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TAB Aircraft LLC Web Site
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Date: 7-29-2009
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Number of Hours: 0.00
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Manual Reference: N/A
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Brief Description: My Story So Far Page 1
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Back in the 80s, I was working for a vending company that filled the vending machines at Walt Disney World. After Epcot opened, their was a show on and over the World Showcase Lagoon at Epcot that had boats made up to look like dragons. Buccaneer amphibian ultralight aircraft would fly over the lake and engage in a mock battle with the dragon boats.
See https://youtu.be/-XwDkgU1eZA for video of the show.
When I saw the Buccaneer, I knew I had to get one. At that point I decided to get a pilot certificate so I could fly the 2 seat version of the Buccaneer.
I took my 1st lesson on Febuary 24 1986, at the Kissimmee airport from a flying club, but lasted only 10 lessons before air sickness and a mean Instructor ran me off.
I decided to try again in 1993, this time at a Cessna dealer in Orlando. It took from Januray 3 1993 to Januray 6 1994 of Sunday lessons to get my private pilot certificate. Around that time the company that made the Buccaneer went out of business and some of the people involved started Progressive Aerodyne and made the SeaRey, which had its first flight on November 13 1992.
I figured if I got a kit plane, I would have to keep it at a country airfield 20 miles away. I did not want to get an airplane until I had a place to keep it, and wanted to keep it and fly it from my own lakefront home.
This was a 20-year dream in the making. I started a quest to find and purchase lakefront property, build a house with a garage large enough to build and house a SeaRey. I found the perfect lot in Umatilla, Florida and built the house in 1999
I put a deposit on a SeaRey kit in 2001 when the price was under $20,000.00 and Rotax engines were $10,000.00. I was issued a kit number of 1MK250. But a combination of personal and financial problems soon had me back at Progressive Aerodyne asking for my deposit back.
I got a Paramotor (powered paraglider) to have something to fly off my property with the deposit I got back, but now I wish I would have left it with Progressive.
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Buccaneer Amphibian Ultralight
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Paramotor Powered Paraglider
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Bowden's Landing
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