The UFM Easy Riser is an American swept-wing biplane hang glider that was first powered in 1975, becoming the first modern ultralight aircraft. I was thrilled to witness Ultralights for the first time. I was captivated. Finally, a dream comes true. Flying a super light aircraft that was affordable. I had to have one. The Easy Riser was my first ultralight. I met Gordon in Houston flying an Easy Riser. His was foot launched with a 12 HP motor direct drive engine. I decided very quickly mine was going to have landing gear. No way was I going to run like hell to take off and dangle from my armpits to fly, let alone land on 2 legs. Mine was going to have 3 bicycle wheels for sure. When I bought the glider I thought everyone had answers to my questions. I realized very early on I was going for the most part to figure this out on my own. The kit plus motor was around $1500. Even at that price, it was a lot of money. To finance this project I went to HFC Finance Company and got a loan using all my junk furniture as collateral. The engine was a Mac 92 cc with a gear reduction prop. This meant I could turn a much large prop which I knew was more efficient. It also had a go-cart clutch. The muffler was a hooter pipe I think they called it. When I tried to fly it the first time the max RPM was 7,500. I did actually get off the ground and flew about a mile in another direction. When I landed I just missed hitting a barbwire fence. I bounced and landed in someone’s big backyard. In the backyard was a huge bull giving me the eye. I heard a kid say daddy a plane just landed in the backyard. In any event, I knew from that point on I needed more power. Lucky for me I had a good friend Chris Brown that was racing go-carts. The Mac 92 engine was the main choice in racing back in the day. I mean going 60mph in a high-tech go-cart. Chris said I can get you more power, a lot more power. He told me he would port the engine including other tricks and adding a tuned pipe. When Chris completed the mods we did a test run-up. Mercy man, it turned 15,000 rpm. I knew that was too much stress on the little engine and richened the engine to 10,000 rpm. Mercy man, it was powerful. This changed everything when flying the Easy Riser. I could go to the cloud base. The best part was turning off the loud engine banger and working the thermals. Man every time you flew a crowd would gather. Finally, I had my 15 minutes of fame whether I wanted it or not. General characteristics. #easyriser #ultralightaircraft #microlight #ultralight #rotax #flying #aircraft #microlight #flight Crew: one Length: 9 ft 0 in (2.74 m) Wingspan: 30 ft 0 in (9.14 m) Height: 4 ft (1.2 m) Wing area: 170 sq ft (16 m2) Empty weight: 120 lb (54 kg) Gross weight: 320 lb (145 kg) Performance Maximum speed: 40 mph (64 km/h; 35 kn) Cruise speed: 25 mph (22 kn; 40 km/h) Stall speed: 20 mph (17 kn; 32 km/h) Range: 100 mi (87 nmi; 161 km) Service ceiling: 9,000 ft (2,743 m) Rate of climb: 300 ft/min (1.5 m/s) Wing loading: 1.88 lb/sq ft (9.2 kg/m2)