!

Great video, Gene is a great engineer

This was a very interesting and extremely well done interview! Even with all the racket going on all around, we could still clearly hear what Gene was saying and I for one enjoyed this very much.....thank you Brian!

Just seems to jump into the air,.. like a true bird should. Amazing thought and skill went into the design of this one and it shows.

Keeping it simple isn't always simple. Looks like all bases are covered by intelligent design. Well done!

Brain thank you for the years of support to the Ultralight community. Also a big thank you to the owners, operators and sometimes builders of these interesting aircraft.

@BrianFitzGerald-TheSkySurfer

7 жыл бұрын

You are welcome.

Very well designed, bravo!

Excellent choice of background music! Nice. And the ultralight, goodness! What smart engineering features! The curved tube spring, multi-function pedals, efficient 4-stroke, the separated ailerons, weld considerations, all simply wonderful features. Thoughtfully done. My compliments, sir!

@BrianFitzGerald-TheSkySurfer

4 жыл бұрын

Thanks, Log!

I have always loved the backyard flyer.

superb video, truly learned something. Thank you.

WHAT A BEAUTY... THANKS FOR SHARING

I dream of flying. Always thinking about building something. Am glad to see this video this man has thought about it with guys like me in mind.

i could listen to this guy talk all day

@BrianFitzGerald-TheSkySurfer

8 жыл бұрын

+John Fraser I agree, John. He obviously knows of what he speaks when you see his craft hop into the air and fly so well! Blue Skies! The Sky Surfer

@roadrunner9887

5 жыл бұрын

I do too, but I don't understand why the background music is added over his voice. Not necessary and is distracting

@StupidTVclips

4 жыл бұрын

why?

@dustyrhoads5016

4 жыл бұрын

John Fraser sounds like he’s from Missouri

@lrstaf6

4 жыл бұрын

@Clark Gable A&P = Aircraft and Powerplant mechanic.

Genius engineer, builder, craftsman! Pilot.

A really well thought out design. I would happily fly one of these. More than I can say for many other ultralight designs.

@jamesringler987

5 жыл бұрын

What about the leagle eagle or n3 pup and ison airbike

That's an awesome little aircraft! And one can tell the designer was extremely innovative just looking over the machine. Look at that exhaust system he invented, for example. Wild! I have NEVER seen one done so smart. Lil holes drilled into the tubing. I'd imagine he calculated the number needed for proper back-pressures and flow, etc. And it was wayyy quieter than many WITH mufflers - and there was no muffler. Wow! Awesome plane, Mr. Gene Smith.

Nice looking little plane. Some of these small ultra lights look flimsy but this one looks a sturdy,safe aircraft. I would love to have a go in one.

Just a fantastic video The engine sound is awesome I wish I could fly her too

@johnbennett8566

5 жыл бұрын

BJ. Roberts Should way to terratrike

This is just the video I needed to see. A lightweight aircraft designed and put together by an engineer. By the way Gene.....lots of respect to you as a graduate of the Missouri School of Mines! I had the pleasure of working with a man at White Sands Missile Range who graduated from the MSOM as a Mechanical engineer. He went to school, got a commission in the Army to serve his country then went to work for Raytheon. What is the cost for your lightweight? Where do you get flight lessons? Nice video, interesting interview. Nice to hear some one speak about things like harmonic motion and how it is addressed.

Beautiful airplane and a great video. Gene, I learned a lot with your very detailed descriptions and explanations as to why you did things the way you did. Very innovative flying machine. Thanks for teaching me about Junker style ailerons.....thank you Gene and Brian

@BrianFitzGerald-TheSkySurfer

4 жыл бұрын

You are welcome. I'm glad you liked these two movies. You can see a lot more of my movies by going to my website. From there you can better jump to where they are on my KZread Channel: www.fitzvideo.com/

This is SOOO Cool! Love it!

He is quite the educator, love it.

Wow! This airplane has awesome stol capabilities! Good job.

Really cool, and right down the road from me!!

Beautiful little plane !

What a super little machine. I thought the gear design just wonderfully simple and elegant.

I'm 5 years late to this party but that's pretty cool. I'd buy from the guy not only for his Innovation but also for the way it seems to care for his little dog👍. 😁

@BrianFitzGerald-TheSkySurfer

4 жыл бұрын

Right on!

I wish they would sell these again or at least the plans for this plane

Great report. I’m sold on one and plan to order one when able...

