{"id":28626453,"date":"2026-10-18T22:06:38","date_gmt":"2026-10-18T20:06:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/john-moody-icarus-ii-father-of-ultralight-aviation-1975\/"},"modified":"2026-10-18T22:07:00","modified_gmt":"2026-10-18T20:07:00","slug":"john-moody-icarus-ii-father-of-ultralight-aviation-1975","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/john-moody-icarus-ii-father-of-ultralight-aviation-1975\/","title":{"rendered":"John Moody and the Icarus II: How Ultralight Flying Began"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.et_pb_title_container h1.entry-title { padding-top: 40px !important; }<\/style>\r\n<!-- mfsh:top -->\r\n\r\n<style>\r\n.mfsh-trigger{display:inline-flex;align-items:center;gap:10px;height:44px;padding:0 18px;margin:0 0 26px;border:2px solid 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There was no hill and no sea breeze to lift him. He opened the throttle, ran, and kept climbing.<\/p>\r\n<p>John Moody was in the air for about 30 minutes, then shut the engine off and soared back down. Veteran light-aviation journalist Dan Johnson credits him as &ldquo;the first person to foot-launch and climb from flat terrain without benefit of wind or a slope.&rdquo; EAA calls him the father of modern ultralight aviation.<\/p>\r\n<p>Fifty years after he showed that machine to the crowds at Oshkosh, his original Icarus II has been restored by volunteers and now hangs in the EAA Aviation Museum. Here is how a weekend fix for a flat state turned into a whole branch of aviation.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f4f6f9;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:18px 22px;margin:22px 0 26px\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-weight:700;color:#0d1117\">Quick Facts<\/p><ul style=\"margin:0;padding-left:18px\"><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Pilot:<\/strong> John K. Moody, Wisconsin hang glider pilot<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Aircraft:<\/strong> Powered Icarus II, a rigid biplane hang glider designed by Taras Kiceniuk Jr.<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>First powered flight:<\/strong> 15 March 1975, from a frozen lake in Wisconsin<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Engine:<\/strong> Small two-stroke of about 10 to 12.5 hp (sources differ)<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Oshkosh debut:<\/strong> EAA fly-in, summer 1976<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Company:<\/strong> Ultralight Flying Machines of Wisconsin<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Regulation that followed:<\/strong> FAA Part 103, 1982<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Today:<\/strong> Restored by the Michigan Ultralight Association; on display at the EAA Aviation Museum since October 2026<\/li><\/ul><\/div>\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">A Hang Glider Pilot With No Hills<\/h2>\r\n<p>By the mid-1970s hang gliding was booming on the coasts, where pilots could run off dunes and cliffs into steady wind. Wisconsin offered neither. As EAA's Rick Hayes put it in his history of the aircraft, the flat terrain and lack of steady wind made the sport difficult for Moody.<\/p>\r\n<p>Moody had taught himself to fly in an Icarus II he built in the mid-1970s. The design came from Taras Kiceniuk Jr., a Southern California teenager who began building hang gliders in 1971 while still in high school. The Icarus II was a rigid biplane flying wing with steeply swept wings and hand-controlled tip rudders, and many copies were built from plans Kiceniuk sold.<\/p>\r\n<p>Rising costs had already pushed ordinary flying out of reach for many people, the Smithsonian's Air &amp; Space magazine noted. A glider that could take off from a field without a towplane or a mountain was the obvious next step.<\/p>\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">15 March 1975: Power on the Ice<\/h2>\r\n<p>Moody's fix was simple: bolt a small engine and a pusher propeller onto the glider. Accounts of the exact engine differ. EAA describes a two-cycle, 12.5-hp McCulloch; Dan Johnson, writing in Kitplanes in 2006, says it was a 10-hp West Bend. Wikipedia's history of powered hang gliders says West Bend for the first flight and a McCulloch 101 for Oshkosh.<\/p>\r\n<p>The location varies slightly too. EAA names Long Lake in Wisconsin; Johnson places the frozen lake southwest of Milwaukee. What every source agrees on is the date, 15 March 1975, and the result: Moody climbed under power for about 30 minutes.<\/p>\r\n<p>The whole aircraft weighed about 90 pounds. He launched by lifting it, running until it flew, then climbing as high as about 1,000 feet and cruising at roughly 26 mph, according to EAA.