Quickie Free Enterprise

Free Enterprise
Role	Experimental long-range aircraft
National origin	United States of America
Manufacturer	Quickie Aircraft Corporation
First flight	1982
Number built	1

The Quickie Aircraft Corporation Free Enterprise (also known as the Big Bird) was an American experimental long-range aircraft of the 1980s, designed to attempt the first unrefuelled flight round-the world flight. The Free Enterprise was a single-engined high-winged monoplane of conventional configuration. It first flew in March 1982, but was destroyed in a fatal crash later that year.

In late 1979, Gene Sheehan and Tom Jewett, co-founders of the Quickie Aircraft Corporation, builders of the successful Quickie tandem-winged kitplane, started development of an aircraft to attempt to make the first unrefuelled round-the-world flight. This would require a flight of at least 22,800 miles (36,700 km), almost double the existing unrefuelled flight distance record of 12,532 miles (20,176 km) set by a Boeing B-52 Stratofortress bomber in January 1962.

While Quickie Aircraft had made their name with the tandem-winged Quickie, their design for the round-the-world flight which was initially known as the "Big Bird", but later was named "Free Enterprise", was a more conventional single-engined high-winged monoplane of tractor configuration. Its high-aspect ratio all-metal wings were based on those of the Laister Nugget sailplane, while the slender fuselage and empennage were of Kevlar/fiberglass/Urethane foam composite construction. The aircraft took off using a tricycle trolley which would then be jettisoned, the aircraft landing on a ventral skid. Two large fuel tanks were mounted in the fuselage which, together with tip-tanks on the end of the wings, held 365 US Gallons (1,382 litres) of fuel. It was powered by a 135 hp (100 kW) PZL-Franklin air-cooled flat-six piston engine, chosen for its superior fuel economy. The pilot sat in an enclosed cockpit under a bubble canopy.

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