Simple, light, and affordable is not a throwaway line. Each word is pivotal. Like many of you, I have enjoyed the advancing development of the LSA space, leading to Mosaic LSA in about 15 months. Additional operational capabilities plus features like autopilot, synthetic vision, and powerful, compact engines… all these can build a very exciting airplane. With Mosaic, the list gets even longer: more weight, more seats, more powerful engines, plus retract, adjustable props, even aerial work for entrepreneurs (see full list). Wonderful, I agree. Some pilots have asked for more and industry with FAA have been working to achieve these potentials. Yet this is a path to ever-more complex (and expensive) aircraft. Have you been waiting for Mosaic LSA? If yes, your wishes may be answered in 15 months. If not, please continue reading. Simple, Light, Affordable — All three words are key. Much depends on your aviation goals.
For years the answer was, "Well, brand XYZ offered one but they disappeared from the market some years ago. One such winner I flew was the 
Quicksilver is now more stable than it's been since the very beginning back in the late 1970s. That's because in the last ownership shift, Bever and family bought the whole shebang. They purchased everything except the GT500 but covering the entire product line from the MX or Sprint/Sport series to the single seat GT400. It took several semi-truck loads to bring it all from southern California to Reserve, Louisiana.
Their rescue of the Quicksilver line and preservation of the brand was warmly received by the legions of 'Quick' enthusiasts. Well beyond 15,000 Quicksilver models have been delivered, making the brand one of the most successful marques in all of aviation. To my knowledge, only Van's Aircraft has delivered more kits to pilots.
Air Tech, Inc., has a broad product and. service capability. They have all the original Quicksilver parts, many accessory items (never produced by Quicksilver, Inc.), and can aid repair on any Quicksilver model.
Air Tech, Inc., mainly sells kits but they do own the Special LSA credential for the Sport S2SE, making this popular aircraft a proper training aircraft to fly the rest of their line. A buyer of the SLSA model is permitted to offer paid flight instruction and rental of the aircraft under LSA regulations.
Aero 1000 is an adaptation of a junior-Indy car race engine. The base powerplant is manufactured by 
https://youtu.be/piMISKNVvcU
Little did we know last year that Putin would invade Ukraine and plunge both countries into disarray. The 
At Sun 'n Fun 2022, Gene "Bever" Borne and son Ken of 
Upon closer inspection, this Sprint model was powered by Aero 1000, a single-cylinder, four-stroke engine with impressive specs. Air-Tech said it outputs 39 horsepower — similar to the Rotax 447 — and is extremely economical on fuel.
"It also has a great sound," said Ken Borne in our video interview about the engine.
How does a small displacement engine (250 cc) get that kind of power from one cylinder? Part of the magic is high revolutions. "This engine runs at 9200 rpm." said Ken. The engine idles at 1800-2000 rpm, he added.
Is Aero 1000 a creation of Air-Tech, Inc., the longtime Quicksilver representative that now owns the rights? No, they didn't originate this. That effort was done by Mike Robinson, owner and CEO of 
Blackhawk's search for the right engine for their quads lead them to an Swiss engine popular with cart racing enthusiasts. These racers push the engines hard and after years of working to improve the breed, the base engine has become very reliable.
Blackhawk later created a mount construction for the engine to be used on their quads.
Bever and Ken noticed this development at AirVenture Oshkosh where the two companies have side-by-side display spaces. They got to talking as vendors do at airshows. After Mike said some of his paraglider customers wanted to investigate fixed wing flying, Bever and Mike struck an agreement to try out the Blackhawk configuration on their Quicksilver line.
Bever said the final installed weight of the Aero 1000 with reduction drive and exhaust and all other components is about 15 pounds more than the Rotax 447 with its driveshaft and other hardware. Most pilots will readily give up 15 pounds of useful load to have four-stroke reliability and reduced noise.
Bever and Ken have fitted the Aero 1000 to their Sprint after building fairly simple hardware to support the engine — see nearby photos of engine and mounts.
When I asked if this particular aircraft with the Aero 1000 powering it honestly stays within Part 103 limits, Ken responded without hesitation, "Yes, it does."
While Air-Tech conducts flight testing of the Sprint with Aero 1000, 
Those who attempted to copy and duplicate Quicksilvers have mostly faded away but some enterprises (see at bottom) built a business out of supplying parts and components that Quicksilver itself never offered.
