July 1995 ...Reprinted with permission
by Wally Pond

"Whatever you think about its looks, taking the E-Z Flyer around the patch just once could lead to a case of love at first flight"

One of the nicest surprises at this year's Sun 'n Fun Fly-In was the introduction by Merlin Aircraft of a Breezy-looking kitplane that makes use of their time-tested Merlin wing and tail.

Well, actually, the introduction wasn't a surprise to me; I'd known about the airplane and Merlin's plans for it for about eight months.

What came as a surprise to me was how well the E-Z Flyer flew. I should have known. I've flown Merlin's other airplane, the two-place bushplane, the GT, on several occasions, and it flies just fine. So what made me think the E-Z Flyer would be any different?

It's looks, that's what. Let's be honest here: from a distance, the airplane looks like it was built using an erector set. It looks like the unholy offspring of a chance meeting between a suspension bridge and an unlucky Piper Cub. It looks like lots of things, but not like a great flying sport plane. I'd soon see how wrong I was.

Despite first impressions, once you get up close and personal with the 'Flyer, you can see that it's no toy. Its fuselage is welded out of aircraft grade chromoly steel tubing, with a beefy landing gear, and totally conventional wings and tail. Cables are routed through the structure using Piper-style cable guides, and the controls are functional and well laid out. While the airplane looks a bit odd from a distance, everything on it is functional and solidly built.

The process leading to the design of the E-Z Flyer was as unconventional as the airplane's looks. The two main contributors were Wayne Winters, a Canadian ultralight instructor based in Calgary, Alberta, and John Burch, the originator of the Merlin taildragger design and current general manager of Merlin Aircraft. The odd thing was that Burch had no idea he was involved in the project until a year after the E-Z Flyer first flew. Let me explain.

Winters had always admired the Breezy, an eccentric homebuilt design which the E-Z Flyer greatly resembles. Breezy's are built with open welded steel fuselages and they almost always make use of an odd pair of wings the builder found lying around in the rafters. In fact, an odd pair of wings lying around is the prime motivation for Breezy builders in the first place.

What Wayne liked about Breezy's was what everyone likes about hem. They're docile, they put you right out in the middle of nature, and they fly like a champ (or a Cub, or Chief, or whatever wings they happen to be using). For pure recreational flying, it's hard to beat the Breezy concept.

With all this in mind, and then some, Wayne went to work on his Breezy look-alike. The first problem he encountered was no wings in the rafters. What to do? Well, having been a Merlin dealer since 1989, Wayne knew he could build a set of GT wings and a tail in no time, so he did. Then he welded up a fuselage based loosely on the Breezy layout and bolted the whole thing together. He added controls, chairs, and landing gear, and voila: airplane! Of course, that's simplifying things a bit, but not much. More on that later.

As I said, Wayne had more in mind than a pure recreational airplane; he wanted a two-place ultralight (Canadian) trainer in which to teach. Wayne solos between 30 and 40 students a year, so he wanted to make the as-yet-to-be-named Breezy-like airplane as easy to fly as possible. He also wanted an airplane which would stand up to some abuse. To this end, he designed a solid, spring steel gear that he figured would take a ton of punishment without getting all bent out of shape about it.

As it turns out, even if it does get bent a bit, that's not that big a problem. Here's how Wayne found that out.

In Calgary you can generally tell what season it is by the temperature of the wind. On one particularly blustery day, one of Wayne's students dropped in the airplane almost sideways from just a bit too high up.. Sure enough, the gear got a little bent. Not one to be daunted by such matters, Wayne simply unbolted the gear, took it down to a local suspension shop, had them straighten things out for a nominal fee, drove back to the airport, bolted the gear back on, and the airplane was up and flying again. Total down time: a couple of hours.

As Wayne taught more and more students in the airplane, he grew to like it more and more. Well, of course he liked it; he built it -- what would you expect? More to the point is that his students liked it. In fact, students flying the Sorta-Breezy-Thing were soloing several hours earlier than students flying other trainers. Everyone told him the same thing: that the airplane was a no-brainer to fly. One day a student came back in after one of his first solo flights and exclaimed, "Gee, this thing is sure an easy flyer." The name just kind of stuck.

Pretty soon, everybody wanted to try the "Easy Flyer." So Wayne, being the sensible guy he is, pretty much let everybody fly it. Why not? Before he knew it, the airplane had about 500 hours on it and was no worse for the wear. Wayne figured he'd build himself another one soon, and he would have left it at that.

