My Dad who passed away in 1995 loved the magazines that advertised airplane plans as far back as the late 1950s. I remember the Fly Baby and the drawings in one of his magazines. This brings back a lot of memories, good memories, of wishing we could build them. He did buy a Stinson 108-1 in the 1980s. He never lost his love for flying.
yea my dad too. he built a toucan trike and flew it one time died a year later. he left it to me told me not let anyone get their hands on it and mom let someone steal it.
Cat brought a big smile to my face, rolling in the gravel like that. Lost my Lucy cat about a year ago. Interesting plane too, don't see too many wood-framed planes anymore.
Excellent video. I wish y'all success in the venture. It was great that you incorporated the cat, a real star of the video. The 'walk on' roles of the two dogs were unnecessary. The cat was the Star!
I'd like to mention, in case someone hasn't yet, that Fisher Flying Products _started out_ as a model aircraft kit maker and the Dakota Hawk was one of their most popular models.
@@Reubenhubert, yeah it turns out that model airplanes and real airplanes only differ in their Reynolds numbers. Awesome movie, btw. The newer version used a Graupner Models catalog when the designer was showing off his work.
I love the Dakota Hawk. Thanks Bryan! Small, fun tail-dragger that gets you airborne to scratch your flying itch. It weighs about 600 pounds empty, has a gross weight of 1150 pounds, which gives a useful load of 550 pounds. That's enough to take two adults and sufficient fuel for a couple of hours fun. That puts this aircraft into into Sonex with a Jabiru 3300 or Zenith CH701 with a Rotax 912 territory. OK, the Dakota Hawk will not take off as short as a CH701 but then again few aircraft can match the 701 for STOL performance. A Dakota Hawk isn't as quick as a Sonex either. But in the sub-1320 pound category, the Dakota Hawk really is a very attractive proposition.
I always like Fisher airplanes, but was sad when they were out of business. Then they were bought out and now reselling again which makes me happy. I just wish I had the money to build and own one. It's not easy living off a small disability check being in tons of debt.
There are many opportunities to turn a small profit in experimental aviation. Maybe see about acquiring rights to a set of plans, list them online and sell printed copies for $200-$300. Maybe offer a digital download for half that price (and 10x the profit, due to no printing costs).
@@EllipsisAircraft There is not a whole lot of money to be made selling plans. I bought R.C. model aircraft plans and it cost a lot of money and I'm thinking it's the same with full size Experimental aircraft as well. I fail to build them due to lack of funds.
Looked at your web site. Love the look of the bi-wings. Didn't see any prices for kits though. Did notice the top engine is about $40K and using the rule of thumb that the engine half the plane, then kits would be about $40K?
@@robertweekley5926 If the engine is half the price of the plane, then 2x engine price is the price of the plane WITH engine. Thus, the price of the airframe and all the bits would be the price of the engine, ie $40K. :) Of course, that is a rough ball park estimate. With enough avionics and other bells and whistles, you could make a crop duster cost many times the cost of the engine. :D
I have always had an interest in wood aircraft. I have been targeting fisher throughout the years... I have been drawn to the Celebrity. After watching this video, thought I would go and check it out again. Went to the website and I could not find anything showing the price breakdown of the kit? At least have a link, on the page displaying the aircraft, showing the plans price, the kit breakdown cost, and any other info relevant to the completed kit. Also, at least throw in a rudder kit, with the price of the plans. Sample part to build. I am not a business person, so take that for what its worth :) Good Luck.
This is great! I wonder what it would take to make this kit convertible from tricycle to tail wheel? If an owner wanted to change configuration for different conditions for whatever reasons. I have a lot of other questions but that was the first one I thought of as I watched the video. 😊
"Small" changes often require serious design efforts. You have to reverse engineer the entire airplane, not just the structure but the performance and weight and balance data also, to deduce what loads to design for. Then everything has to be engineered for those new loads. And you end up putting a lot more structure into the fuselage that is otherwise not needed, adding weight, and possibly 5-10 hours of build time and several hundred dollars on materials and components. E.g. While re-designing the Quickie for personal use, I found one single ply of fiberglass added to the canard alone required a total re-design of the entire wing, which serves as landing gear spring, etc. But it now has a gross weight increase to the tune of 20+ hours of engineering effort on top of 100+ hours of CAD modeling and 50+ hrs of Airfoil design and analysis. Plus $1,300 in software and compute time. And still not finished, as Hotwire templates still need to be designed. Then the build starts (est. $12-$15k). This substantial cost and effort grants a 70lb increase in max allowable landing weight. That is all.
