For less than the cost of a new car you can own your own aircraft, store it in the garage and roll it into the back of a trailer when you’re ready to go.
All you need is a few hours of instruction and a grassy field to fly solo: No pilot’s license, flying experience or medical examinations required.
Sound too good to be true?
Not to Bobby Egger, 16, of Walkerton, Ind., who flew his first Buckeye powered parachute solo at age 10. His brothers, Brandon, 13, and Jared, 11, were piloting a powered parachute at the same age, though Jared is still in radio communication with a ground instructor during flight just to play it safe.
Their grandfather, Wyman Hochstetler, owner of the Hop’s Powered Parachute Flight Training Center in Walkerton, has taught 1,899 people how to fly one since 1984.
“If you can drive a riding lawnmower across your yard, you can fly one of these,” says Chris Howard, senior vice president of Buckeye Industries, which produces 75 percent of the powered parachutes sold in the U.S. today. The company sold about 650 in 1999, up from 25 eight years ago, making it one of the fastest growing aircraft manufacturers in the world, according to Howard.
University of Notre Dame engineers developed the concept 30 years ago when the Navy asked for a safe, cheap aircraft for teaching pilots how to fly. The engineers replaced the upper rotor on a Benson Gyrocopter with a large RAM parachute to come up with the new flying machine.
In winds less than 10 miles per hour, the Buckeye has the best safety statistics of any aircraft, says Howard, explaining that because of its design and fixed speed–26 to 30 m.p.h., depending on payload–it can’t loop, stall, dive or roll. If the engine fails (which rarely happens), the craft floats back to earth. The pilot can still steer it to a safe landing.
Made of 1 5/8-inch, aircraft-grade steel tubing, the same material used in NASCAR racers, the Buckeye looks like a flying dune buggy. Walls, windows, roof and brakes are not included. The best-selling two-seat Dream Machine 582 sells for $14,247, with other models priced from $9,060 to $25,000.
Pilot and passenger have nothing but the visor on their flight helmets to block their bird-like view. An Austrian-made Rotax two-cylinder aircraft engine, from 40 to 80 horsepower, is mounted immediately behind the passenger seat.
“When you go up at dusk, 3,000 to 4,000 feet up, suspended in air, moving slowly, with the moon starting to come up while the sun is setting in the west, it’s a great way to put everything into perspective–all your problems and stress of the day,” says Tony Howard, who manages dealer operations for Buckeye. He flies year-round.
A Buckeye powered parachute was the first aircraft John Kennedy Jr. owned. His wife, Carolyn, also learned how to fly one because it’s known throughout the industry as a good entry-level machine, says Chris Howard. He hosted the Kennedys when they came to Buckeye headquarters in Argos, Ind., to trade in their one-seater for a two-seater in November 1997.
For a first timer, flying in a Buckeye is a breath-grabbing experience. The passenger settles into the cushy seat behind the pilot, buckles up and adjusts the earphones and microphone to communicate with the pilot in flight.
Once the engine is warmed up after a few minutes, the craft moves slowly forward, forcing air into the 500 square-foot RAM parachute, which before take off lies behind the plane. As the parachute inflates, it rises majestically overhead, becoming an airfoil that functions as a fixed wing.
When the pilot pulls the throttle back, increasing engine revolutions per minute, the craft becomes airborne and can ascend to around 10,000 feet. Two foot pedals, attached to the parachute, make it possible to turn right or left. That’s all the controls the Buckeye has.
Taking buttoned-down businessmen up for the first time is Tony Howard’s greatest pleasure. “When they arrive at the field, they’re all kind of serious but once I’ve taken them up they’re like little kids,” he says.
Ralph Howard, president of Buckeye and his father, Lloyd, vice president, bought the company in 1992 on a whim. Ralph had ordered a powered parachute when he discovered the company was for sale.
