LouPulsar

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The Story Behind the Project

This project was the result of a one man's inability to use a rocking chair in his retirement years. That man, Ted Lanham, a pilot since 1959 and a former flight engineer in the 8th Air Force during WW2, was the energy. Ted had restored a Tripacer and Cessna Cardinal and was an Electrical Engineer by profession so his qualifications were legion. He also had a workshop of your dreams, well lighted, lots of room, tools and, best of all, it is heated !

What Ted needed was a project and a grunt: The project was actually started by a fellow Chapter 234 member, one Ron Jones, but when his medical became a question he decided to sell. He had joined the fuselage, mounted the gear legs and cut most of the flat pieces out. Lou Aug was the designated grunt.

We brought the project to Ted's shop in April of '97. We worked mornings, 3-5 days a week for about 30 months. Total hours to complete, which has to include thinking, discussing, traveling, phone calls, etc. is anybody's guess. And,oh yes, two guys working on it doesn't make it go twice as fast. We learned a lot about composite construction, filling and sanding and about each other.

Eventually the FAA issued N582TL for the project, of which 582 is the engine size and the alpha characters are Ted and Lou. GADO inspected it in August of '99 and due to a prop problem Lou didn't get to make the initial flight in until October. The only glitch on that flight was a left wing heavy condition; a trim tab fixed that.

In 2001 it was shown at Oshkosh.

Ted has since divested himself of all aviation stuff (except the desire to fly) and has gone
on to restoring wood boats and canoes. Still no rocking chair for him.

N582TL now belongs to Lou and resides at the Empire Airport. It has over 100 hrs on the clock.
It's powered by a Rotax 582, weights 515 lbs, grosses at 960 lbs, high cruise is 130mph and it stalls at 42 mph.