The Quickie Aircraft Corporation Free Enterprise (also known as the Big Bird) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

experimental long-range aircraft of the 1980s, designed to attempt the first unrefuelled flight round-the world flight. The Free Enterprise was a single-engined high-winged

monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing confi ...

of conventional configuration. It first flew in March 1982, but was destroyed in a fatal crash later that year.

Design and development

In late 1979, Gene Sheehan and Tom Jewett, co-founders of the

Quickie Aircraft Corporation The Quickie Aircraft Corporation was founded in Mojave, California, in 1978 to market the Quickie homebuilt aircraft (models Quickie, Quickie Q2, and Quickie Q200 aircraft). The original single-seater Quickie was designed by Burt Rutan and com ...

, builders of the successful Quickie

tandem-wing QAC Quickie Q2 A tandem wing is a wing configuration in which a flying craft or animal has two or more sets of wings set one behind another. All the wings contribute to lift. The tandem wing is distinct from the biplane in which the wings are s ...

ed kitplane, started development of an aircraft to attempt to make the first unrefuelled round-the-world flight. This would require a flight of at least 22,800 miles (36,700 km), almost double the existing unrefuelled

flight distance record This list of flight distance records contains only those set without any mid-air refueling. Non-commercial powered aircraft Commercial aircraft Shortest distance The Loganair Westray to Papa Westray route and its return flight make up the s ...

of 12,532 miles (20,176 km) set by a

Boeing B-52 Stratofortress The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is an American long-range, subsonic, jet-powered strategic bomber. The B-52 was designed and built by Boeing, which has continued to provide support and upgrades. It has been operated by the United States Air ...

bomber in January 1962.''Flight International'' 30 January 1982, pp. 214–215. While Quickie Aircraft had made their name with the tandem-winged Quickie, their design for the round-the-world flight which was initially known as the "Big Bird", but later was named "Free Enterprise", was a more conventional single-engined high-winged

of tractor configuration. Its high- aspect ratio all-metal wings were based on those of the

Laister Nugget The Laister LP-15 Nugget is an American single-seat, high-wing glider designed by Jack and Bill Laister for the FAI Standard Class.Said, Bob: ''1983 Sailplane Directory, Soaring Magazine'', page 14. Soaring Society of America, November 1983. U ...

sailplane A glider or sailplane is a type of glider aircraft used in the leisure activity and sport of gliding (also called soaring). This unpowered aircraft can use naturally occurring currents of rising air in the atmosphere to gain altitude. Sailplan ...

, while the slender fuselage and empennage were of Kevlar/fiberglass/Urethane foam

composite construction Composite construction is a generic term to describe any building construction involving multiple dissimilar materials. Composite construction is often used in building aircraft, watercraft, and building construction. There are several reasons to ...

. The aircraft took off using a tricycle trolley which would then be jettisoned, the aircraft landing on a ventral skid. Two large fuel tanks were mounted in the fuselage which, together with tip-tanks on the end of the wings, held 365 US Gallons (1,382 litres) of fuel. It was powered by a 135 hp (100 kW)

PZL-Franklin The Franklin Engine Company was an American manufacturer of aircraft engines. Its designs were used primarily in the civilian market, both in fixed wing and helicopter designs. It was briefly directed towards automobile engines as part of the Tuck ...

air-cooled flat-six

piston engine A reciprocating engine, also often known as a piston engine, is typically a heat engine that uses one or more reciprocating pistons to convert high temperature and high pressure into a rotating motion. This article describes the common featu ...

, chosen for its superior fuel economy. The pilot sat in an enclosed cockpit under a bubble canopy. The plan was for Jewett to make the flight at high-altitude, to take advantage of

jetstream Jet streams are fast flowing, narrow, meandering air currents in the atmospheres of some planets, including Earth. On Earth, the main jet streams are located near the altitude of the tropopause and are westerly winds (flowing west to east) ...

winds, with an average 50

knot A knot is an intentional complication in cordage which may be practical or decorative, or both. Practical knots are classified by function, including hitches, bends, loop knots, and splices: a ''hitch'' fastens a rope to another object; a ' ...

tailwind expected. He was to carry out the flight on oxygen, using an autopilot to allow some sleep during the record flight, which was estimated to take about 80 hours. Sophisticated radio navigation gear was fitted to pinpoint the aircraft's position and to warn Jewett if it drifted off-course. The flight was planned to start and finish at Houston Intercontinental Airport,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, flying eastwards over the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

and

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

, then using the jetstreams over China and the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

Operational history

The Free Enterprise made its first public test flight on 8 March 1982, with the record flight scheduled for

autumn Autumn, also known as fall in American English and Canadian English, is one of the four temperate seasons on Earth. Outside the tropics, autumn marks the transition from summer to winter, in September ( Northern Hemisphere) or March ( Sou ...

to take advantage of stronger prevailing winds. It crashed, however, on 2 July 1982 while carrying out a test-flight near

Mojave, California Mojave (formerly Mohave) is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community in Kern County, California, United States. Mojave is located east of Bakersfield, California, Bakersfield, and north of Los Angeles, at an elevation of . The town is ...

, killing Jewett.''Flight International'' 24 July 1982, p. 193.

Specifications

Notes

References

"Around the world without refuelling"
''

Flight International ''Flight International'' is a monthly magazine focused on aerospace. Published in the United Kingdom and founded in 1909 as "A Journal devoted to the Interests, Practice, and Progress of Aerial Locomotion and Transport", it is the world's oldes ...

'', 30 January 1982. pp. 214–215.
"Round-the-world pilot killed in prototype"
''Flight International'', 24 July 1982. p. 193. * Taylor, John W. R. ''Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1982-83''. London:Jane's Yearbooks, 1982. . {{refend

External links