Microlight Aircraft of New Zealand - Early Unregistered Microlights - Ken Hoult's Kasperwing

Another very early type of microlight to fly here was the Kasperwing.  This was a single seat weight shift microlight that used a sliding seat for pitch control while bank and yaw were controlled by wing tip rudders.  It was designed in the mid 1970s in the US by Witold Kasper and Steve Grossruck and first flew in 1976, which pre-dated the US ultralight rules.  It has a wingspan of 35 feet (10.7 metres) and an empty weight of 160 pounds (73 Kg).  Its wing is wire braced from a central kingpost and the airfoil designed by Witold Kasper can produce a fully stalled configuration that descends like a parachute.  It is powered by a Zenoah engine of 20 HP.

Ken Hoult of Morrinsville imported a Kasperwing in 1981 and Pete James test flew it on Ken's farm:

The above photo shows Ken Hoult spraying on his farm in his Kasperwing and he went on to become the New Zealand agent for the type.  The photo (from the book "The Topdressers" by Janic Geelen), was taken by Paul Legg who also was an agent for the Kasperwing and flew one.  The caption states that many farmers were interested in microlights for spraying but the Civil Aviation Division of the Ministry of Transport decreed that microlights were only to be flown for pleasure.  (However that did not stop several enterprising microlight sprayers but that is another story).

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