A story about an airplane, enthusiasm, luck and not much knowledge.
In the beginning I road a Harley for many years, but I always had to put it away for six months of the year because of the winter weather. Now I wanted to try something different that I could have fun with all year. I got interested in ultralight airplanes. I got on the internet and brought down the pictures and specifications of every plane that I could find. I was looking for a plane that could be adapted to wheels, skies and floats and be used for gliding. I found that for me, the one plane that stood out from all of the rest was the Challenger 11, it could do all of the things that I wanted.

The other factor that had to be taken into consideration was the reliability of the manufacturer. This manufacturer had been in business since 1983, manufacturing the same basic airplane and only changing it as modifications were found to improve the product. Now comes the enthusiasm I know what I want ,I am ready to go ! I had talked to the distributor we disused options and price and delivery. I was going to build this thing! Then the luck started to happen. Two days before I was going to give my deposit cheque I heard about a Challenger 11 that was coming up for sale in another city as part of an estate. The next day I was on my way to see it. When I saw it I fell in love with it. I walked around it I kicked the tires ,I run my hands over its smooth body. My excitement was running high. This was my plane! I bought it, and with it came skies and Puddle Jumper floats. At this point I have never even been in an ultralight I don't know how to fly an airplane and I really don't know if this thing will fly. At this point I got very lucky again.

A friend of mine who is a pilot told me to have the plane checked over from top to bottom by someone who knows the Challenger. My luck still held when I found the name of a company in Bracebridge Ontario that specialized in the building and restoration and customizing of the Challenger. This company is called Freedom Flight and is owned by Terry Mayhew. I told him that I wanted to have the plane gone over from top to bottom to make sure that it was in good flying condition. We made arrangements to have the plane transported to his shop, we agreed on a price to do the work and at the same time he suggested a number of modifications that should be done to the plane that would make it better performing in various weather conditions. Again we agreed on a price and a time frame to do the work. All of his suggestions have worked out to be excellent modifications and he completed the work on time and for the price agreed to. He also was very helpful in showing me how to keep my plane in top running condition. So I end up with a lot of enthusiasm, good luck and a lot more knowledge. I am happy to recommend his company to any one who needs any kind of service on there Challenger.
 

You can contact me in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. My E mail address lsam@sympatico.ca