Larry Newman

[Guest ozzie]

Larry Newman, one of the top US ultralight and hang glider designers recently passed away. Two of Larry's more well known designs were the Eagle and the Falcon.

 

http://www.eaa.org/news/2011/2011-02-03_newman.asp

 

 

[Guest Maj Millard]

Sorry to hear that Ozzie. I met Larry a couple of times at various UL meets in the States, when he was flying and promoting the Aerolight Falcon range. The opposition boys from Eipper (Lyle Byrum and the boys ) used to call him 'Barely Human". He did a couple of notable balloon flights, one with a hang-glider hanging below the gondola. Plan was to climb down into it just over the coast of France, and hang-glide into France.

 

Unfortunatly it didn't look like they would make France, and had to jetteson the wing to a wet end. I believe he recieved quite a high Aviation medal for his exploits. One of my mates in CA was his West Coast dealer

 

............................................................................................Maj...

 

 

[Guest Maj Millard]

Ozzie, I watched the whole hour plus interview today with Larry Newman, and found it quite interesting. He was a friendly bloke but a salesman all the same, when he was selling the Eagles and falcons.

 

I was reminded when Chuck Yeager came to our UL field North of San Francisco (Liberty Field, Petaluma, late 80s). He was writing an article for Penthouse magazine which was published as "The Light Stuff". He flew the weightshift Eagle , a Mitchell U2, a Pterydactyl Assender, and the Aerolights 2-place Falcon. I have a photo somewhere of me sitting in Chucks' two-place Falcon with his name on it, and 'glamerous Glenis" on the nose. I'll have to dig it up and post it.

 

My friend who was the local Eagle/Falcon dealer was first in line, and had to teach Yeager how to fly the Eagle. He was super worried !!! How was he, a lowly UL instructor, going to teach Chuck Yeager how to fly anything ?!! He was training by towing an unpowered Eagle at the time, and when he suggested this, Chuck was all for it.

 

He throughly enjoyed it, and said it was just like the testing they had done at Edwards in the 50/60s with towing the experimental lifting bodies with high-powered cars. These tests probabily lead indirectly to the space shuttle glide tests. After a couple of days of towing, Chuck was strapped into a powered W/S Eagle,(Rotax 337),and away he went !! There is a great shot in the Penthouse article of him over the nearby ridge, with Liberty Field in the background.

 

When he was done he came back and snuck it over the fence, for a greaser landing. This all occured over a period of about four days, and it was actually a closed field, but we snuck in one day to watch the fun, as you do !. Larry Newman was there for at least one day, and that was one of the occasions when I met him. He was just one of the boys at the time flying ULs like the rest of us .....................Maj...

 

Have attached some shots of Liberty Field from that period.