@@philipritson8821 that may be, but I did not investigate the designs web page to see what was available at that time. I assumed if the fellow was asking, that they had done the research and that it did not have this option as of yet. I do realize now that they have options so the question above was moot.
9:45 any idea what this second metal plate is for? It seems like the right position for the trike mains but it looks different than the forward position.
I want to build this plane. My engine choice would be a Verner big 5s, 83hp radial. Could they make a cowl and engine mount for that type of application? $300 to $3000 just for plans!!! You can keep that sh--
I've never looked at the hawk just because of size/cost of engine needed. Nothing against airplane. I have to look at engine cost 1st. Let that whittle down the selection.
Does anyone have a story of someone that got caught flying a plane without a license? Wondering how serious of a crime it is if someone that say built their own plane and got caught flying it and gave the "I didn't know" response.
You'll be slapped with a fine of up to $250,000 and 5y in prison. Same deal if you don't register the plane itself. They'll see that you posted this comment and that will immediately incriminate you. That argument doesn't really work when most things larger than a lawn mower require a license or certificate.
@@ConcreteBombDeep Yes, people get caught for it. The fines escalate with repeate offenses, but it will eventually turn into a criminal offense so I wouldn't do it. The best that will happen the 1st time is the FAA forces you to get certificated.
@ConcreteBombDeep On one occasion, a guy flying in the outback of Australia saw an odd aircraft taking off o a roadway, nearly colliding with a car. He reported this and someone went out to investigate. They found a very DIY aircraft made from a Piper and a Cessna. The guy had bought the parts from a scrapyard and somehow made them into a flyable plane. Not sure what charges if any were made, but the guy seriously didn't know it was illegal.
The plans aren't even worth getting if the kit is less than $35,000; you'd be better off getting them 2nd hand for cheaper than they used to sell for. Same deal if you don't use one of the engines they offer.
$4700 Canadian for plans and forced to sign a contract. Hard pass. People will just go find the old plans and scratch build. There are so many flying ultralights out there for 15k that are tube and fabric. You guys are nuts with these prices. Or little luscombes and taylorcraft for 20-25k. In 2024, the only way a wood plane makes sense is it has to be dirt cheap. Like material cost plus 15% cheap.
$3000....for PLANS? They have officially destroyed the Fisher lineup. That's what happens when a once great American company gets sold off overseas (or in this case Canada, then overseas....same difference really...). Ah well, onward to the next plane...sigh.....
Fisher is a Canadian brand, but I mostly agree with what you've said. This isn't that big of a deal for people planning to build from a kit but for scratch builders this is a big loss considering how affordable plans normally are. There aren't a lot of companies that sell plans for wooden planes. I'm sure you can still get them 2nd hand for a reasonable price, at least.
Tell me about it. So many manufacturing companies that were great have been bought by the US, now they focus on quantity over quality. We need global sanctions against US made products. If we all stop buying US, the world will be a better place.
Yes everyone can work in wood but a sleek single piece carbon fiber fuselage is just better allround. Faster to make, much stronger, lighter, vastly better aerodynamics, it's just worth it. It requires the factor to make the mold but then you have an actual quality product people will pay for and something that will perform. But making the shape double curved teardrop like a glider it is naturally rigid as just a shell so you don't need framing, bulkheads etc as much or at all. Windshield can be polycarbonate thermoformed in a mold as well and polished to optical clarity.
@@theresacaron4238 I wouldn't be intelligent if I hadn't considered that. Fairly hefty brand name CF cloth is maybe 20$ per square meter/yard. You only need a few layers of that to make something impossibly strong so the simplicity and stiffness at low weight really pays for itself. Let's say you made a glider style 2 seater tandem, that double curved teardrop shape lends itself to natural rigidity unlike a box shape and let's say you needed 20 square meters of CF cloth for that, that's 400$. In aviation land that's not a deal breaker amount of money for an optimal building material. No? Especially if it saves you 800 hours of build time.
