My name is Brett Tossell.  I'm a pilot by trade, and a maker at heart.

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I love aviation - especially the freedom of flying - but it's expensive - believe me, as I've I owned multiple aircraft, and managed over $100 Million in jets for private clients.

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Model aircraft, and especially FPV are a great way to get people interested in aviation, and I feel an essential part of that journey is building.  When building your own planes, you get an understanding for what goes into a good design, and often come up with ideas to make improvements.  Nobody knows an airplane better than the dude who built it.

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Radio Controlled aircraft, FPV and autonomous aircraft always appealed to my inner nerd, but most kits are expensive, and when I first started out - I was crashing a lot - so I needed to find a less expensive way.  I paid my dues starting off, first with balsa and monkote builds that crashed too quickly, then onto kits of hot wired foam wings and rain gutter fuselages hoping for better durability.  I still managed to destroy them.  Later it was foam kits from overseas - and they flew well - but proprietary parts limited spares limited their lifespan.  When they crashed - I salvaged the electronics, and the rest went in the bin.  

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I needed a way to build my own stuff - and that led me to foamboard.

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As a lifelong maker - I had a garage full of tools, 3d printers, a laser cutter, and a TLAR knowledge of aircraft design gleaned from having spent decades in the aviation industry - so I set about making my own planes with the salvaged components of my previous crashes.

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It only took a hundred revisions or so - but I managed to make my first Useful Aircraft.  That first airplane was a monstrosity of a pusher - a plane I lovingly called the "Drag Queen" - and it flew.  It was a simple pusher - high wing, box fuselage with a conventional elevator.  It was easy to build, and it could handle a payload - so naturally it evolved first into an FPV platform, and then later incorporated a flight controller and GPS.  While it wasn't the most efficient (or quiet) plane in the sky - it flew predictably and reliably.

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Over the years, my designs grew and changed to suit my needs, wandering eye, and lusts of the month.  Pushers, tractors, singles, twins, VTOL's, dropping things, attaching things, flaps, slats, slots, spoilers, speedbrakes, VG's - you name it.  If I could 3d print it, or fabricate it somehow - I sent it.

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Other folks liked my designs.  Students, teachers, and more than a few Aerospace Engineers built and flew my planes to learn, experiment and play.  Slowly - I found myself quietly shipping kits and plans - with the intent to subsidize my costs.  Well, that ship has sailed - I've spent far more than I'll ever make on tools, materials, computers, 3d printers, laser cutters, and whatnot... but I enjoy the process nonetheless. 

 

This is not a full time venture for me - just something fun in down time.  I still fly for a living, and love doing so.  But every time I fly, I always see things in those planes I'd love to change, and love to do different - my head spinning back into my models.

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And that's what got me to where I am now.  My design style has evolved to the most capable, yet simple to build aircraft.

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Useful Aircraft.