on pure ethanol supplied by the magazine. The flight from coast to coast was one of the longest trips of the period and garnered much attention for the start-up company. Limited production of the version flown to Oshkosh started in the fall of 1979. The model was called the Pterodactyl Pfledge OR (Oshkosh Replica) and was powered by a Sachs SA-340 336 cc direct drive two-stroke engine. Construction of all Pterodactyl aircraft was predominantly of anodized 6061-T6 aluminum tubing, braced with swaged steel cables supported by a king post and with a sewn Dacron sail for wing covering. Fittings to join the tubing were either extruded or made from sheet and bolted together. The company was moved in 1980 from Monterey to a new facility co-located with the Seventh-day Adventist Monterey Bay Academy at Watsonville, California, and series production of the Pfledge was commenced. The new location was ideal as it included access to the Monterey Bay Academy Airport. The design went through a series of evolutionary improvements, mostly involving the powerplants installed and these resulted in a number of different models. Pterodactyl production commenced in 1979 and was completed in 1984, when the company was sold to a group of partners under the name "Freedom Fliers" and moved to Rowlett, Texas. The company quickly went out of business, and few aircraft were completed. McCornack was never paid for the sale of the company. A total of 1,396 aircraft were built by Pterodactyl. DFE Ultralights In 1991 one of McCornack's original dealers from 1978, Dave Froble, started producing parts to keep his own fleet of Pterodactyls flying. He located and purchased the old stock of Manta Products airframe parts and produced CAD drawings for the complete parts. In 1992 Froble started making parts available and later offered kits for complete aircraft in three models under the company name DFE Ultralights (Dave Froble Enterprises). These were very similar to the original Pfledge and Ascender series and were named Ascender III, with letters to designate the various models. DFE Ultralights has produced a small number of complete kits and continues to support the fleet of existing aircraft with parts to keep them flying. Operational history In the USA the single seat Pterodactyl models are flown as ultralights under FAR 103, whereas the two seat models are usually registered as experimental amateur-builts. In Canada all Pterodactyls are classified as Basic Ultra-lights. Pterodactyls have