Skyotë News Updates
Oct 19, 2024: Transitioned website from the Sandvox application (no longer supported) to Squarespace. The visual theme of the site has been changed, but the content remains largely the same. All of the links should be working; please advise the web administer if any broken links are encountered.
Added John Roberts Skyote Photo Album.
Sept 20, 2024: This is another sad day for the Skyotë world, as Robert E. “Hawkeye” Hughes, aged 81, slipped the surly bonds and flew west today. Hawkeye was an early and constant supporter of the Skyotë, and his encouragement, irascible humor, and corporate knowledge of all things Skyotë will be sorely missed. Clear skies and fair winds, old friend.
Apr 8, 2024: Skyotë designer Otto E. “Pete” Bartoe, aged 97, flew west today. A sad day for all Skyotë aficionados, it is now up to us to perpetuate the Skyotë design as a worthy legacy of this fine man. Fair winds, and clear skies, Pete!
Feb 12, 2021: Added new photos to Dick Curtis’s Skyotë project photo album. Updated most photo albums to allow you to open photos in the album galleries to full size. Updated photo albums to reflect the sold Colchin Skyotë as now the Ross Skyotë.
Aug 17 2020: Added new photo album featuring Steve Dietz’s Skyotë project (was the late Bill Brink’s project)
Aug 15 2020: Skyotë for Sale! Just received this message from Don Colchin regarding the sale of his Skyotë: I am reluctantly putting my Bridges Skyote N476A up for sale. I am on an airport that is under Houston Class B and requires ADSB out. The controllers on my field are great to work with but as the airport becomes busier they sometimes get frustrated trying to work me in among all the jet traffic etc. Just not a good place for a non-electric small single seat biplane. The airplane is powered with a brand new Continental O-200D Light Sport engine and is built exactly per Pete’s plans. The engine has approximately 50 hours SNEW and the aircraft weighs in at 605 pounds empty and flys well with no bad habits. Asking price is $35,000- if interested please contact the Skyotë website admin with your contact info, and your info will be forwarded to Don. The aircraft is located at Conroe North Houston Regional Airport (KCXO) in Texas. UPDATE: This aircraft was sold in October 2020 to Kevin Ross of Ft Worth, Texas.
Aug 15 2020: Removed links to obsolete Skyotë Type Club Yahoo Group to better guide new members towards the current and actively maintained Skyotë Type Club Groups.io forum. All historical files and archives were migrated from Yahoo Group to groups.io, and Yahoo Group deleted all account data in December 2019.
Aug 9 2020: Added new photo album featuring Dick Curtis’s Skyotë project.
Aug 11 2018: The Skyotë Tyoe Club online forum / e-mail list has transitioned to the Groups.io platform from YahooGroups due to performance and support issues that have developed over time with the YahooGroups service. Most subscribers to the old YahooGroup have been transitioned to the Groups.io platform; please contact the administrator if you were not successfully transitioned. If you wish to participate as a new member on the new platform, please subscribe on the Groups.io page. Please note that the old Skyotë Type Club YahooGroup and the archives there will still exist and be useable; it just will not be the primary vehicle for our club’s future e-mail list activity.
Aug 2 2016: John Roberts’ Skyote #88 (NX88NX) was recognized at Oshkosh AirVenture 2016 with a Bronze Lindy Plans Champion award.
Congratulations to John for this well-deserved honor that rewards his perseverance, his outstanding craftsmanship, and his tireless efforts to bring technological improvements and innovations to the Skyotë design.
There is a saying that our seeing further comes from standing on the shoulders of giants - all future Skyotë builders will have the benefit of standing on John’s shoulders! Well done, John!
Jul 6 2016: The Skyote Type Club website has been transitioned from iWeb (Apple application no longer supported) to the Sandvox application. The visual theme of the site has been changed, but the content remains the same. All of the links should be working; please advise the web administer if any broken links are encountered. The only remaining task on the transition is re-entering the photo captions to specific images in the photo albums.
