My cool projects

Done, finished projects:

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Status of never finished projects:

June 2008, checkout my new Youtube video:Starting my engine with Lithum Polymer battery

What's new: July 31st,2007, yikes another year has gone by. Todays question: Can I reduce the weight of my ultralight by replacing the 3 pound 5 gallon plastic fuel tank with a fuel cell (rubber bladder?)? I found a company on-line that says: "If you are just thinking about fuel cells for your project, we can give you some ideas to get you started. Call on us to get it done right the first time." Wow, ... I'll call tomorrow! This sticker has been in the window of my gas-turbine-turboprop-amphibious-ultralight-aircraft since Sun-n-Fun 2005. I'll update this page tomorrow with the answer to my super-lightweight-5-gallon-jet-fuel-tank question. Answer: "No"... it was a pretty dumb question. 3 pounds is not very much. The folks at Eagle Fuel Cells (800-437-8732) were just great and very helpful but they make serious fuel cells for serious applications like military helicopters! My application is just too off the charts strange - geesh, you'd think I'd have figured this out by now. ... it's lonely being out over the edge all the time.

News: Sept 27th 2006, ... first flight of gas turbine turboprop amphibous ultralight from (and to) the river that flows through Pfrancdom was a total success! Sorry no video of the plane yet, but here's an old video taken by Larry, Pfranc of NY, of me starting the engine INDOORS!:

It was a beautiful perfect landing - from the left (west) with touchdown right about where the nose is pointing. (and just to the left behind those trees lives Pepper. Pepper loves flying and let me cut down a bunch of her trees so I'd have a little more room. I'm sure glad I got a couple of hours of water landing training flights in Florida a few months ago. Also, talking with other Aventura UL owners on-line helped a lot! (see - I'm crazy but not stupid - yet anyway.)

News: Sept 8th 2006, I took off from the river that flows past my home here in the woods of Oregon in my new amphibious ultralight aircraft with gas turbine turbo-prop jet engine attached (click here for photos), wow because I didn't mean to take off! I landed - in the river - AND both me and the aircraft are OK!!! I did not intend on flying that day, ugh. I was not ready and the plane was not ready by a long shot! I just wanted to learn how to step taxi and navigate in the river. I had only 1250 feet of narrow tree lined river between rapids and rocks and I used it ALL! And more than half of that was in the air. One take-off (by mistake) and two landings, the first was a big very scary bounce, but I got the nose down avoiding a stall and managed to set her back down into the water and stop before hitting the rocks! Whew - man, that was fun.

Maybe I can excape winning the Darwin Award after all since I'm really old and had a vasectomy? Maybe not. Or maybe us old guys get a free pass to do really stupid things and get away with it? Or maybe hours of water landing training in Florida last year and a hundred hours flying ultralights over the last 20 years helped too? --- I'm not braggin' on you I'm just trying to say to you: don't try this at home, like the MythBusters say "We are professionals, we know what we are doing ...". It just doesn't seem fair, some people get away with doing totally crazy things while others end up hurt or dead just crossing the street. I get away with being nuts (so far anyway) but that doesn't mean you can - well unless you are really old and shooting blanks.

I get email from kids all the time asking "larry help me build a jet engine ....." and my answer, if I answer at all, is always; "get your dad or a relative to help". I'll talk to dad's helping their kids with a father-son project - but not the kids.

News: May 2005, I finally put a brake on my propeller and it worked! It's a HAYES disc brake made for a bicycle and it stops my 72 inch diameter IVO 3 blade prop on my 86HP gas turbine engine. How strange is this? More about my prop brake here.

News: 10/04; Another amazing flight in another L-29, this time for free! AND, I got to sit in the front seat, start the engine, and piloted it for two hours! Two takeoffs, two landings, a loop, a bunch of rolls, from here to Camarillo,California with Scott!

News: On June 30th, 2004 I piloted a military jet! A L-29 Delfin. Jack Kilpatrick owns it (and he also owns the Redding Jet Center). He let me fly it for 55 minutes! I did a LOOP, a 5.5G turn, 5 rolls, and went over 400 miles per hour! He did the first landing to show me how and then let me take it around the pattern and land it!!! I recorded the track on my Garmin geko 301! The loop confused it! (more>>here)

