The Blue Yonder EZ Flyer is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

-designed-and-built, tandem two-seat, open cockpit,

pusher configuration In aeronautical and naval engineering, pusher configuration is the term used to describe a drivetrain of air- or watercraft with propulsion device(s) after the engine(s). This is in contrast to the more conventional tractor configuration, wh ...

, recreational and training aircraft provided as a completed aircraft or in kit form by Blue Yonder Aviation.Hunt, Adam: ''Pilot Report: EZ Flyer'',

COPA Copa or COPA may refer to: COPA COPA may refer to: * Child Online Protection Act, a former U.S. law to protect minors from certain material on the internet * Canadian Owners and Pilots Association * Cirrus Aircraft, Cirrus Owners and Pilots Asso ...

Flight publication, page C-1, May 2001Cliche, Andre: ''Ultralight Aircraft Shopper's Guide'' 8th Edition, page B-19. Cybair Limited Publishing, 2001. Vandermeullen, Richard: ''2011 Kit Aircraft Buyer's Guide'', Kitplanes, Volume 28, Number 12, December 2011, page 46. Belvoir Publications. ISSN 0891-1851Purdy, Don: ''AeroCrafter - Homebuilt Aircraft Sourcebook, Fifth Edition'', pages 97 and 127. BAI Communications, 15 July 1998. It can be constructed in Canada as a basic ultra-light, an advanced ultra-light or amateur-built aircraft.

Development

The EZ Flyer was the first aircraft design of Wayne Winters of

Indus, Alberta Indus is a hamlet in southern Alberta, Canada under the jurisdiction of Rocky View County. It is home to the Bill Herron Arena Indus is located approximately 6.1 km (3.8 mi) east of the City of Calgary's eastern limits and 24 km ...

. In 1991 Winters set out to design a high performance kit plane that he intended to produce commercially. While considering the design parameters of that proposed aircraft he saw a picture of a Breezy homebuilt and decided instead to design a smaller and lighter aircraft inspired by the Breezy instead. Winter's own past experience flying

Ultraflight Lazair The UltraFlight Lazair is a family of Canada, Canadian designed and built twin-engine Ultralight aircraft (Canada), ultralight aircraft that were sold in kit form between 1979 and 1984. It was one of the first twin-engined ultralights ...

s provided the motivation for the design of a slow, easy to handle aircraft with an open cockpit. Winters designed a new open lattice, "N" girder

fuselage The fuselage (; from the French language, French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds Aircrew, crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an Aircraft engine, engine as wel ...

constructed from 4130 steel tube along with a new tail to be fitted with wings from the Merlin EZ. The aircraft retained the Junker's ailerons of the Merlin along with the Clark "Y" airfoil that produces docile handling characteristics. The wing also features the Merlin's leading edge "D" cell construction, with foam ribs. The prototype has two seats in

tandem Tandem, or in tandem, is an arrangement in which two or more animals, machines, or people are lined up one behind another, all facing in the same direction. ''Tandem'' can also be used more generally to refer to any group of persons or objects w ...

and is powered by a

Rotax 503 The Rotax 503 is a , inline 2-cylinder, two-stroke engine, two-stroke aircraft engine, built by Rotax, BRP-Rotax GmbH & Co. KG of Austria for use in ultralight aircraft.Raisner, William: ''LEAF catalog'', pp. 6-105. Leading Edge Airfoils, 1 ...

two stroke engine of . The first prototype of the new design flew in October 1991 and was initially unnamed. Winters allowed several pilots to fly the new design and all remarked on its docile handling, its suitability as a trainer and the ease with which pilots mastered it. As a result, Winters initially named it ''Easy Flyer'' and later ''EZ Flyer'' (pronounced in the American way as "Eezee Flier"). The EZ Flyer can be equipped with a variety of powerplants, all mounted in pusher configuration: *

Rotax 582 The Rotax 582 is a two-stroke cycle, two-stroke, two-cylinder, rotary intake valve, oil-in-fuel or oil injection pump, liquid-cooled, gear reduction-drive aircraft engine manufactured by Rotax, BRP-Rotax GmbH & Co. KG. It is for use in non-ce ...

Rotax 912 The Rotax 912 is a horizontally-opposed four-cylinder, naturally-aspirated, four-stroke aircraft engine with a reduction gearbox. It features liquid-cooled cylinder heads and air-cooled cylinders. Originally equipped with carburetors, la ...

Rotax 912S The Rotax 912 is a horizontally-opposed four-cylinder, naturally-aspirated, four-stroke aircraft engine with a reduction gearbox. It features liquid-cooled cylinder heads and air-cooled cylinders. Originally equipped with carburetors, lat ...

Operational history

The prototype proved robust and easy for students to learn to fly on and has been used since new as a trainer at the Blue Yonder Ultralight Flight School. By May 2001 the prototype had 2500 hours accumulated in student training and showed little signs of wear. Over 30 aircraft have been built for private owners and other flight schools. In November 2016 there were eight EZ Flyers registered in Canada and eight in the USA.

Operators

* Blue Yonder Aviation – flight school

Specifications (Rotax 582)

References

External links