Natures composite materials are still relevant. The fastest bombers of World War Two were wooden. Also check out Bellanca aircraft. Wood is strong and resilient.
@@kr6dr And wood is relatively easy to work with and if I decided to build a plans built this would definitely be my top 5 choice. Maybe you agree with me in that a wood structured aircraft must be hangered. I think this is the main negative with wood. It should probable NEVER be left out on a tie-down spot for extended periods of time. Unless priming the wood structure would help?
My Dad who passed away in 1995 loved the magazines that advertised airplane plans as far back as the late 1950s. I remember the Fly Baby and the drawings in one of his magazines. This brings back a lot of memories, good memories, of wishing we could build them. He did buy a Stinson 108-1 in the 1980s. He never lost his love for flying.
yea my dad too. he built a toucan trike and flew it one time died a year later. he left it to me told me not let anyone get their hands on it and mom let someone steal it.
Your cat needs a hug.
How could he ignore that puss ?
Cat brought a big smile to my face, rolling in the gravel like that. Lost my Lucy cat about a year ago. Interesting plane too, don't see too many wood-framed planes anymore.
Lucy cat?
My cat Lucy, sorry if I didnt state that clearly.
Cat for scale only. Not included in kit. You must supply your own cat.
Excellent video. I wish y'all success in the venture. It was great that you incorporated the cat, a real star of the video. The 'walk on' roles of the two dogs were unnecessary. The cat was the Star!
I'd like to mention, in case someone hasn't yet, that Fisher Flying Products _started out_ as a model aircraft kit maker and the Dakota Hawk was one of their most popular models.
A model airplane designer came up with the plan to fix the downed plane in The Flight of the Phoenix. Coincidence?
@@Reubenhubert, yeah it turns out that model airplanes and real airplanes only differ in their Reynolds numbers. Awesome movie, btw. The newer version used a Graupner Models catalog when the designer was showing off his work.
One like for the cat, at least
The cat is a Quality Control inspector I think .
I love the Dakota Hawk.
Thanks Bryan!
Small, fun tail-dragger that gets you airborne to scratch your flying itch.
It weighs about 600 pounds empty, has a gross weight of 1150 pounds, which gives a useful load of 550 pounds. That's enough to take two adults and sufficient fuel for a couple of hours fun. That puts this aircraft into into Sonex with a Jabiru 3300 or Zenith CH701 with a Rotax 912 territory.
OK, the Dakota Hawk will not take off as short as a CH701 but then again few aircraft can match the 701 for STOL performance. A Dakota Hawk isn't as quick as a Sonex either.
But in the sub-1320 pound category, the Dakota Hawk really is a very attractive proposition.
Sorry to have to say but the construction on this demo airframe is quite poor. You can see daylight through some of the joints.
I noticed that also, like at 6:20 i was like ''what??''
Looks like the cat is the star of the show!
The CIG (Cat Inspector General)! 😁🤪🤣👍👍🇺🇸
Cat approved.
I always like Fisher airplanes, but was sad when they were out of business. Then they were bought out and now reselling again which makes me happy. I just wish I had the money to build and own one. It's not easy living off a small disability check being in tons of debt.
There are many opportunities to turn a small profit in experimental aviation.
Maybe see about acquiring rights to a set of plans, list them online and sell printed copies for $200-$300. Maybe offer a digital download for half that price (and 10x the profit, due to no printing costs).
@@EllipsisAircraft There is not a whole lot of money to be made selling plans. I bought R.C. model aircraft plans and it cost a lot of money and I'm thinking it's the same with full size Experimental aircraft as well. I fail to build them due to lack of funds.
Simply add a duck for IFR capability.
Looked at your web site.
Love the look of the bi-wings.
Didn't see any prices for kits though.
Did notice the top engine is about $40K and using the rule of thumb that the engine half the plane, then kits would be about $40K?
Half of $40K would be $20K, me thinks! 😮
@@robertweekley5926
If the engine is half the price of the plane, then 2x engine price is the price of the plane WITH engine.
Thus, the price of the airframe and all the bits would be the price of the engine, ie $40K.
:)
Of course, that is a rough ball park estimate.
With enough avionics and other bells and whistles, you could make a crop duster cost many times the cost of the engine.