Homemade FUNICULAR down to the river, (AKA lift, elevator, moving deck)... spell FUN - I - C - U - LAR(ry) My Homemade 2.4 inch Gas Turbine Jet Engine. ... it WORKED! My factory made 85 horse power Gas Turbine Engine. ... which I want to put on my ultralight. --- On 5/17/03 I started the engine the first time while attached to my modified GT-280 (same as GT-400) with HiMax wings! Today I'm working on the PWM Atmel AVR throttle control FADIC. I've always have wanted to design, build, and fly jet aircraft! -- so finally I did. I started flying ultralight aircraft in 1986. By 2003 I finished my gas turbine turboprop ultralight and flew it. So far everyone seems to like hearing and seeing it. Next step - Amphibious turboprop ultralight! I bought a Aventura UL 11/04 and plan on flying it from the factory in Florida across the USA to my home in Oregon before March 2005. I'll use a 447 or equiv. Update: It didn't happen. The plane wasn't ready when we got there and I wasn't either so we trailered it all the way home. Total trip time: 40 days, and over 8000 miles. I did get some water landing training while in florida, and we took our time and saw the USA, even New Orleans - before Katrina! Next dream = FANJET Amphibious ultralight: Fanjet UL. 04-April-2004: (PHOTOS) Flight #24 Turboprop Ultralight meets RV6. 21-Oct-2003: Flight #20. Flew turboprop to airport, got free ride to Medford and back in a new 172. 18-Oct-2003: Aborted due to high winds. It was a very bad day. See USUA.ORG ---- 2 die in ultralight crash. 14-Oct-2003: (PHOTOS) Turboprop ultralight meets Lear Jet! Flight #19. 9/11 2003: I flew my gas-turbine turboprop ultralight 41.7 miles today. Hey, it sounds cool! Flight #14. (skipped #13) 4-June-3: Am I a jet aircraft designer, builder, and test pilot? - yeah right. Flight #4. Larry's old Ultralight on floats in larrys lake many years ago. 9/2005: Looking for proof larry is totally nuts? --- as if the above is not enough, ... raising [ old dead link was: a href=http://www.pfranc.com/international-mouse-station/ ] pet mice. The Doyle letter: November 2004. The first time I read this old photocopy of this old letter I thought it was a joke, but it was no joke. Turned out to be very real, and amazing, and really makes you think about what it must have been like back then, when men were fighting for the USA. I'm talking about this form letter from about 1944. I transcribed it so you can see what I mean. The words in CAPS were the filled in fields. I'm doing this for my across-the-river-neighbor, (10/7/1923) 81 year old Helen Jacqueline (Pepper) Janicki, Cleveland Ohio, Las Vegas, Grants Pass Oregon, in honor of her late husband Earl Benjamen Janicki who was a Navy pilot in air group eleven in "the big one" WWII, Pacific. I noticed one of the other groups had an Admirl McCain in charge so thinking maybe he was related to John McCain I sent an email to the US Senator, and I got this email back! Mar 1 2005 - 3:44pm Mr. Berg, Thanks for the email to the Senator concerning the letter from the Hornet. The Senator did confirm that the Vice Admiral on the Wasp was his dad. Shawn Grenier Wow, how cool is that? ... An now, here is the letter. I wonder if Senator McCain actually looked at it, how cool would that be? I wonder if his dad wrote letters to his men like this one? To the Pilots of Air Group [ ELEVEN ]: ----------------------------------- 1. I am sorry that weather and other circumstances have prevented me from talking to you before you go into action for the first time as the [ HORNET AIR GROUP ]. I am sending you this message instead with the hope that it may be of assistance to you in your operations of the next three weeks. 2. You have not had a proper shake-down in group operations from a carrier. You know it, the ship knows it, and indeed, the whole Task Force knows it. However, I have satisfied myself that you can take off and land on baord safely and can assure you that you will not, in your present state of training, be called upon to do more than you are able to do. 3. I have no doubts concerning your ability to do a good job against the Japs when airborne. You have been well trained and have a sufficient nucleus of experienced pilots to keep you out of serious trouble. 4. Remember that everyone in the Task Force is watching you. Maintain good radio discpline. Stick with your flight leaders. Do not waist time over the target. Return to the ship promptly. If you get into trouble, state your difficulties quietly and calmly and give the ship a chance to figure out how to help you. Remember that we have had lots of experience. 5. Don't forget that we are thinking about you all the time and trying to anticipate your needs. Keep us informed. 6. The [HORNET ] wishes each of you the best of luck. WE are confident of your ability to do a good job. We wish we were up with you. (sig) A. K. DOYLE Pepper is alive and well - AND has running water now after doing without for over a year, fetching water from the river! Thanks to a very generous local well drilling company, Quinns Well Drilling! ... Bob Quinn and his team are "the greatest!". He gave her a well worth about $7,000 --- FOR FREE!!!! Totally free. ---- GOD bless you Bob Quinn ----