E:mail: hartungj@srt.com Web: www.poorboyaviation.com
About the Designer: April 2011
I like the low and slow flying of Ultralights, the minimum airplane,
the attraction of low cost and do-it-yourself.
I began building Ultralight aircraft in 1979. I've had composite, wood,
steel tube, and Aluminum tube type planes. I built a composite in 79 that
didn't turn out very well (unstable flying wing), in 1982 I went into a
partnership with a friend on a Sunburst Ultralight (tube and sail cloth),
they had a flying wire problem but once fixed was a good plane.
In 1985 a partner and I built a CGS Hawk. I later purchased more planes
including used wood ultralights with some rebuilding required (two Fisher
303's, and a Minimax). In the next years through 1998 I bought a Kolb
Firestar, a damaged Chinook, used Kolb Ultrastar, and a Mark III Twinstar
with varying degrees of satisfaction.
Aluminum tube is the primary building material in the PoorBoy because of
quick build times, easily viewed joints and tubes for safety inspections, and
damage/repair time advantages. Wood demonstrates slower construction, has
some repair and weathering difficulties. I could have built using welded steel
framework but again the build time and repair technique of welding is a
requirement.
I am motivated to supply an aircraft design for people like myself who have
the flying bug and want to limit the cost. I started the Poorboy in the fall
of 2000 which produced the PB-1 prototype. My goals are of an inexpensive plane
designed to be a steady flyer that rely on well established flight and design
principles. There are a few unique building features in the Poorboy but not
ground breaking design concepts.
James Hartung/PBA