After a long layoff from any flying I found myself in my mid 60’s in good health with time and resources to fly again and a wonderful wife who was supportive.

But why Trikes? After spending a lot of time in the past few years at places like Oshkosh, Sun & Fun and other aviation events I found the passion again to fly and I realized that the Cessna 172 flying I had done 10 years ago was not what I wanted this time. While I have never flown Trikes, they were similar to Hang Gliders which I had flown in the 90’s albeit that was a few decades ago. Among all other Light Sport Aircraft, I looked at trikes are what finally won out my heart to take a closer look at. Low, slow, open cockpit, efficient, reliable and perhaps portable is what I wanted.

This decision was not without serious evaluation on my part and to make sure I had as much in-depth information as possible I enrolled and completed the Light Sport Repairman Maintenance course (Repairman Light Sport Aircraft) at Rainbow Aviation in Corning, CA. During this 15 day course I found what I needed to be sure I was asking the right questions and understand some of the daunting terms used in Light Sport (LS) aviation. Not to mention how to maintain Light Sport aircraft including mine and how to be darn sure you read and follow the manuals. Many Many thanks to Brian and Carol Carpenter.

Ok Trikes it is, but why the Evolution Revolt? I liked the Revolt’s rugged looks and off pavement appeal (I am kind of a Jeep guy), I liked the back seat separation, better visibility for passengers and no compression strut in front of pilot, fit and finish and durability of the Trike. I liked the options available on it, I especially like the “what if” engineering approach to the overall design. I am a big guy, I looked at other trikes but when I read the pilot weight rating in the manual on most of them I was a tad on the heavy side, but not in the Revolt and I can carry a heavy dude or gal in the backseat as well. I figured the 4 stroke Rotax 912 ULS on it was a no brainer (doesn’t mean it wont fail, even right out of the box) but there is nothing I have uncovered that could be more reliable. So Revolt with 912 it is.

But why a brand new designed Trike, the Revolt? Ok this one is easy, I watched Evolution and Larry Mednick closely over the past year and asked a lot of questions of different people, no one denied that Larry was one of the best at trike design and trike aeronautical understanding. I made several trips to Zephyrhills, FL., had demo flights in the Revolt and Revo and hung out in Larry’s way to learn how I thought his product would work for me and realized the Revolt was the right fit and concept I was looking for. On some trips I brought my wife Deb who is also a Hang Glider pilot and Larry and Amy treated us as Family and my wife loved the Demo flights. Bottom line I came to trust Larry, trust with my life.

Training with Evolution Trikes Larry Mednick is exactly what I needed. I had read the training manuals and watched the training videos, I recalled my Cessna 172 instructors and reflected on my Hang Gliding training. But this is a different type of aircraft, I trained with both Rick Fantuz and with Larry in the Revolt and the combination was incredible. Rick is smooth, thorough and reassuring and Larry really really drills in the basics to be a safe Trike Pilot. Considering your flying a High Drag, Low Mass aircraft this training is a must have for safe approaches especially in adverse conditions and I can’t imagine there are any better trike Instructors to teach this. So glad it was drilled in my head by Larry on final approach “Get it, Get it” and I hope it stays.

Final training and AC acceptance took about a week and a half. I completed my trike training, soloed, took my proficient check flight while and they completed a multitude of punch list items, some design changes, adjustment to the Revolt and one nagging Mag problem that Lockwood Aviation finally helped out and fixed. Needless to say there was stress at this time on everyone involved but no one let it get out of hand and we all worked through it. Larry always had a plan and it was kind of a team effort and in the end it gave me more confidence in the Evolution Trikes, Rotax, my training and especially my Revolt.

Many thanks to Phil, Amy and Larry Mednick. I love flying the Revolt so far and I know I have a lot learning ahead of me, but if they can get this old guy in the air with my deficiencies while keeping the wife happy they can do it for you. If your thinking about flying this might be your ticket. It is never too late…

Ken Sutz