:D
I have been building all wood aircraft for 70 years, but mine are only 8 feet wingspan and smaller.
what engine do you use to be able to fly with an 8ft wingspan thats crazy
He's talking about RC aircraft@@djwizzwizz1800
your planes are cool, but why are the plans so expensive?
I need this. I’m far more comfortable with wood and already setup for wood than I am with/for metal.
The supurrvisor is on duty!
I like the Dakota Hawk but no pricing on the website?? I have to give all my information just to get pricing?
3 grand for plans? Good luck with that.
I have always had an interest in wood aircraft. I have been targeting fisher throughout the years... I have been drawn to the Celebrity. After watching this video, thought I would go and check it out again. Went to the website and I could not find anything showing the price breakdown of the kit? At least have a link, on the page displaying the aircraft, showing the plans price, the kit breakdown cost, and any other info relevant to the completed kit. Also, at least throw in a rudder kit, with the price of the plans. Sample part to build. I am not a business person, so take that for what its worth :) Good Luck.
Dam that is a sweet cat. How much for it?
This is great! I wonder what it would take to make this kit convertible from tricycle to tail wheel? If an owner wanted to change configuration for different conditions for whatever reasons. I have a lot of other questions but that was the first one I thought of as I watched the video. 😊
"Small" changes often require serious design efforts. You have to reverse engineer the entire airplane, not just the structure but the performance and weight and balance data also, to deduce what loads to design for.
Then everything has to be engineered for those new loads. And you end up putting a lot more structure into the fuselage that is otherwise not needed, adding weight, and possibly 5-10 hours of build time and several hundred dollars on materials and components.
E.g. While re-designing the Quickie for personal use, I found one single ply of fiberglass added to the canard alone required a total re-design of the entire wing, which serves as landing gear spring, etc.
But it now has a gross weight increase to the tune of 20+ hours of engineering effort on top of 100+ hours of CAD modeling and 50+ hrs of Airfoil design and analysis. Plus $1,300 in software and compute time. And still not finished, as Hotwire templates still need to be designed. Then the build starts (est. $12-$15k).
This substantial cost and effort grants a 70lb increase in max allowable landing weight. That is all.
@@EllipsisAircraft Conversion from taildragger to tricycle is an option on this aircraft. The hard work has already been done.
@@philipritson8821 that may be, but I did not investigate the designs web page to see what was available at that time. I assumed if the fellow was asking, that they had done the research and that it did not have this option as of yet. I do realize now that they have options so the question above was moot.
Seat is nice
9:45 any idea what this second metal plate is for? It seems like the right position for the trike mains but it looks different than the forward position.
13:03 Ghost Busters!
Is cat included too?
can I put motor glider wings on it?
I like that cat, I really do. What`s his position in the company?
@danhubert-hx4ss The owner. Duh!
@@grahammonk8013 Thought as much. Duh!
i dono it needs more stringers
It may be nice if they were actually built here in the Dakotas..
Good luck if u find kit prices
🤗🤗💯💯
Does it include a cat?
I want to build this plane. My engine choice would be a Verner big 5s, 83hp radial. Could they make a cowl and engine mount for that type of application? $300 to $3000 just for plans!!! You can keep that sh--
I've never looked at the hawk just because of size/cost of engine needed. Nothing against airplane. I have to look at engine cost 1st. Let that whittle down the selection.
At 3:10 there is a cat marking his territory
😸
Котэ уже пометил самолет???
Plans are on pirate bay
I can’t see any advantage of building in wood,other than for the love of it.
Good luck selling that at those prices !! Geez !!
I know wood works well and has been proven to do so forever. It just bothers me for some reason?...
Does anyone have a story of someone that got caught flying a plane without a license? Wondering how serious of a crime it is if someone that say built their own plane and got caught flying it and gave the "I didn't know" response.
You'll be slapped with a fine of up to $250,000 and 5y in prison. Same deal if you don't register the plane itself. They'll see that you posted this comment and that will immediately incriminate you. That argument doesn't really work when most things larger than a lawn mower require a license or certificate.
@@Ibrahimarm But has it happened?
@@ConcreteBombDeep Yes, people get caught for it. The fines escalate with repeate offenses, but it will eventually turn into a criminal offense so I wouldn't do it. The best that will happen the 1st time is the FAA forces you to get certificated.
