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Doc's Motion Flight Simulators

I started this little adventure in 2000 by ordering Ken Hill's Joyrider plans. The unit was so much fun that I started to tinker.
Dec 2005, Mark Yarnell liked my Joyrider so much that he commissioned me to build him one. A local welder owed me a bunch of money so I figured that was one way to get it back. When it was finished it was a major improvement, not even close to the original. One of the first things I discovered was that the Joyrider works because it is made from flexible plastic tubing. Making it from metal is a whole new ball game. I tried at least five different linkages before I got one that worked. I thought that I was beat several times before the correct combination was found.
I sent a picture to Maximum PC and they featured it as the "Rig of the Month." I was sure it was perfect, but testing brought up a few flaws. Unable to leave it alone I started a quest for the solution.
Spring 2006 I sent a demo tape to the Discovery Channel's Daily Planet. Two days later I fell from the sky with a broken back, OUCH! Just back at work, I get a call from them wanting to do a show immediately. Before the crash I had disassembled the unit to make some changes and I was in no shape to re-assemble it so I stalled and got two weeks. I hired a welder and we worked long hours getting it back together the night before the shoot. When Mark Miller appeared I had no idea how it would work...got lucky.

Production "Cloudwalker??"

Sorry guys, another almost perfect unit. The problem was the amount of trim weight required. I had calculated maximum of 65 pounds. Turned out I needed 150% of the pilots weight so if you weigh 200 pounds you will need  over 300 pounds of lead.

All is not lost! I found answers to many of the problems with the "Dreamflyer".

Cloudwalker renamed Cloudflyer 

The "Cloudflyer" is coming soon. This is the best of all previous designs.

Air shows, Trade shows and Articles

Wired.com Preview
Toronto show got Great Publicity
YTV likes it too
Globe and Mail
Driven Magazine
CNet on CES

 

At Oshkosh and the Abbotsford Air shows it received very favorable reviews. Numerous skilled pilots tried and liked the Dreamflyer. Gene Soucy and Buck Roetman gave me  flying lessons. Thanks Guys.




 

Bob Smith on instrument flying

 

 

Doc Holloway