The Mathews Mr Easy is an American

homebuilt aircraft Homebuilt aircraft, also known as amateur-built aircraft or kit planes, are constructed by persons for whom this is not a professional activity. These aircraft may be constructed from "scratch", from plans, or from assembly kits.Armstrong, Kenn ...

that was designed by Lyle Mathews and associates and produced by the Vintage Ultralight and Lightplane Association of

Marietta, Georgia Marietta is a city in and the county seat of Cobb County, Georgia, United States. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 60,972. The 2019 estimate was 60,867, making it one of Atlanta's largest suburbs. Marietta is the fourth larges ...

. It was the sixth and final design of Mathews. The aircraft is supplied in the form of plans for amateur construction.Purdy, Don: ''AeroCrafter - Homebuilt Aircraft Sourcebook, Fifth Edition'', page 286. BAI Communications, 15 July 1998.

Design and development

The aircraft was designed to comply with the US

FAR 103 Ultralight Vehicles Ultralight aircraft in the United States are much smaller and lighter than ultralight aircraft as defined by all other countries. In the United States, ultralights are described as "ultralight vehicles" and not as aircraft. They are not req ...

rules, including the category's maximum empty weight of . The aircraft has a standard empty weight of . Mr Easy features a strut-braced and cable-braced biplane layout, a single-seat, open cockpit, fixed

conventional landing gear Conventional landing gear, or tailwheel-type landing gear, is an aircraft undercarriage consisting of two main wheels forward of the center of gravity and a small wheel or skid to support the tail.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Term ...

and a single engine in pusher configuration, mounted above the tail boom tube. The aircraft is made from bolted-together

aluminum Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It ha ...

tubing, with its flying surfaces covered in doped

aircraft fabric Aircraft fabric covering is a term used for both the material used and the process of covering aircraft open structures. It is also used for reinforcing closed plywood structures. The de Havilland Mosquito is an example of this technique, as are ...

. Its span wing has a wing area of . The standard engine used is the

Rotax 447 The Rotax 447 is a , inline 2-cylinder, two-stroke aircraft engine, built by BRP-Rotax GmbH & Co. KG of Austria for use in ultralight aircraft.Raisner, William: ''LEAF catlog'', pages 6-105. Leading Edge Airfoils, 1995. Design and development ...

two-stroke A two-stroke (or two-stroke cycle) engine is a type of internal combustion engine that completes a power cycle with two strokes (up and down movements) of the piston during one power cycle, this power cycle being completed in one revolution of ...

twin-cylinder powerplant. Mr Easy has a typical empty weight of and a gross weight of , giving a useful load of . With full fuel of the payload for the pilot and baggage is . The standard day, sea level, no wind, take off and landing roll with a engine is . The designer estimates the construction time from the supplied plans as 250 hours.

Operational history

In the United States ultralights are not required to be registered, and in April 2014 no examples were in fact registered in the United States with the

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic ...

, although a total of two had been registered at one time.

Specifications (Mr Easy)

References

{{Lyle Mathews aircraft Mr Easy Mathews Mr Easy 1990s United States sport aircraft 1990s United States ultralight aircraft Single-engined pusher aircraft Biplanes Homebuilt aircraft