One of the most successful of these is 
"Now that I think I've got it perfected," Andy expressed, "we're going to start production on this in 2021."
Falcon has a lot of components so it will be more expensive. "Yes," Andy agreed, "it will be a little higher priced aircraft — it takes a lot of time to assemble — but it will fly like a Quicksilver, so those pilots who want to fly faster now have a choice."
A Quicksilver-type design like the standard "Smithsilvers" that Tri-State makes from scratch typically cruise 40-60 mph where Falcon is as much as 50% faster.
"Yes, this will be a little higher-priced aircraft," Andy observed, "and it must be built as an Experimental Amateur Built." Let's put it in perspective, noting that all prices mentioned below are subject to change.
A standard single place Smithsilver by Tri-State Kite Sales assembled for fly away costs about $28,000, said Andy. A two-place with all the extras gets into the high $40,000s and Falcon with a 
Mark Smith founded the company in the late 1970s and formally organized in 1981. In those 40 years, Tri-State has delivered more than 200 complete aircraft and an uncounted number of aircraft served with replacement parts or Tri-State accessories from fiberglass nose pods to new wing covers and everything in between.
Of all these, Falcon may be the most advanced and sophisticated. It may look like a simple Quicksilver or a Tri-State Smithsilver but Falcon is a step beyond on many ways, for example, creature comforts.
Falcon has a full enclosure, front to back, and even has cabin heat. "I tested this down to 17 degrees ambient temperature, and you can stay about 70 degrees inside the cockpit." While the snow swirls around Tri-State and much of the country, that climate control sounds inviting.
Cross country flying is one of the stated purposes. How fast can Falcon fly?
"I can hit 93 miles an hour," exclaimed Andy, "and cruise is a solid 80 mph." For those unfamiliar with a standard Quicksilver or Smithsilver, that's a substantial increase, more than 20 miles an hour faster on average.
As a nearby image shows, the Rotax 503 engine is nestled down in the aft wing center section because Andy wanted to lower the thrust line to a more neutral position. This means the dual-carb Rotax 503 and its 50 horses push the airplane forwards with less pitch influence, which is a significant part of how it can achieve higher speeds.
"Falcon's standard instrument panel has all your flight information," explained Andy, "while all the engine instrumentation is housed on the right vertical support strut. Above your head are all the electric switches for electric flaps, ignition switches and lighting controls."
Unlike every Quicksilver or Smithsilver, Falcon has a control yoke as does Quicksilver's GT500 and GT400 models. However, unlike those Quicksilver models, this yoke has been configured specially to make entry much easier.
Falcon has a door that props open but when I looked at, I thought entry looked rather challenging. What I missed were the steps Andy took in designing a yoke that neatly folds out of the way. When so retracted, entering Falcon looks easy.
Once in place you pull the yoke back toward you and it latches securely into position. With details like this, no wonder Any spent years getting Falcon right on paper and three more to get the pieces and parts in the right place.
Falcon's cabin even has a hat rack …or in this case, a headset rack as that's what Andy puts in this location.
Andy referred to the current one as a "nostalgia website" because it holds extensive commentaries written by Mark Smith, the patriarch of Tri-State. His words make a fun, and historic, read but what the vintage website does not do is provide clear navigation to the various aircraft models and component parts or assemblies that Tri-State builds. The new website will address these shortcomings while hopefully keeping all Mark's original musings.
Until the new website is finished, visit 
With more than 15,000 flying, it even outranks Van's Aircraft for kit aircraft that made it into the air — although Van's has sold more kits in total and no one disputes the Western brand's leadership position.
The earliest Quicksilvers were hang gliders (last photo). Engines came later but at first the weight-shift seat stayed (nearby image). The pilot had lateral control — still by weight shift — but via lines that moved surfaces. Pitch, however, was fully controlled by the pilot moving his or her body.
Those were fun days and provided wonderful memories (yes, I flew them as weight-shift aircraft). Yet the brand went on to vastly greater development. In this article, our focus is on the original three-axis control model, the oh-so-famous MX (multiple axis).
The MX model abandoned the weight shift idea — this was too foreign to lots of potential customers. Instead, it used stick-and-rudder two-axis controls, but with a difference. The joystick connected to the elevator and rudder while the rudder pedals were connected to spoilerons on top of the wing.