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/MfwiC5rgEcg\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n\r\n<p style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;font-style:italic\">EAA archive footage of John Moody demonstrating his powered Icarus II hang glider at the Oshkosh convention.<\/p>\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Oshkosh 1976: The Demonstration That Started It All<\/h2>\r\n<p>Moody described the design in the February 1976 issue of EAA Sport Aviation and flew it at the EAA convention in Oshkosh that summer. For a crowd used to aircraft that needed runways, watching a man take off on foot was a shock.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7\"><div><em>&ldquo;To see a guy put a thing on his back and run a few steps and take off was just magical.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Russ Lee<\/strong> &mdash; curator of aeronautics, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, in Air &amp; Space magazine<\/div><\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n<p>Lee also told the magazine the flights &ldquo;just set the world on fire.&rdquo; Moody turned his hobby into a business, founding Ultralight Flying Machines of Wisconsin. According to Dan Johnson, the company sold components for powered hang gliders, including the Stewart Maximizer reduction drive, a tail-mounted elevator system and crosswind landing gear.<\/p>\r\n<p>The Icarus II also led directly to the UFM Easy Riser. Larry Mauro developed that swept-wing biplane from Kiceniuk's design, and Wikipedia's article on the type calls it the first modern ultralight aircraft once it was powered in 1975. Wheels were soon added because many pilots could not run fast enough to take off.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/10\/ufm-easy-riser-iowa-aviation-museum.jpg\" alt=\"Orange UFM Easy Riser biplane ultralight hanging from the ceiling at the Iowa Aviation Museum\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">A UFM Easy Riser at the Iowa Aviation Museum. Larry Mauro developed the Easy Riser from the same Kiceniuk Icarus II design that Moody powered in 1975. Photo: ZLEA, Wikimedia Commons \/ CC BY-SA 4.0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">The Ultralight Boom<\/h2>\r\n<p>Others followed fast. Wikipedia's history of the powered hang glider records that by the end of 1979 there were almost 100 companies selling powered ultralights, though very few of the designs could still be foot-launched. Air &amp; Space reported nearly 15,000 Weedhoppers sold alone.<\/p>\r\n<p>The appeal was price and freedom. A two-stroke engine, aluminium tube and fabric could put a person in the air for a fraction of the cost of a certified light aircraft, and pilots in flat regions like the Midwest no longer needed a hill.<\/p>\r\n<p>Mauro even went solar. In 1979 he installed solar cells and an electric motor on a stock Easy Riser, and the resulting Solar Riser became the first solar-powered aircraft to carry a person aloft.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/10\/mauro-solar-riser-eaa-airventure-oshkosh.jpg\" alt=\"UFM Solar Riser ultralight with solar panels on its upper wing displayed in a hangar at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">The Mauro Solar Riser on display at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh in 2011, an Easy Riser fitted with solar cells and an electric motor in 1979. Photo: Lestocq, Wikimedia Commons \/ CC BY-SA 4.0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Part 103: The Rule That Made It Legal<\/h2>\r\n<p>Thousands of unregistered, unlicensed flying machines forced a regulatory answer. In 1982 the FAA created Part 103, which exempted ultralight vehicles from registration and pilot certification. EAA, which helped develop and support the rule, says it remains the basis of US ultralight regulations today.<\/p>\r\n<p>The limits are tight: one seat, recreational use only, under 254 pounds empty, no more than five US gallons of fuel, a top speed of 55 knots and a power-off stall speed of no more than 24 knots. We cover the details in <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/far-part-103-ultralight-fly-without-pilot-license\/\">FAR Part 103: The Aircraft You Can Fly With No License<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n<p>Moody's demonstrations helped lead to that rule, EAA says. In 1991 he became the first recipient of the US Ultralight Association's top honour, which bears his name, and in 1999 EAA inducted him into its Ultralight Hall of Fame.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/pzjz1pM4L3E\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n\r\n<p style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;font-style:italic\">John Moody flies an Easy Riser and talks about the early days of ultralight flying.