Mar 15 2016: John Roberts’ Skyotë N88NX (Serial #88) made its first flight today, piloted by Bob Cabaniss. Please see John’s blog (link under Member Projects) for a link to a video of the first liftoff. Congratulations John!
Mar 13 2016: It is my sad duty to report that Skyotë builder Bill Brink (serial #42) passed away this evening after a battle with Parkinson’s disease. A longtime Skyotë builder, Bill was gracious and generous in sharing his building experiences, tips , and construction photos with the Skyotë Type Club right from its start. Bill never finished his Skyotë, but hopefully it will take flight under the care of its new custodian, Steve Dietz. The entire Skyotë Type Club family extends its sincere condolences to Bill’s wife, Ann, and his family. Farewell Bill, and Godspeed in your higher flight.
Dec 1 2015: Huge News... On 30 Nov, I received a message from Jim Irwin, owner of Aircraft Spruce & Specialty, announcing that Aircraft Spruce is the new official source for Skyotë drawings, parts, and materials kits. This transfer of Skyotë plans, parts, and materials rights from Skyotë Aeromarine to Aircraft Spruce has been about 8 months in the making; kudos to Jim Irwin, Pete Bartoe, Todd Uecker, and John Roberts for their commitment to making this happen. Aircraft Spruce acquiring the Skyotë rights essentially ensures long-term availability of the plans for future builders, and provides continuity and support for ongoing and completed projects. The Skyotë has a future!
Nov 11 2015: Added 22 new photos tp the Bill Brink Skyote project photo album. These are recent pictures depicting the current condition of the project, which Bill will soon be offering for sale due to health reasons.
Jul 4 2015: There will be group orders going out in the next few weeks for preformed ribs, spar webs and caps, spar drilling jigs, waterjet-cut fittings, and for flying/drag wires and terminals. Check out the Skyote Type Club Yahoo Group message archives for information about the parts, pricing, and to indicate your interest in getting in on a buy - it may be years before another group buy takes place, if ever. Pete Bartoe has also indicated that a limited number of plans sets are available for sale. Contact him promptly if you are interested in a set of Skyote construction drawings.
Jan 7, 2015: Added new link on Resources and Links page to Vintage Aero, Auckland-based producer of streamlined flying wires and round tie rods.
Mar 30, 2014: Added new photo album of Don Colchin’s Skyotë, which he purchased from Glenn Bridges in 2012. Don put N476A on a major diet, replacing the original Lycoming O-290 with a Continental O-200, removing the electrical system, and rebuilding the instrument panel, resulting in a drop of 170 pounds (wow!) in the aircraft empty weight.
Jan 2, 2013: Sad news for Skyotë followers - on 19 Oct 2011 Skyotë Aeromarine Ltd. announced the withdrawal of Skyotë plans from the market. Plans sales were curtailed in the past, and then resumed years later, but the future for new plans availability is unknown. This site will continue to follow Skyotë news and support ongoing development of Skyotë projects.
Nov 9, 2009: Added 242 photos to the Bridges photo gallery detailing the construction of N476A, courtesy of David Teel (Thanks, David!)
Oct 25, 2009: Added a new photo album featuring Dennis Dowling’s Skyotë (originally built by Ed “Doc” Packard), and a new Oshkosh 1986 photo to the Hawkeye album to the “Photo Albums” page. Updated the “What Is A Skyotë?” page by consolidating the PDFs into single files.
Oct 17, 2009: Added a photo album featuring Glenn Bridges new Skyotë, added new photos to the Brink, Hawkeye, and Parrakeet albums, and added photo credits for photos in the Novak album of N9297S taken by EAA’s Jim Koepnick. Added a link to a newspaper article on Bill Brink’s project and a link to Mike Kukulski’s project blog to the “Member Projects” page. Added a link to Brown Aviation Tool Supply Co. to the “Resources” page.