Thats one sharp ol boy there

very inspiring & informative,thank you mr. Smith

@BrianFitzGerald-TheSkySurfer

4 жыл бұрын

This is just a segment from "UFM2". The whole movie is 2.5 hours long and I have more movies like it. Go to: www.fitzvideo.com

What a great plane , everything thought out so well but extremely simple , his flight around the pattern showed off the planes performance and his crop dusting skills were breaking thru , Thanks

@BrianFitzGerald-TheSkySurfer

3 жыл бұрын

Yes. I liked Gene and his son. The plane flies very well.

One of the best straight forward designs I've seen

@BrianFitzGerald-TheSkySurfer

3 жыл бұрын

Don't miss the other Ultralights! Go here: www.fitzvideo.com/Pages/UFM2.htm

WoW, That's one clean build. Sure Liking it.

YOU CAN'T BEAT THE SOUND OF A FOUR STROKE WITH A TWO STROKE ENGINE WINE. Love the short take off and landing.Plus Gene is a really good pilot, looked a little windy that day. nice plane

Excellent engineering on your Flyer Gene! Congrats to him on his induction into the EAA Ultralight Hall of Fame as well. (Posthumously) Just found your channel Brian, great stuff!

@BrianFitzGerald-TheSkySurfer

4 жыл бұрын

Thanks! I hope you like it. Check out The Flite Blog™, too: www.fitzvideo.com/Pages/FliteBlog.htm

You can tell he’s a crop duster. They love to fly low. My Dad dusted for years and loved to keep it real low. A lot of fun.

@CaptVB

4 жыл бұрын

Flying low needs more guts as there is less reaction time if anything goes wrong. Salute to your Dad for putting the aviation machine to a genuine use. Regards

That is awesome, true STOL and safe.

Rest in piece Gene. I'm sure you smile down from heaven when you see your granddaughter running Culver Props.

@r.daniels1165

5 жыл бұрын

*peace*

@almilani4300

4 жыл бұрын

What happened to Gene ? Did he crash ?

nice job. I like the simplistic engineering aspect of the plane and yet it appears to rugged. ease of maintenance is a big plus a too. well thought out.

It's always nice to hear an aviator who built their own plane.

What beautiful little plane that is! Wow!

@wingnutzster

5 жыл бұрын

Really? In what way? I understand that beauty is in the eye of the beholder but some things are just ugly...It's disproportionate, has not a single elegant line and is agricultural in it's finish to say the least....I am a lover of all fixed wing aircraft including utility, agricultural and ultralight machines, hek even an inflated ram air parachute has a symmetry and sexiness as a typical aerodynamic structure but this is a rare bird for being so ugly, the old adage "if it looks right it will fly right" took a break on this one. I don't quite get the aesthetic design philosophy here, it's not a case of form following function either, as an aircraft builder and designer myself I recognize several key design characteristics that could have been achieved in a far more aesthetically conventional ways that ultimately would have lead to a better proportioned design and allowed for some elegant touches but to me this machine is the ugliest wing they could find, strapped untidily to a barely symmetrical framework 'fuselage' with a well undersized empennage structure balancing off the dirty nose end with not a single refinement or curvaceous, elegant structure to enhance the aerodynamics and aesthetics, almost certainly the result othe collective efforts of a bunch of engineers with little to no aeronautical aesthetic expertise, look at how stunning to look at most modern aircraft are in design and finish, there is a lot to be said for the importance of the look of an aircraft as opposed to just the soundness of it's structure.

@J--bone

5 жыл бұрын

Darren-Edward Oneill chill out he’s just sharing his opinion, which I agree with

@rontyler1984

5 жыл бұрын

@@wingnutzster < Could you provide a Link to a more efficient, less expensive machine you would recommend or that you have in production?

@colin-manyeates-clan5221

5 жыл бұрын

@@wingnutzster Hey when you design the improvements please send them to me as I am interested in comparing notes.. the question is inevitably will the weight be the same or less? Even the lightest cowling is weight added. So anything we add we must take away that much in weight... The starter sure seems big and heavy... but other than that I don;t see a lot .. well of course an engine I designed would be half or less the weight and have twice or three times the thrust/torque... I like the wing spin for easy moving and that may also be a consideration as to length of the fuselage, else may not fit into trailer... also I think I hear him say there is a speed limit on these things? Well then it has to be ugly to keep it slowed down??

@flyingtime5501

5 жыл бұрын

@@wingnutzster then shut up don't watch and build your own mr perfect. I think it flies great and don't look that shabby for the stol its a gem!

I'm not a pilot or even close to being one,but I came across this video and Gene's name popped right out at me.In the early 90's I was a backyard mechanic specializing in VW's.I was in need of some spare parts and cars to restore and a friend and supplier of VW parts told me about Gene(Telle Enterprises in Rolla,MO).So I ended up going to Gene's farm.At this time he was working on powering his plane with Volkswagen engines.Long story short I ended up with vehicles and parts.It's been over 20yrs since I met him and Larry and was just thinking of them the other day.Anyway,I don't know if anyone monitors this or not but sure was nice to see that Gene accomplished what he set to do.