At $30,000, it was worth more than the inventory on hand. Indeed, Buckeye dealerships now being established throughout the world require a minimum $31,000 investment today.
A tour of the company’s Argos plant, in the Indiana cornfields, underscores the simplicity of the Buckeye design and its family-run operation. Father, mother, four Howard brothers and one sister work for the firm.
A staff of four runs the manufacturing operation. On a shipping cart in one corner of the plant are three moderately sized cardboard cartons, a complete Buckeye kit ready to be shipped. (You can buy one assembled, but because shipping costs are high, most people who do so also buy a trailer to take it home.) In the next room, a metal rack not much bigger than a large Christmas tree holds the steel tubing that will become 10 powered parachutes.
A single worker can cut, punch, drill and buff the steel tubing for 10 craft in one day and have it ready for powder coating. At full speed, the plant turns out 26 aircraft a day. Delivery time is four weeks, but Howard plans to cut that to four days.
In another room, assembled Buckeyes–in Red Baron red, neon green and purple wave–are ready to be shipped.
And shipped they are all over the globe, from Africa to China to Israel. Though most are sold as pleasure craft for people who want the ultimate toy, Buckeyes can also be hard-working machines.
In Nigeria’s Yankari and Coinage Lake National Parks, wildlife managers fly the slow-moving Buckeyes to spot poachers and monitor animal populations. In the U.S., ranchers use them to herd cattle.
“They’re the updated horse,” says Chris Howard.
Farmers can spot spray their crops with Buckeyes. An insurance man used a Buckeye to survey storm damage. The Marines use unmanned, radar-proof Buckeyes to resupply reconnaissance teams.
With a contract from NASA, engineers at the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio are using unmanned Buckeyes, loaded with high-tech remote-control equipment, to test the landing concept for the X38 space station lifeboat, which will transport space station crew members back to earth in emergencies. The unpowered, steerable, remote-controlled X38 is based on a parachute-wing concept similar to the Buckeye’s.
Even James Bond, in his latest movie “The World Is Not Enough,” must elude a flock of enemy agents flying powered parachutes.
“When we first introduced these at Oshkosh (the Experimental Aircraft Association Fly-in) seven years ago, everyone scoffed at us. But nobody is laughing any more,” says Chris Howard, pointing out that for the last five years the Buckeye has won Best Powered Parachute awards at the EAA Air Adventure Show in Oshkosh, Wis., and the Sun ‘n Fun Airshow in Lakeland, Fla.
It won Grand Champion Ultralight in 1997 in Florida and Grand Champion and Reserve Grand Champion Ultralight in Oshkosh in 1998.
To Mary Jones, editor of the EAA’s Experimenter Magazine, “Learning to fly a powered parachute is relatively easy, even for someone who doesn’t have a pilot’s license or the time to get one. It takes only five hours, a maximum of 10. They’re reasonably safe so it’s a way for people to get into the air. And once you do, you get sort of addicted.”
Hundreds of Buckeyes descend on Argos, Ind., annually for the 4th of July Fly-in, combining the fun of a family reunion and airborne contests with get-down-to-business seminars addressing everything from engine repair to parachute maintenance.
But the ultimate Buckeye adventure is being planned for August and September by a group of owners and dealers. They’ll fly coast-to-coast in their Buckeyes–slow going at 26 m.p.h. with a gas tank big enough to fly only two hours.
THE BUCKEYE POWERED PARACHUTE
Produced by Buckeye Industries in Argos, Ind., is the biggest-selling powered parachute in the U.S. Traveling at a constant speed of about 30 m.p.h., the Buckeye requires no pilot’s license. Here are the specs of two models available:
DREAM MACHINE 582
Best-selling, two-place model
AIRFRAME
Empty weight: 325 pounds
Payload: * 500 pounds (maximum)
Wing area: 500 square feet
Fabric: 1.1-ounce Soar Coat
Fuel capacity: 10 gallon
Kit assembly: 20-30 hours
POWERPLANT
Rotax engine; 582-twin cylinder; two-cycle; oil-injection
Horsepower: 65
PERFORMANCE
Maximum speed: 30 m.p.h.
