GB model D
ultralight aircraft, GB model D experimental aircraft, GB
model D experimental light sport aircraft (ELSA), Lightsport Aircraft Pilot News
newsmagazine.
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Lightsport
Aircraft Pilot is a directory of aircraft that generally fit
into what are described as ultralight aircraft, advanced ultralight
aircraft,
light sport aircraft, experimental light sport aircraft, experimental
aircraft, amateur built aircraft, ELSA or homebuilt
aircraft in the United States and Canada. These include
weight shift aircraft, more commonly known as trikes,
powered parachutes, and powered para-gliders.
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GB model D ultralight, experimental
lightsport, amateur built aircraft.
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Manufacturer
Steve Mahrle
2415 Knapp St Rd.
Oshkosh Wisconsin
At Airventure a number of
years ago I had the opportunity to interview a gentleman by
the name of Steve Mahrle who had taken the all wood Rag Wing
design and converted it into a metal fuselage and wing
aircraft.
He named the plane the "Busker." In Europe this has a
special meaning sort of a "Jack of all Trades", and his
little Busker sort of fit that in that it could play many
different roles for many different people. |
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At Airventure 1998 he flew in with a
beautiful little GB model D. Unfortunately he blew a tire on
landing on the main runway, while no damage was done the
incident attracted the attention of the FAA, who then
proceeded to weight his plane and find that it was
"overweight"!
The amazing thing about this to me was that they turned a
"blind eye" to all the other ultralights at the show, of
which I would estimate only about 2 would make the
definition. Another thing that really bothered me was that
despite the contribution Steve has made over the years to
EAA - he has been presented with several awards - no one
from EAA came to his aid. In fact it seemed that they
actually made a point to avoid him! Perhaps EAA only comes
to help if you are someone like Bob Hoover where you know
you are going to getting publicity coming out the wazzoo!
Anyways getting back to Steve's ..GB model D is a 110% scale
of the 1930's model. In order to bring the stall speed down
he had to take the wings from the original 25 feet to 30 ft
6 inch. In fact the plane makes the definition for stall and
top speed but not the weight.
In fact Steve has a vision of a whole series of craft of
"Golden Light Racers" and is in the process of looking for
people to back the idea. He compared the idea to that of
Mike Loehle who produces a series of World War 1 and 11
scaled warbird replicas.
For more info contact:
Steve Mahrle
2415 Knapp St Rd.
Oshkosh Wisconsin |
GB model D ultralight -
experimental lightsport aircraft |
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