@BrianFitzGerald-TheSkySurfer

5 жыл бұрын

Dear Ken, I appreciate the background on Gene. Unfortunately I heard that Gene died last year. The company is still going and you can see more here: culverprops.com/for-sale.htm Later, The Sky Surfer

I just clicked on this randomly, and was pleasantly surprised. At first when I saw the aircraft, and not knowing anything about its type, thought "wow, this looks like something someone threw together out of miscellaneous spare parts." But, dang, after hearing this guy describe all of the engineering nuances that went into it, AND watching him fly it, I was thoroughly impressed.

@BrianFitzGerald-TheSkySurfer

4 жыл бұрын

"miscellaneous spare parts". That's what got my attention. Check out some more of my movies at: www.fitzvideo.com

What a lovely little machine.

Nicely done by a renaissance man.

I'm quite impressed with the aircraft; the engineering explanations are sound. I had a dead stick with a badly designed king post, free wheeling prop craft, and it really put me off. I'd happily fly this design. Great job

Awesome little plane... this is what I've envisioned far as a part 103 4 stroke.

Great video

Great video many thanks.

@BrianFitzGerald-TheSkySurfer

4 жыл бұрын

Thanks, Terry! I have many more movies to watch on my KZread Channel. Here is the best place to find them: www.fitzvideo.com/

Great background music!!

Great Video

Very Impressive !

That looks like a lot of fun

wow what a beauty it takes off with the slightest effort

@BrianFitzGerald-TheSkySurfer

6 жыл бұрын

Yes, indeed. A big part of it is the long propeller, turning relatively slow.

@haroldnations5887

4 жыл бұрын

@@BrianFitzGerald-TheSkySurfer ly

Low and slow... way to go! I want one. My back yard is about 400 feet deep. I think I could fly one out from here. :)

I bet that is the most fun you can have out of bed! WOW. Power up, tail up almost immediately and the mains just float off the runway. Looks like well under 100 feet on take off. It sure does float in ground effect or it appears so while landing. SWEET litle plane!

...and his hat stayed on! Nice video, thanks.

NIce aircraft - I like that full cantilevered wing with the Junker ailerons and that spin for transport. I thought someone else is also doing the wing spin thing as well ?? Cheers, Patrick

@BrianFitzGerald-TheSkySurfer

8 жыл бұрын

+PATRICK MCKOWEN Dear Patrick, I definitely like the way The Flyer gets off the ground in a hurry, too. Many or all of the Kolb Aircraft swing their wings back for travel/storage but they don't do it as one piece. Each wing pivots at the shoulder and folds back. Happy New Year! Blue Skies & Tailwinds!™ The Sky Surfer

I wish you could still buy one of these!

Great philosophy regarding the tubing structure: The strength is in the geometry.......the welds are only there to keep the tubes from moving around. Neat little plane!

@BrianFitzGerald-TheSkySurfer

Жыл бұрын

Great point! I really liked watching it fly.

That is just too kool!

awesome guy love it. used to watch a crop duster up here in south Dakota, he would bend the wheat as he dusted with the tires great rapor with the machine. he was unfortionatly killed in a terrible accident, trying to unstick a jammed hanger door,

Absolutely beautiful. Would love to fly one. The large prop would make for quieter flying, I hope. I would be looking for longest cruise distance. How many hours on the current frames?

Wonderful

Like the fact that you can be in the air at 30 to 35 mph. Same of course for landing. Much much safer.

@BrianFitzGerald-TheSkySurfer

5 жыл бұрын

Low speed. Low mass. Low inertia. They all make for a "relatively safe" flying experience. Just remember that when you get any higher than about 10 feet, the human body does poorly contacting the ground at 1 G and above...

Beautiful! Check out the Moyes Dragonfly for a similar ultralight

Absolutely love it.

@BrianFitzGerald-TheSkySurfer

3 жыл бұрын

Don't miss the other Ultralights! Go here: www.fitzvideo.com/Pages/UFM2.htm

Very good...

Beautiful

Was the center of the wing left open on the bottom for hat clearance?

You only my inspiration

i love you for that UL and I'm working out a deal that will allow me time to work this out. i must get an ultralight and aside from being close to home your plane looks incredible! I'm in. call you soon

For the last two months I've been reviewing (I think) all of the UltraLight planes. This is my #1 Pick. Gene Smith is one of the reasons.

