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A dream takes wings
By JOSH ZIMMER
© St. Petersburg Times, ODESSA -- While growing up in Illinois, Bill Ankele would often kill time watching the planes fly at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. More than a half-century later, he's living proof that an imagination never dies. Ankele, a retired auto body and fender mechanic who plays tools like a professional musician plays his instrument, is building an ultralight aircraft from scratch. He's not piecing it together for someone else, either. He's going to fly it himself. "I've always been fascinated with airplanes," he said. "A lot of people are afraid of flying airplanes. If you fly one of these they think you're nuts." It is unclear when he will be ready to strap himself into the wooden cabin, don a helmet, crank up the engine and slowly ascend into the sky for a birds-eye, low-altitude flight at about 60 mph. One cannot build an ultralight by hand overnight, and Ankele, 77, is taking his time. But largely finished pieces lie in and around the garage of his Briarfield Court house, attracting the attention of neighbors and keeping his wife, Helga, a little bit on edge. "I always thought he was kidding," she said. "He was talking about it for years. I didn't know he wanted it that bad." The main body -- cabin, engine compartment, fuselage and rear flaps -- will take on wings soon. One of the uncovered wings, weighing 34 pounds, lies on a table near photos of Ankele's three grandchildren in North Carolina; the other hangs on a wall. Ankele, who secretly took ultralight flying lessons in Lakeland two years ago while his wife visited Germany, proudly rubs his fingers over the wood framing he and his neighbor, Donald Eichar, stripped themselves from Douglas fir. Following a $55 set of illustrated plans he bought from an ultralight designer in North Carolina, he has pieced everything together with tiny nails and polyurethane glue. He cut, bent and welded the metal wheel legs. A polyfiber cover will eventually cover the entire frame. He plans to install a 35- to 40-horsepower German-built engine. Ultralights come in many shapes and sizes, from open, metal frame flyers -- the most common model -- to modified hang gliders and airplanes. The work, which Ankele started last November, is meticulous by definition. Ultralight aircraft, which come in many varieties, cannot weigh more than 254 pounds, according to Federal Aviation Administration rules. They cannot carry more than 5 gallons of gas and, unless they are used for training, must be single seaters, said Dale Hooper, director of membership and registrations for the United States Ultralight Association. The association has about 14,000 members, a number that reflects a steady increase in the popularity of ultralights over the past five years, he said. Hooper figures about twice that number own ultralights. Most ultralight craft fly about 50 mph, making them a safe, relaxing form of recreation, he said. "People are finding they can fly," he said. In exchange for relief from heavier FAA regulation, the government allowed the industry to start supervising itself in the early 1980s. Before then, there was no regulation, Hooper said. Exempt from direct FAA supervision, the industry began regulating itself in the early 1980s. The association encourages owners both to register as pilots and register their ultralights. The group runs training programs; a 20- to 30-hour course covers the FAA's basic guidelines for flight proficiency, such as takeoffs, turning, landing and flying in different kinds of weather. Although Hooper strongly defends ultralights' safety record, The National Transportation Safety Board's records show there were 16 deaths involving ultralight accidents between 1996 and 2000. Although he took flying lessons, Ankele said he has not, and may never, get a pilot's registration. When he finishes the plane, probably sometime next year, the busy retiree said he's "going to go back and take a few more (lessons)." Neighbors Gordon and Elizabeth Hughes know all about the project. If they're up early enough, they say, they sometimes see Ankele working on the ultralight before the break of dawn. As for the day when he sits in the cockpit and prepares for the maiden voyage, Helga Ankele will likely be somewhere else. "I told him I'm not going to watch," she said.
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