<\/p>\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Fifty Years Later: The Icarus II Comes Home<\/h2>\r\n<p>Moody kept flying long after he left the business, performing a comedy airshow act in an Easy Riser. In 2025 he donated the original Icarus II, the first powered hang glider to fly at Oshkosh, to EAA. Michigan Ultralight Association members Bill Darnell and Don Niles collected it from his home in Florida during SUN 'n FUN 2025.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7\"><div><em>&ldquo;I found John to be highly energetic, full of information, and just a great person to visit with.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Don Niles<\/strong> &mdash; Michigan Ultralight Association, quoted by EAA<\/div><\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n<p>MULA volunteers spent months cleaning, repairing and re-covering the glider to Moody's original specifications. It was displayed in the ultralight area at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2026, marking 50 years since the 1976 demonstration, with Moody in attendance.<\/p>\r\n<p>After the convention, EAA said the Icarus II would move to the EAA Aviation Museum for permanent display, and on 15 October 2026 EAA announced it among six aircraft newly added to the museum&rsquo;s displays.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/FKHiQbUWtBQ\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n\r\n<p style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;font-style:italic\">At AirVenture Oshkosh 2026, John Moody and the restored Icarus II, the aircraft that helped start the ultralight boom 50 years earlier.<\/p>\r\n<p>Every powered paraglider, ultralight trike and Part 103 single-seater flying today traces part of its lineage to a frozen lake in Wisconsin and one pilot who refused to wait for a hill.<\/p>\r\n<p><em>Sources: EAA (Hangar Flying: Rick Hayes, Emme Hornung, Malcolm Brubaker; EAA News), Plane &amp; Pilot \/ Kitplanes (Dan Johnson), Air &amp; Space \/ Smithsonian (Tim Wright), Wikipedia (Powered hang glider; UFM Easy Riser; Taras Kiceniuk Jr.; Ultralight aircraft in the United States)<\/em><\/p>\r\n<!-- mfsh:bottom -->\r\n\r\n<button type=\"button\" class=\"mfsh-trigger mfsh-bottom\" data-mfsh-placement=\"bottom\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><svg><use href=\"#mfsh-i-share\"\/><\/svg>Share this story<\/button>\r\n\r\n<!-- \/mfsh:bottom -->\r\n\r\n<style>.mfq{margin:34px 0 8px}.mfq h2{font:26px\/1.3 \"Gilroy semiBold\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#0d1117;padding-top:22px;margin:0 0 6px}.mfq .qa details{border-top:1px solid #5C91FF;margin:0;padding:0}.mfq .qa details:last-of-type{border-bottom:1px solid #e2e7ee}.mfq .qa summary{cursor:pointer;list-style:none;display:flex;justify-content:space-between;align-items:center;gap:16px;padding:22px 26px;font:18px\/1.7 \"Gilroy semiBold\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#0d1117}.mfq .qa summary::-webkit-details-marker{display:none}.mfq .qa summary::after{content:\"+\";font:24px Helvetica,sans-serif;color:#3568e0;flex:0 0 auto}.mfq .qa details[open] summary::after{content:\"\\2013\"}.mfq .qa details:hover summary{color:#3568e0}.mfq .qa .a{font:16px\/1.7 \"Gilroy regular\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#454e5e;padding:0 26px 24px}.mfq .qa .a a{color:#3568e0}@media(max-width:680px){.mfq .qa summary{padding:18px 14px;font-size:17px}.mfq .qa .a{padding:0 14px 20px}}<\/style>\r\n\r\n\r\n<section class=\"mfq\"><h2>Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2><div class=\"qa\"><details open><summary>Who is John Moody in ultralight aviation?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">John K. Moody is a Wisconsin hang glider pilot widely called the father of modern ultralight aviation. On 15 March 1975 he added a small two-stroke engine to an Icarus II biplane hang glider and foot-launched from a frozen lake. His 1976 demonstration at Oshkosh helped launch the ultralight movement.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>When did John Moody first fly the powered Icarus II?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">John Moody first flew his powered Icarus II on 15 March 1975 from the frozen surface of a lake in Wisconsin, named by EAA as Long Lake. He climbed under power for about 30 minutes, then shut off the engine and soared. The aircraft weighed about 90 pounds.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Who designed the Icarus II hang glider?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">The Icarus II was designed by Taras Kiceniuk Jr., a Southern California hang glider pioneer who began building gliders in 1971 while in high school. It was a rigid biplane flying wing with swept wings and hand-controlled tip rudders. Many copies were built from plans he sold, including the one John Moody powered.