@BrianFitzGerald-TheSkySurfer

3 жыл бұрын

Yes. It is a great design but unfortunately not in production any more after Gene died.

beautiful background music... :)

@BrianFitzGerald-TheSkySurfer

4 жыл бұрын

Wow. Finally somebody gets it...

That looks like a blast to fly. Back in the 1980's my ultralight had a Cuyuna 440 2- stroke. It only failed me once in flight out of hundreds of hours flight time and that was due to a bad ignition coil. Easy fix once it was tracked down. It would only fail after it heated up.

@BrianFitzGerald-TheSkySurfer

4 жыл бұрын

A small point, but I think you are talking about the Cuyuna 430. I had a couple and never had any luck. You were obviously better at it than me. Once I bought a Rotax 377 I started having fun. Now I have a Rotax 503DCI on my MXL and it is bullet proof. You can see it and more of my movies from my website: www.fitzvideo.com/ Blue Skies & Tailwinds!™ Brian FitzGerald - The Sky Surfer

Working at a large airport and seeing this amazing aircraft; I wish sometimes that I could fly.

@BrianFitzGerald-TheSkySurfer

4 жыл бұрын

Most likely you CAN. After you learn to fly, the expense to fly an Ultralight or a Light Sport Aircraft is quite reasonable.

@pentachronic

4 жыл бұрын

Do you offer training at your local field (or have anyone who does) ? I'm looking at doing Sports Pilots license and wish to get an Ultralight after and your aircraft is pulling at me !! I have some PPL training from years ago but didn't finish due to personal issues. Now I'm free of all that and can spend time wherever I like!!

Thank you

I was so sorry to find out last week that Gene had passed away in 2016....It was like losing a good friend. In my opinion he created the perfect airplane...The only one that I truly wanted. I have watched all the videos countless times. I am an old Vietnam helicopter pilot who thought that after all these years that I would finally fly again....Gene was a remarkable man who wanted the common man to have the joy of flying like a bird. YOu should feel blessed to have his DNA in your blood.

@BrianFitzGerald-TheSkySurfer

4 жыл бұрын

Thanks, John. It is too bad Gene is gone.

Ya know... YA done such a great job giving us all the information about this Rig. Why I bet you would sell a whole lot of them if you could tell us how much it would cost us & where we can get us one...! I sure want one after watching this... !

@BrianFitzGerald-TheSkySurfer

5 жыл бұрын

Well, 'cause I'm not selling them. Go to their website: www.culverprops.com/for-sale.htm

@lbbradley55

5 жыл бұрын

@@BrianFitzGerald-TheSkySurfer HA... THANKS BRIAN... Maybe I will grab one. I do like the Mosquito Hello for about the Same M$$ but these are Certainly Interesting

@dufus2273

5 жыл бұрын

he passed away. he may have had a son . don't know.

Generac? You can fly around during the day, and at night you can plug your house into it if you lose your power. Awesome ultralight.

Looks like a lot of fun! I wonder why he didn't add a few degrees of dihedral to the wing?

Love Webbers. I ran those on my “tuner” Datsun cars back in the early 70’s. Easy to understand them. Reliable. How do they do for carb icing, and metering at higher altitudes?

@aryantruth1807

5 жыл бұрын

I hobbied with the L116 OHC for years. Amazing the built in features to increase performance. I loved the Hitachi carbs with the glass window. 4 wheel independent and adjustable suspension...... A whole lot of fun for very little money.

@dufus2273

5 жыл бұрын

I , many years ago, had a TR-3A with two SU carbs. I could zip right around that datsun 2000. lol

You REALLY flew with your cowboy hat on!! Yee Haw! :-)

@dufus2273

5 жыл бұрын

after all he was in Kansas

two thumbs up on this video!

Oh yeah anti-aircraft gun versus ultralight. Can't wait to see that!

WOW I want one!

GREAT ENGINEERING

Love it

This looks SOOOOOOOOOO COOOOOL........ He makes it “look” so easy; but I’ll bet for someone who has never flown anything bigger then a drone it’s NOT that easy....

Have you put it in a Stoll ? I’m going to come visit I do love your ideas (slower the better)

I want one!

Thank you so much! This ultra light is special for those who like to fly to wander. For example, see your field of planting soybeans, maize or your beef cattle cut, for agriculture inspections.

@BrianFitzGerald-TheSkySurfer

7 жыл бұрын

Thank you, Sir! If you want to get a better taste of what you describe, check out "The Harper Run" here: kzread.info/dash/bejne/i2quj7Gmk9SaltI.html A flight over The Great Plains of Kansas. Blue Skies & Tailwinds!™ The Sky Surfer