@ConcreteBombDeep On one occasion, a guy flying in the outback of Australia saw an odd aircraft taking off o a roadway, nearly colliding with a car. He reported this and someone went out to investigate. They found a very DIY aircraft made from a Piper and a Cessna. The guy had bought the parts from a scrapyard and somehow made them into a flyable plane. Not sure what charges if any were made, but the guy seriously didn't know it was illegal.
5% of 15,000 is 750.
The plans aren't even worth getting if the kit is less than $35,000; you'd be better off getting them 2nd hand for cheaper than they used to sell for. Same deal if you don't use one of the engines they offer.
$4700 Canadian for plans and forced to sign a contract. Hard pass. People will just go find the old plans and scratch build.
There are so many flying ultralights out there for 15k that are tube and fabric. You guys are nuts with these prices. Or little luscombes and taylorcraft for 20-25k.
In 2024, the only way a wood plane makes sense is it has to be dirt cheap. Like material cost plus 15% cheap.
Too many stories, very little data.
$3000....for PLANS? They have officially destroyed the Fisher lineup. That's what happens when a once great American company gets sold off overseas (or in this case Canada, then overseas....same difference really...). Ah well, onward to the next plane...sigh.....
Fisher is a Canadian brand, but I mostly agree with what you've said. This isn't that big of a deal for people planning to build from a kit but for scratch builders this is a big loss considering how affordable plans normally are. There aren't a lot of companies that sell plans for wooden planes. I'm sure you can still get them 2nd hand for a reasonable price, at least.
Tell me about it. So many manufacturing companies that were great have been bought by the US, now they focus on quantity over quality. We need global sanctions against US made products. If we all stop buying US, the world will be a better place.
@@chippyjohn1 That is false. How will the world improve if we stop buying US products?
@@chippyjohn1you must have meant Chinese products?
It's not too hard to make an own plan though
Yes everyone can work in wood but a sleek single piece carbon fiber fuselage is just better allround. Faster to make, much stronger, lighter, vastly better aerodynamics, it's just worth it. It requires the factor to make the mold but then you have an actual quality product people will pay for and something that will perform. But making the shape double curved teardrop like a glider it is naturally rigid as just a shell so you don't need framing, bulkheads etc as much or at all. Windshield can be polycarbonate thermoformed in a mold as well and polished to optical clarity.
Why comment on this build. When it's not your preference of building material?
@@devonlove9095 to better the world
Carbon fiber is great if you're loaded with money like Mike Patey but of us are not and have to build on a budget making wood an affordable option.
@@theresacaron4238 I wouldn't be intelligent if I hadn't considered that. Fairly hefty brand name CF cloth is maybe 20$ per square meter/yard. You only need a few layers of that to make something impossibly strong so the simplicity and stiffness at low weight really pays for itself. Let's say you made a glider style 2 seater tandem, that double curved teardrop shape lends itself to natural rigidity unlike a box shape and let's say you needed 20 square meters of CF cloth for that, that's 400$. In aviation land that's not a deal breaker amount of money for an optimal building material. No? Especially if it saves you 800 hours of build time.
Have you ever polished polycarbonate? You may be thinking of acrylic.
You lost me at 3,000 dollars just for plans, sorry!
Lol...I don't see them making it.
Bringing the plans from the last century up to modern times, but not the materials🤦🏻♂️
Natures composite materials are still relevant. The fastest bombers of World War Two were wooden. Also check out Bellanca aircraft. Wood is strong and resilient.
@@kr6dr yes WW2….. if wood was still relevant for aircraft, everybody would be using it.
@@kr6dr And wood is relatively easy to work with and if I decided to build a plans built this would definitely be my top 5 choice. Maybe you agree with me in that a wood structured aircraft must be hangered. I think this is the main negative with wood. It should probable NEVER be left out on a tie-down spot for extended periods of time. Unless priming the wood structure would help?
@@jamesbrummett9530 and termites…
@@jamesbrummett9530the wood is coated, any aircraft should be hangered but built properly wood aircraft are just as impervious as your wood house
This plane should cost no more than 1000 USD. When flight ready, it shoul cost no more than 3000 USD.
Really thin wood 😮
Ckd.aero is non responsive