The plot thickens, however. Around that time John Burch at Merlin caught wind of Wayne's ship when a customer mentioned the Easy Flyer in passing. Well, curiosity got the better of John so he got on the horn and gave Wayne a call. Soon the two managed to get together so John could see the airplane he helped design without knowing it. Then he flew it. Then he kind of grew attached of it. Then it started getting serious. That's the usual sequence for getting to know the airplane. So be forewarned.

To make a long story only slightly less long, last spring Merlin decided to consider manufacturing the kit.

An agreement wasn't a foregone conclusion, though. Merlin CEO Reg Adams had doubts about the plane. Everybody told him it flew great, but it just looked so darned ungainly and unlikely as a kitplane. It looked like somebody's practical final in welding class; it loaded like a refrigerator dolly with a stick, a radio tower with wings. You get the idea.

The turning point in the story came, you guessed it, when Reg went flying in the thing (and I intend the word "thing" in the nicest possible way). After about ten minutes he saw why everybody was so ga-ga about the plane, and gave the project, which soon officially became known as the "E-Z Flyer" (get it? it sounds like "Breezy") the official thumbs-up.

Apart from its looks, the new plane did have a lot going for it as a kitplane. For one thing, Merlin's start-up costs were going to be cheap, seeing that the company already made the exact wings and tail for the airplane. And the fuselage was made using the same method and materials (4130 chromoly steel tubing) as the Merlin GT. So they needed a few jigs. Moreover, it would be in many ways a perfect complement to their other aircraft, giving them an aircraft with great appeal as an ultralight trainer, and one that would be very simple and quick to build, as well.

The plane consists, as I said before, of Merlin wings and tail. The fabric covered metal wing is one of the company's chief claims to fame. Built using foam and aluminum ribs and tubular spars and drag struts, the Merlin wing is strong and builds very quickly, in as little as 40 hours, says Burch. There are no flaps, and all control linkages are external, making the preflight walk-around an easy and informative one.

No welding is required on the kit, as the fuselage comes pre-welded and finished in good quality epoxy paint. A beefy tricycle landing gear with tundra tires as standard equipment helps make the 'Flyer as docile on landing as it is in the air. Tandem seats with dual controls are standard, and a nine-gallon fuel tank is built in to the back of the rear seat, as in common on some ultralight aircraft. Burch points out that a builder could choose optional wing tanks for more capacity, if desired.

I got my chance to get to know the E-Z Flyer a little better at this spring's Sun 'n Fun Fly-In in Lakeland, Florida. Wayne Winters was nice enough to fly the ship over to South Lakeland AirPark for me to take the air-to-air photographs accompanying this story and to go flying with me.

While the E-Z Flyer will be offered as a kit with the 50-hp Rotax 503 as standard equipment, Wayne's personal bird, which we flew in Florida and which you see pictured here, was outfitted with a 65-hp Rotax 582 with three-blade IvoProp for more oomph.

Wayne let me ride shotgun and I was impressed by the headroom in the front seat. I wasn't even coming close to bumping my head on the 2500-ft. cloud layer above us, and this is one airplane in which shoulder room isn't even a consideration. Mark it N/A on the spec sheet. Yes, indeed. There are some definite advantages to this layout. Even the back-seater, who sits beneath the wing, has loads of room to work with.

After I was buckled up and ready to go, Wayne pulled the 582 to life for me, hopped on, strapped in, and we were ready to roll. Ground maneuvering is via a steerable nosewheel, which is easy for students to get used to, and braking is courtesy of hydraulic disk brakes, operated by a handle on the left side of the pilot (note I didn't say "cockpit". Even with a steerable nosewheel, I still like differential braking for the tight-turning capability it gives you, so I was less than happy with the dual wheel braking action of the single lever. The problem is that you can't really turn and brake at the same time. Of course, you could solve the problem by building an extra lever so there were two brake handles side by side. That way you could brake either one or both wheels. You could also install toe brakes, which the company is considering as on option for the plane.

I taxied the E-Z Flyer out to the end of the nearly 5000-ft. grass strip, appreciating the big tundra tires on the bird as we floated through patches of soft sand on the taxiway. I was a little concerned when Wayne told me to taxi all the way to the end of the stip -- and then some -- for "safety's sake". I mean, I don't believe in mid-field takeoffs, but this seemed like overkill. But it was his plane, so he was the boss on this one.

