DRACO - The Most Badass Monster Bush Plane EVER!

The Gear I use:

[GravityKnightFlying]

Can't take money with you! Live and enjoy it. The coolest part about this to me is that Mike built it, he did the engineering, and the work. There are plenty of folks with money, but most pay someone else to build them something cool. I come from the built not bought mentality and I have so much respect for the work Mike did. He is amazingly talented! For anyone who hasn't seen the build videos, search Mike Patey and watch the build logs! You won't be disappointed to see what went into this massive project.

[valuedhumanoid]

I am a machinist. To me, that was the most impressive part of this build. He would literally have an idea, sit at his PC and draw it up, convert it to CNC language and then machine the parts himself. If you have no technical ability, you cannot imaging how incredible that feat in and of itself is. Here's the "normal" routine. You get an idea and then you go to a design house. At this point, you're on the clock and paying money. They take your idea of what you need, then they run it by their in-house team to come up with a design. Once they do, a month later, they call you back in to approve the design. If you do agree, you sign the print and then it goes to fabrication. Once it's made depending on how complex it is and machine availability, you're looking at 2-8 weeks. They call you back in and if it's good, you take it and then go to another shop to anodize/paint/plate and a month after that, you have your part. Not Mike. That three month process is sometimes done in 24 hours. Amazing.

[wc]

Nice to hear someone on YT who's enthusiastic and can express himself in full, concise, articulate sentences

[SR-cpeo]

Rest in Peace Draco... Sad to see you go, but thank you for keeping Mike safe. Planes can always be replaced, people can't. Keep flying and I can't wait to see what Draco Version 2.0!

[Mike-xtot]

A pilot with that much knowledge of his gear and the mechanical skills makes any plane so much safer. Great video!

[nomi]

I think Draco is the highlight and mascot of Oshkosh 2018...

[twotwats]

The massive smile on his face when the jets fly over in formation gives the game away about a true enthusiast! Great guy! Hope to see more of his projects soon

[Anonymous]

I’m not “into planes” but this thing is badass. That landing / launch is insanely short.

[thenatedog]

pretty impressed with his technical knowledge. Loved that he personally crafted so much of the plane, not just paying somebody else to do it.

[rycrz]

As a Polish whose emotionally attached to Wilgas- Thank You Mike!

[Sourpusscandy]

Mike Patey, a genius and a legend. Lift-off in 3 seconds!

[czoom]

13:44 “May I never use it...” This was some next level foresight from someone who has been around and seen a few things. *And* he can integrate his experiences to create safer solutions for his aircraft. Such a pleasure to observe the wisdom emanating from this pilot.

[drumrboynoid]

I've gotta say his explanation doesn't do justice. He has a youtube channel that documents the building process. This guy is an extremely talented fabricator and has a great pun intended. I'd love to be friends with guy.

[mhsandifer]

Not a pilot, but an engineer and know a bit about flying. This is truly amazing. What a great plane

[kertamo]

I came across this video by accident. This was one of the most interesting and new things I came across. I watched it from beginning to the end with a BIG SMILE on my face. I could feel his happiness and love for his planes and engineering. It made my day. What a happy man. Made me happy as well :)

[Do-UR-Research]

I miss her, cant wait for DRACO version 2.0!!

[rags]

My dad bought one of the first Wilgas in the US back in 1977, we used to go flying every 2nd or 3rd week from Chino Airport in SoCal. I still remember going through the pre-flight and having to drag the prop through a half dozen rotations to drain the oil from the lower cylinders. We never got the takeoff roll down to 118 feet (!) but I do remember taking off in some pretty dang short distances - he would then crank it up to a 30 degree climb and head out to the desert - still one of the most thrilling memories of my life.

Another great memory was taking the thing up to 14, 000 feet or so for its certification, my Dad kept telling me and my high school buddy to keep checking each others lips and fingernails to make sure they weren't turning blue. No problem there, the big problem was coming back down - it seems that the original engine had auto-lean but not auto-rich so it conked out at around 10, 000 feet and my Dad had to go through the entire restart procedure twice while deadsticking it, and this with a compressed air starter that only had a few shots at most. In the end he got it started, then flew down to San Diego where we got lost in clouds and almost landed at Miramar by mistake.

My friend never flew with me again after that !

PS - I know all about the ground looping issue - my Dad and flew to Nevada to register his purchase of the plane (a tax thing I think), on the way back we stopped somewhere in the desert and he looped it so hard we had fuel spilling out of the top of the wing.

My dad is gone now, by I had some pretty great memories of that plane, I was amazed to see what they did to it.

[zacharyahlheim]

You are one of a few on youtube who can make a 20-minute long video and have it feel like 5 minutes. GREAT JOB!!!

[GeorgeMCMLIX]

One of the most technically fascinating videos I’ve seen! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 As an aviation engineer I was hanging on to every piece of information, in complete admiration of Mike’s dedication and professionalism as a pilot and engineer. A simply stunning aircraft!

[kevalb]

"almost every wilga in existence has been ground looped" RIP DRACO :'(