Aug 15, 2009: Added a new article about Peter Bartoe to the “What is a Skyote?” page. It is a Sept 2002 article from Aviation History magazine, written by Walter J.Boyne, about Pete Bartoe’s JW-1 Jetwing aircraft.
Sep 5, 2008: Re-added Hawkeye Hughes’ article on cockpit and windscreen design options to the Building Tips page. Added new entry to the Photo Albums page for the Skyote Type Club meeting at Blakesburg 2008. Added a new entry to the Photo Albums page for Rose Parrakeet photos.
Apr 21, 2008: Added the first entry to the Member Projects page, that for John Roberts’ project, including a link to his outstanding project blog site.
Feb 2, 2008: Re-added photos to the Bill Brink project Photo Album, re-added the Hawkeye Hughes article regarding his proposed Skyotë modifications on the Building Tips page, and added a Resources and Links page.
Jan 17, 2008: Switched website to iWeb program on Mac, giving new look to the entire site.
Aug 22, 2006: I finally acquired a hard copy of the May 1979 issue of Air Progress magazine with the Skyotë flight review article by Budd Davisson. Budd has granted permission to post scanned copies of the article to our website, which can be viewed on the What is a Skyote? page.
Aug 11, 2006: Modified website e-mail links to reduce spam volume directed to the web administrator. To e-mail the webmaster, you will have to actively delete the suffix ".nospam" from the e-mail address before sending your message.
Jul 16, 2006: Building Tips page adds a link to Hawkeye Hughes' new article on modifications that he plans to incorporate as he recovers his Skyotë; he includes his rationale with photos and recommends new builders consider incorporating these mods in their Skyotë's construction.
Jul 10, 2006: Added a new link for interested people to join the Skyotë Type Club Yahoo Group e-mail list.
Feb 22, 2006: Added 13 new photos from Bill Brink's project to the photo gallery. Also added Rose Parakeet photo from Hawkeye Hughes to miscellaneous section of photo gallery (hyperlinked to Parakeet reference on "What Is A Skyotë?" page).
Sept 11, 2005: Changed home page photo to a beautiful sunrise picture of "Hawkeye" Hughes' Skyotë at a August 28, 2005 breakfast fly-in. Added this photo to Photo Gallery as well as as new photos of Dave Novak's Skyotë at Oshkosh 2005.
May 11, 2005: Corrected some factual errors in various website locations. Added photos of Pete Bartoe and Duane Burnett with their Skyotës at Oshkosh 1997 to Photo page and Photo Gallery.
April 27, 2005: Added the first entry to the "Member Projects" page, linking to Bill Brink's Skyotë project under construction (more photos to follow). Also added new Photo Gallery link on the "Skyotë Photos" page -- the gallery allows more images to be uploaded and viewed than the current page can practically offer.
April 7, 2005: Added link to Pete Bartoe's University of Colorado alumni biography.
March 11, 2005: Created a new Yahoo Group for the Skyotë Type Club. This will allow members to participate on an e-mail list (with the options of web e-mail access only, or daily digests or individual e-mails to the member's registered home e-mail address). The group also provides a website location for archiving photo images or other types of files relating to the Skyote; any registered member can post files to this site.
November 12, 2004: Posted a link on the "Builders Tips" page to Robert "Hawkeye" Hughes' article (text and photos) on Skyotë windshield and cockpit configuration options.
October 3, 2004: Posted copies of Skyotë brochure with permission from Skyotë Aeromarine Ltd. Via correspondence with Mr Bartoe, confirmed that Skyotë plans are currently available for $595. Added mailing address for Skyotë Aeromotive Ltd.
August 26, 2004: Introductory Skyotë Type Club mailing sent out to all plans holders and owners on record with Skyotë Aeromarine Ltd. on August 21, 2004.
Website updated with Sept 86 Kitplanes article.
July 29 & 31, 2004: Visit to Oshkosh, EAA Airventure 2004 finds one registered Skyotë, N9297S, belonging to David J. Novak of Hortonville, WI.
July 18, 2004: Skyotë Type Club website opened