Microlight Aircraft of New Zealand - Early Unregistered Microlights - Murray Hagen

I have posted previously about the microlight aircraft situation in New Zealand between the years 1978 and 1981, after which the Microlight Aircraft Association of New Zealand (MAANZ) was formed and microlights had to be registered (well in theory).  I asked for any information on these early years of microlighting here but I was not inundated with information....

To recap what I posted previously - "We can infer that there must have been some microlights (flying in New Zealand) because the Civil Aviation Division of the Ministry of Transport introduced a rule that if a flying machine was less than 150 Kg empty a would-be microlight pilot needed only to apply for a Students Pilot License (a paper form only with no practical testing) and then go flying with no rules about instruction and also not even having to register his flying machine!"

Many of the pilots of those days have passed on (some sadly in microlight crashes) so our opportunity to gather stories from those early days is diminishing.  But all hope is not lost!  There are stories still out there and I have managed to track a few of them down which I will post on the blog.

The first of these involves long time microlight pilot Murray Hagen, now of Te Anau but who has farmed in Southland over many years.  I have spoken to Murray many times and he is a mine of information about the early microlighting days with lots of interesting stories.  Like most of the original microlight flyers Murray came from a hang gliding background and he told me he started hang gliding in 1972.  He visited America in 1978 looking at ultralight aircraft over there and got enthused.  He was interested in the weight shift Fledgeling ultralight which was developed from the Manta Fledge hang glider by Jack McCornack and which was later developed into the Pterodactyl Ascender of which we have had many in New Zealand

Murray imported his Pterodactyl Fledgeling kit in 1979 and it arrived fitted with a 38 HP Cuyuna engine (the original in the US had a 16 HP Xenoah engine), and with a How to Fly handbook!  When he first tried to fly it in September 1979 he struggled with the yaw and roll which were poor, and the aircraft was tail heavy with the heavier engine and he ended up bending several axles.  Later he added a factory canard which turned the aircraft into an Ascender model which only needed a small amount of weight shift as the canard controlled the pitch.  Eventually Murray found that if he put his feet down he could fly the Fledgeling reasonably confidently but he still had a problem with the carburettor.  This was solved by a mechanic in Invercargill and then he gradually built up experience. 

Murray flying his Pterodactyl Fledgeling in 1979.

 Soon after this, in January 1980, the organiser of an airshow to be held at Te Anau saw Murray flying his Pterodactyl and convinced him to fly in the airshow.  To publicise the event Murray flew his aircraft down the main street of Te Anau on the Friday at a few hundred feet, waving to the crowds that came out to watch and causing a traffic jam.  Then disaster!  The engine stopped!  Murray had to make a very quick decision and he stall turned to the left where there was a small park which he managed to dead-stick into and before the crowds arrived he hid in some bushes!  Later he emerged and found that in his enthusiastic waving he had knocked the master switch off!  So with the engine going again he took off from the park, only just making it over some tall trees, and took part in the airshow the next day.

Murray with his then unregistered Fledgeling in 1979.

Thanks very much for the stories and photos Murray.