Review: (DVD) In Pursuit of Flight: A Canard Special

I promised Bruce Sturgill, the producer of this double-DVD video, to post a review. How could I decline when he was kind enough to give me the DVDs, saying something about appreciation for keeping this forum online. I'll do my best to try to keep an objective and unbiased view in the face of such kindness.

 

The DVDs themselves come in a standard DVD movie box, wrapped with nice graphics on the cover so you'll easily be able to locate the package among the others in your collection. There are two DVDs, setup as follows:

• Disc 1
  • Custom Long-EZ
  • Canard Segments - 7 aircraft
• Disc 2
  • Long-EZ Jet (27 minutes)
  • Canards Flying - Taking Off - Landing - Air-to-Air (60 minutes)

The Custom Long-EZ and Long-EZ Jet segments are with Valerie and Robert Harris of EZJets, Inc. These segments feature one-on-one interviews with the Harris's, giving insight into the madness behind their mission to put jet engines into all sorts of canard aircraft. Watching these segments I actually did feel like a fly on the wall, and was left wanting to lean over and touch something -- especially at the end when seeing Greg Richter and his Cozy jet taxiing around.

 

I particularly enjoyed the one-on-one interviews (in the Canard Segments section) with 7 different builder-flyers:

• Colby Farmer (Cozy Mark IV)
• Mike Sabourin (Long-EZ)
• Jerry Parrish (Berkut)
• Jack Morrison (E-Racer)
• Steve Wright (designer/builder of the Stagger-EZ)
• Andre von Shoenebeck (designer of the Bateleur)
• John Loofbourrow (Defiant)

With the exception of Andre von Shoenebeck, who did his interview over the phone and provided stock footage, all others are filmed on location at Rough River (2004 I believe -- when I first met Bruce, but that's another story). These interviews alone are what makes this DVD special. All of the participants openly share as much information about their thought process behind their choices to build the models they chose. Here Bruce has captured the essence of the Rough River fly-in, and in fact, captures better interviews than those I am able to remember from the couple times I have been there myself. I am looking forward to watching these segments again (for at least the third time now).

 

The Canards Flying segments show a bunch of canards landing, doing fly-bys, and taking off at Rough River and other places. There is an extended clip featuring air-to-air shots of Nat Puffer, the designer of the Cozy Mark IV.

 

What's not to like? The quality of the production is good -- not great -- considering that Bruce is footing the entire bill for everything here. He's using professional equipment and has created a professional package, but it's clear he doesn't have a Dreamworks-type budget. This particularly shows in the Canards Flying section.

 

What's missing? It would be nice to have an interview with a Velocity builder, as well as a trip to their factory. The same holds true for the AeroCad and their AeroCanard models -- where are these in this special? How about the Speed Canard and IBIS canards? They deserve to be in here as well.

 

Also, I think a piece specifically designed for showing to the spouse or your friends would put this DVD over the top. Something like a fast-paced video set to some popping music would be great for a quick showing to those not within the inner circle. But understand that this DVD is not about silent flight in a canard set to New Age music. It's for builders and enthusiasts who want to know all about the nitty gritty details. In that regard, a music video doesn't belong here.

 

Bruce is definitely onto something here and I would encourage him to put out a 2nd edition follow-up. Seeing Bruce's work, I'm sure we'd be in for a surprise or two as well. I am not at all disappointed with the package -- it's the best all around canard video I now own.

 

For those that can't get to Rough River, consider buying a copy of this video as a consolation prize. In some ways it's better than a Rough River visit (okay, I'm reaching far here), and may even help one out with some fly-in preparation for what questions to ask when you get there. At its worst, it's a wonderful alternative to the costs of flying to Rough River for those that need to miss a year (or two) or need a "fix" once it's over.

 

The DVD is available here from Aircraft Spruce & Specialty.