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>What engine did John Moody use on the Icarus II?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Sources differ on John Moody's first engine. EAA describes a two-cycle, 12.5-hp McCulloch driving a rear-mounted propeller, while Dan Johnson writes it was a 10-hp West Bend. Wikipedia says a West Bend for the first flight and a McCulloch 101 at Oshkosh in 1976.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>What is the connection between the Icarus II and the UFM Easy Riser?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">The UFM Easy Riser was developed by Larry Mauro from Taras Kiceniuk Jr.'s Icarus II biplane hang glider. Once powered in 1975 it became, according to Wikipedia, the first modern ultralight aircraft. Wheels, a horizontal stabiliser and a tail rudder were added on later versions.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>When did the FAA create Part 103 for ultralights?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">The FAA created Part 103 in 1982 after the late-1970s ultralight boom. It exempts ultralight vehicles from registration and pilot certification. Powered ultralights must have one seat, weigh under 254 pounds empty, carry no more than five US gallons of fuel and fly no faster than 55 knots.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Where is John Moody's Icarus II now?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">John Moody donated his original Icarus II to EAA in 2025. The Michigan Ultralight Association restored it to his original specifications, and it was displayed at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2026 for the 50th anniversary of his 1976 demonstration. In October 2026 EAA announced it had been added to the EAA Aviation Museum displays.<\/div><\/details><\/div><\/section>\r\n\r\n\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"FAQPage\",\"mainEntity\":[{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Who is John Moody in ultralight aviation?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"John K. Moody is a Wisconsin hang glider pilot widely called the father of modern ultralight aviation. On 15 March 1975 he added a small two-stroke engine to an Icarus II biplane hang glider and foot-launched from a frozen lake. His 1976 demonstration at Oshkosh helped launch the ultralight movement.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"When did John Moody first fly the powered Icarus II?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"John Moody first flew his powered Icarus II on 15 March 1975 from the frozen surface of a lake in Wisconsin, named by EAA as Long Lake. 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In October 2026 EAA announced it had been added to the EAA Aviation Museum displays.\"}}]}<\/script><div style=\"background:#f0f4ff;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:16px 20px;margin:32px 0 8px\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-weight:600;color:#333\">Related Posts<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/far-part-103-ultralight-fly-without-pilot-license\/\">FAR Part 103: The Aircraft You Can Fly With No License<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/part-103-ultralight-helicopter-254-pound-weight-limit\/\">Part 103 Ultralight Helicopters: The 254-Pound Problem<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/eaa-airventure-oshkosh-2026-record-attendance-734000\/\">Oshkosh Just Broke Its All-Time Record<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/eaa-aviation-museum-oshkosh-six-new-aircraft-seattle-ii-pby-catalina-2026\/\">EAA Aviation Museum Adds Six Aircraft, From Seattle II to a PBY<\/a><\/p><\/div>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Share this story On 15 March 1975, a hang glider pilot stood on the frozen surface of a Wisconsin lake with a biplane glider on his shoulders and a small two-stroke engine buzzing behind him. There was no hill and no sea breeze to lift him. He opened the throttle, ran, and kept climbing. John [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":28625037,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[665,666],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28626453","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aviation-world","category-history-and-legends"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>John Moody and the Icarus II: Ultralight Origins | MiGFlug<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"John Moody powered an Icarus II hang glider on 15 March 1975 and launched the ultralight movement. 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