Larry WUIIa says "These things are going to sell " Photo by David Corey
Ultralight planes provide
high flying for alow cost
By MARIAN GREEN
OMh* Emaratd
Just as the automobile and television slowly
but surely became affordable diversions for vir
tually every family, so it will be with airplanes Or at
least with the “Ultralight'' plane, says a Eugene
dealer of the revolutionary new flying machine
The "Ultralight" is a one-person plane,
weighing only 155 pounds, that is powered by
light winds and a twin-cycle "go-cart" (30 horse
power) engine, says Larry Willis, who started his
Eugene dealership, The Ultralight Place, in June
"Every man has always wanted to fly but
could never afford to Now it's within everyone's
grasp to be able to fly," Willis says
The planes, which were displayed on the
Downtown Mall Saturday, cost $3,995, including
flying lessons
Willis says that’s cheap because "a little gas"
is all a customer has to buy after purchasing an
Ultralight. Gone are the hangar, pilot licensing (no
license is required as Ultralights carry no
passengers) and maintenance costs associated
with standard small plane ownership, he says
The planes fold into a 5' high, 1' wide and 16’
long package, which can be stored easily in a
garage or carried in a car or truck, he says
Ultralights can be re-assembled on "the easy
side" of 30 minutes, he adds
With multi-colored wings, harnesses and
aluminum bodies, Ultralight planes look similar to
hang gliders, but they're just the opposite, Willis
says. "In hang gliding, you've got to have wind ”
Willis says Ultralights are safer than hang
gliders, too
"You'd never get me to hang glide,” says
Willis
But, he says. Ultralights are another story
because they're only flown in winds of less than
15 miles per hour, at airspeeds averaging 20-30
mph and can take-off or land within a span of 60
feet or so
"You can set it down almost anyplace if you
had to," Willis says
Leonard Tarantola, owner of the Eugene Iron
Works, is one person who has had an Ultralight
experience
“I’m having a ball,” he says
"It's like being a bird, a slow-flying bird
"There's a freedom of perspective that's unique."
Tarantola first glimpsed the planes at the
Creswell Airshow, later purchasing one that he
now flys two or three times a week, weather
permitting
Like many others, Tarantola says he always
had a "lingering desire" to fly but never had the
time or money to learn
"Within an hour (of Ultralight training), I had
soloed,” he says
That short a learning period is not uncom
mon, Willis says
Willis gives a new student a book on the
principles of flight to read and then commences
the practical training, which can take from two to
four hours
"Two to three hours, and I'll have you flying,"
he says, and with a laugh adds, “and that's not a
crash course "
Learners spend most of that time taxiing on
the ground to "get a feel" for the one-person
plane They then take the plane up one foot off the
ground for awhile, then five feet, then 10 feet, and
finally they're ready to fly the plane at a normal
altitude of 300 feet
Willis uses this gradual procedure and only
teaches in calm weather "so there's no way you
can get hurt ”
Ultralights are great for aerial photographers
and outdoor enthusiasts because they fly slow
enough for photographers to take sharp pictures
and are manueverable enough to land in normally
inaccessible places, Willis says
Although Eugene’s economic bind has
affected Willis' sales (he's sold just four Ultra
lights in the last two months), his parent company,
the California-based Eipper Formance Inc., out
sells its nearest competitor by 18 percent nation
wide
Slow sales, though, have not disheartened
Willis He says he gets many calls daily about the
planes, an indication that sales will pick up soon
Willis gets calls from Albany, Corvallis, Salem
and Roseburg as well as Eugene And these
people "all want to go flying," he says
"These things are going to sell,” he says
confidently
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Coffee
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Monday Night Football
on
Eugene’s Finest
BIG SCREEN
Great Halftime Entertainment
• Backgammon on
Rosewood tables
• Great Pinball
& Videos
• Darts
As always, the World’s Outstanding Beers.
defrisco&
A Beer Drinker's Establishment
In the Atrium
Homecoming activities
slated for the weekend
A giant spaghetti feed, a
decoration contest and an
old-fashioned pep rally wiill
mark the University's annual
homecoming celebration set
Thursday through Sunday,
Oct 15-18
A jazz band will be fea
tured at the spaghetti feed,
Thursday at 5:30 in the EMU.
Tickets are $1.50 After din
ner, Rich Brooks, head
football coach, and some of
the players on the Universi
ty’s football team will speak
at a pep rally. The rally squad
and the pep band will per
form at the rally.
Friday’s activities in
clude a German-style beer
garden, complete with im
ported sausages and polka
tunes, runs from 4-7 pm. At
9:30 the big-band sound of
the Starlighters, a local
dance band, can be heard in
the EMU Ballroom.
Highlighting the
homecoming activity is the
football game against the
University of Arizona
Wildcats, complete with a
pre-game spirit parade from
the campus to Autzen for the
1 pm game.
OPEN TO STUDENTS:
Faculty Club for Lunch
The Big Yellow House at 13th and University.
The once private rooms of the faculty club’s Collier House are now
open to anyone who is hungry.
MODERATELY PRICED SALADS, SANDWICHES,
HOMEMADE SOUP
11:30-2:00 Weekdays
See your Jostens’ Representative.
Mon. Oct. 12
DATE Tues. Oct. 13
TIME 9:30 am - 4:30 pm
place UO Bookstore, 686-4331