Manual Flap Upgrade

[EZFlap]

Any Maule owners who are coming to the Austin NV back country fly-in this coming weekend August 21, I am hoping to have some good news for you by then.

The FAA has so far been pretty good about field approvals for the EZ Flap flap handle extension on Maules and Stinsons. The FAA flight test pilot on the project actually encouraged me to add the Maule onto the Approved Model List, based on his personal experience in type and the improvement in safety.

Adding the Maule (and Stinson, and others) to the STC list is in process now, even though several field approvals have gone through with no problems. (Believe it or not, there actually is a valid reason for this field approval getting less FAA resistance than so many others)

I would like to offer any and all Maule pilots at Austin to take five minutes and sit in their own aircraft with this and see for themselves the big difference it makes. Anyone visiting the SoCal area, I will be glad to arrange a free demo as well.

Bill Berle
EZ Flap

[jmtgt]

I am gonna be there. Not to be rude but please do not follow me around like you did my C180 friends last year. I am not interested.

Good luck with your product.

Thank you for your consideration.

John

[EZFlap]

I am gonna be there. Not to be rude but please do not follow me around like you did my C180 friends last year. I am not interested.

Good luck with your product.

Thank you for your consideration.

John

John,

I'll try not to follow you around too much. Sorry to have offended you or your friends previously. Please let me know who you are when we get there so I know to not bother you, and I will respect that. If I offended you because I just received certification three days previous to the Austin fly-in last year, and I was running around like a puppy dog, please forgive it.

The 180 guys are pretty happy with this upgrade BTW. Officers in the 180/185 club, US Forest Service 185 professionals, USAF test pilots, Skywagon guru Joe Stancil in Placerville, and many working bush pilots up in AK are recommending it. The Skywagon folks really benefit from this. I believe the Maules will be the same situation if the "Maule world" will give it a fair shake.

(edit 8-23-10) I'd be glad to answer any questions or address any concerns you have at any time. As you've probably heard me say more than once, "to hell with satisfied... if you're not overjoyed you get your money back!"

[aero101]

Personally, I've never had a problem with the existing flap handles in a C180, C185, or my Maule? Guess if my arms were shorter and I had to sit in a booster chair to see over the panel, an extension might be nice although I have never seen one up here...

[a64pilot]

If my flap handle weren't bent, then I could see a problem, maybe.
What are you guy's going from 0 to full flap on short final? Isn't the extension too far back when full flap is used? Of course I'm the guy that won't put a GPS on my yoke either.
Oh, and who's the Babe in the airplane?

[EZFlap]

The flap handle upgrade makes a surprisingly big difference on most airplanes. Although you could obviously reach the flap handle before, this allows you to sit up straight while you're reaching the flap control, not bending forward, not losing any visibility, not taking your focus off your takeoff or landing zone. Once someone experiences it, the difference becomes very clear.

In any situation where the extension moves too far rearward, the original aircraft's flap control is still fully functional.

Maule pilots (or any other manual flap pilots) ate invited to see the benefits for themselves - to sit in their own aircraft with it and decide if it is worthwhile. That is what the original post was for.

For those who eventually decide to buy it, a full refund is offered if the customer is not fully satisfied with the benefit, the quality of the device itself, or the customer service they receive.

The girl in the photo is one of our local student pilots... in her F-33 Bonanza (really!) Don't all student pilots look like that ?

[worzel]

how much are they ?

[UtahMaule]

The girl in the photo is one of our local student pilots... in her F-33 Bonanza (really!) Don't all student pilots look like that ?

Bring her to Austin

[EZFlap]

Worzel wrote: "How Much are they?"

The retail price is $499 factory direct or through Aircraft Spruce. I'm glad to say it is one of the least expensive STC-PMA modifications on the market, especially for something involving a flight control system.


Utah Maule wrote: "Bring her to Austin"

Not likely
She has about three or four successful businesses to run, and the list of folks "interested in meeting her" is a mile long. She and her husband were very close friends of mine, then he got killed flying a !(#*% Lancair just over a year ago.

[AndrewK]

The girl in the photo is one of our local student pilots... in her F-33 Bonanza (really!) Don't all student pilots look like that ?

Is that one of them high wing Bonanzas with a left-side door? Just teasing!
I flew in a C-180 with the regular handle and noticed the pilot use his foot to yank the flaps to the first notch where he could then reach it. Guess the handle could definitely be helpful in that situation to make it look more graceful/smoother.

Take care,
Andrew

[maules.com]

There are two Maule manufactured flap handles.
The older straight handle which lays parallel to the floor, and a later one that raises the handle end about 4" above the floor.
Many M4 and M5s have been updated with the later handle with the upsweep handle end.
In the flaps down/handle up position on the M4 and M5 cable pull system at full flap deployment the handle is about 60degrees from the floor.
On the later models MX MXT M6 M7 MT M8 which have chain drive torque tube flaps the handle is vertical at full deployment.

[EZFlap]

Jeremy, thank you for the clarification. I believe I saw both the straight and "bent" (angled) handles on Maule aircraft this past weekend at the Austin NV fly-in. I was fortunate enough to be allowed to do test / demo installations on three or four Maule aircraft... one M4, one M 5 and one M7. Additionally there is an M7 series aircraft at my home field that we did a test mock-up installation on last week (Thanks Dave!!!).

From the operational aspect (mounting and using this particular device on an existing aircraft as a field upgrade), there's only one difference between the older and newer Maule flap controls that directly affects installing this upgrade. Whether it is the straight or angled handle is not a factor.

The earlier M4 I looked at had approximately a 3/8" or 1/2" diameter aluminum flap lock button (the button you press with your thumb). The later M5 and M7 models I saw had a 5/8" or 3/4" button.

The earlier aircraft with the smaller button will require a simple adapter to mount a small steel tab that is part of the extension device. That adapter will be furnished as needed.

Fortunately all three demo/test installations showed that it makes as much of a useful difference as it does on the (original) Cessna installation.

I would like to thank the three Maule owners in Austin who afforded me the opportunity to demonstrate the extension so they could decide for themselves how significant of a difference it made.

Special thanks to M7 owner Rob Burson for his kind words, enthusiasm, and for generously offering to vouch for this upgrade to any other Maule owners.

[EZFlap]

Is that one of them high wing Bonanzas with a left-side door? Just teasing!
I flew in a C-180 with the regular handle and noticed the pilot use his foot to yank the flaps to the first notch where he could then reach it. Guess the handle could definitely be helpful in that situation to make it look more graceful/smoother.

Take care,
Andrew

Yes, I've seen that maneuver demonstrated as well.... A 180 driver in Alaska sat down at my trade show "simulator", flipped the button and lifted the handle up into the first notch with his right foot. He said "This is how far some of us have had to go in order to keep from bending down for that $*(%^#@ flap handle..."

I'm tickled pink to say that about five minutes after he performed the fabulous foot-flip soccer demonstration, he signed on the dotted line and took one of the EZ Flap units home to put on the airplane

[a64pilot]

Maybe I'm missing something? But between the handle being bent and the fact that the first notch can be had at any speed, the handle just isn't that low that you need any kind of extension.
Now if it were like Cessna's and didn't have a bend and the first notch wasn't zero, then I would see the need.
Yes I'm talking about an airplane whose flaps reflex, earlier airplanes, maybe the need is there?

[crbnunit]

I'm pretty happy with the bent handle. Makes a world of difference.