After a short runup and check of the traffic, we rolled out. Acceleration is brisk, thanks to the 582, and after a bit we hit 40 mph and rotated. It does take a bit of a tug to get the nose off and pointed up. Once off, I looked down and was immediately glad we'd taxied all the way to the end of the strip. With 4800 usable ft. of runway and a 50-ft. obstacle at the end of the field, by the time we got up to 50-ft. AGL, we only had about 4200 ft. of runway to spare! Moreover, we didn't hit pattern altitude until almost the end of the runway. Was that ever a close one!

I kidded Wayne a little about it over the intercom, and turned out to go flying over the local `gator holes. The first thing you notice about this airplane is the view. As they say in real estate: Location, location, location. Flying, or riding , in the front seat gives you an absolutely incredible view of the world below... and above, and to the side, too. If I had one of these things and was giving a sightseeing ride, I'd let my passenger ride in front. The E-Z is an "E" ticket all the way. Believe it or not, the simple curved Lexan windscreen up front totally blocks the wind from the front seat occupant and there's no noticeable distortion in the material. I like it.

Flying manners? Let me sum it up by saying the airplane is a total pussycat, with very moderate adverse yaw and super stability. In my mind, its handling strikes a perfect balance between responsiveness and predictability. As a good trainer should, the E-Z Flyer has a decent, though not snappy roll rate, and a comfortable, though not sleep-inducing amount of built-in stability. In general aviation terms, it compares with something like a Piper Warrior. Nothing jumps out at you; it's just a very pleasing airplane to fly.

The power-off stall, which came on around 35 mph, was very docile. Any release at all in back pressure allowed the plane to fly out of it. The power-on stall was equally uneventful, which, again, is what you'd want in a trainer. No surprises here. Coordinated turns do take a bit of rudder, which is a good trait in a trainer, in my book.

Speed? They don't build these airplanes for speed, but 65 or 70 mph in cruise should be no problem. Even at that rate, the wind is still no problem, thanks to the windscreen. So while the E-Z Flyer is no speed demon, there's no reason you couldn't use it for short hops. You are limited, remember , by a lack of fuel (unless you get wing tanks) and baggage space. If you did go with wing tanks, you could eliminate the rear-seat gas tank and work in a small compartment behind the rear seat for taking a change of clothes and a lunch. That might be what I'd do if I built an E-Z Flyer. After cruising around for a while over the phosphate pits (they say there are 30 ft. white gators down there), we turned around and headed back for a couple of touch and goes.

As I had expected, control in the pattern, despite some pretty rough air and the absence of flaps, was very easy. Landing is a matter of setting up on final -- I kept it a bit fast, around 60, because of the squirrelly conditions -- and kept in a little power to smooth things out. When we had the field made, I chopped the power and waited for it to go down. And waited. Finally we touched down, a couple of hundred feet long.

Was it hard? Hardly. What can I say. If you can land a Cessna 150, this will be even easier. I didn't try, but I think you'd be hard pressed to mess up a landing in this airplane. Wayne's students tend to agree.

Merlin projects the build time for the E-Z Flyer will be between 200 and 250 hours. Remember, there's not much to do. It's more like assembly than construction. The kit comes as a very complete package. It includes Rotax 503 with dual carbs, air speed indicator, tachometer, hydraulic disk brakes, large tundra tires, a 9-gallon in-seat fuel tank, crating charges, fabrics, glues, and ground adjustable two-bladed GSC prop and mounting brackets for floats. About all you don't get are the finish paint and UV protectant. The introductory price of the kit is $13,995, and they're selling well, Burch says.

Who's buying them? Apparently ultralight instructors looking for a good trainer, people looking for an open cockpit easy flying recreational plane, and pilots who fly off unimproved strips and want a rugged plane for the purpose.

Though I don't know it for a fact, I'd wager that every one of the buyers was convinced not by looking at the E-Z Flyer, but by flying it. If you're interested, call the folks at Merlin and set up a demo flight. Just remember the likely sequence of events if you do. You might just find yourself getting attached to the modern day flying radio tower.

Reprinted/Distributed with permission
Wally Pond; Sport Pilot magazine; July 1995
copyright 1995

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