Fuel consumption: 3 gallons per hour
Stall speed: Virtually stall resistant
Rate of climb:** 600-800 feet per minute
Cruise speed: 30 m.p.h.
Takeoff roll: 150-500 feet
Glide ratio: 3.47 per 1
Landing roll: 100 feet
Descent rate: 10 feet per second (maximum)
Ceiling: 10,500 feet
FALCON 582
The most powerful single seater
AIRFRAME
Empty weight: 245 pounds
Payload: * 350 pounds (maximum)
Wing area: 500 square feet
Fabric: 1.1-ounce Soar Coat
Kit assembly: 20-30 hours
Airframe dimensions: 73 inches wide by 107 inches long by 78 inches high
Fuel capacity: 5 gallons
POWERPLANT
Rotax engine; 582-twin cylinder; two cycle; oil injection; water cooled
Horsepower: 65
PERFORMANCE
Maximum speed: 26 m.p.h.
Fuel consumption: 3 gallons per hour
Stall speed: Virtually stall resistant
Rate of climb: ** 1,100 feet per minute (maximum)
Cruise speed: 26 m.p.h.
Takeoff roll: 50 to 150 feet
Glide ratio: 3.47 per 1
Landing roll: 100 feet
Descent rate: 10 feet per second (maximum)
Ceiling: 10,500 feet
FALCON 503
AIRFRAME
Empty weight: 230 pounds
Payload: * 310 pounds maximum
Wing area: 500 square feet
Fabric: 1.1 0z Soar Coat
Fuel capacity: 5 gallon
Kit assembly: 20-30 hours
POWERPLANT
Rotax engine; 503 single carburetor; oil injection; twin-cylinder; two-cycle
Horsepower: 46
PERFORMANCE
Maximum speed: 26 m.p.h.
Fuel consumption: 2 1/2-3 gallons per hour
Stall speed: Virtually stall resistant
Rate of climb: ** 800 feet per minute
Cruising speed: 26 m.p.h.
Takeoff roll: 150-300 feet
Glide ratio: 3.81/1
Landing roll: 100 feet
Descent rate (maximum): 10 feet per second
Ceiling: 10,500 feet
DREAM MACHINE 503
Lighter weight version of the Dream Machine 582
AIRFRAME
Empty weight: 300 pounds
Payload: * 450 pounds (maximum)
Wing area: 500 square feet
Fabric: 1.1 ounce Soar Coat
Fuel capacity: 10 gallons
Kit assembly: 20-30 hours
POWERPLANT
Rotax engine; 503-twin cylinder; two-cycle; oil-injection; dual carburetor
Horsepower: 52
PERFORMANCE
Maximum speed: 30 m.p.h.
Fuel consumption: 4 gallons per hour
Stall speed: Virtually stall resistant
Rate of climb: ** 500-700 feet per minute
Cruise speed: 30 m.p.h.
Takeoff roll: 150-500 feet
Glide ratio: 3.47/1
Landing roll: 100 feet
Descent rate (maximum): 10 feet per second
Ceiling: 10,500 feet
* Payload is defined as combined total weight of pilot, passenger (if two-place model) and accessories.
** Rate of climb will vary, depending on payload and atmospheric conditions.
— Source: Buckeye Industries.
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Powered Parachutes of Illinois, a Buckeye dealership, offers half-hour introductory lessons for $40, near Peotone. Call 708-258-3533 for information and reservations. The total solo flight instruction package is $175, including ground school, materials, pre-flight briefing, log book, framable solo certificate and first flight with radio communications.
At Hop’s Powered Parachute in Walkerton, Ind., the Flight Instruction Package is $175 and an introductory flight lesson is $50. Call 219-586-3580 for reservations.
