The MX was created from the weight shift to please the people used to flying airplanes. It has a rudder and an elevator for primary controls. Spoilers are also available but are not needed for normal flight.

With the high dihedral of the weight shift retained in the MX, the MX flys very well with just rudder and elevator. Having taught in a two-place MX for over ten years, I've seen several pilots that flew for quite a while and after getting comfortable, started looking around at the control surfaces. More than a few actually panicked when they discovered that the stick didn't connect to any ailerons.

Modifications to this sturdily-built ultralight abound. Most are not terribly expensive and create a much more flyable plane. Recommended changes would be lower tail tubes and the tapered stabilizer. Both of these are available in UPS shipable kit form and install without major modifications.

There are several changes that make the plane more comfortable to fly. I've found over the years that rarely did I run into the standard FAA pilot , that being 175 pounds and 5 ft- 11 in. Most were 200 lbs and over with much wider seat requirements than the MX offered as standard. To this end we've developed the Big Man Bar, a wide seat with matching cover and even a modification to the side mounted stick converting it to either a bent stick or a airplane style yoke.

The MX has a certain charm about it either in its simplicity or ease of flying it. In either case we've developed a whole series of add-ons, wheel pants, pilot fairings, custom sail combinations with windows as an option and custom colored seat covers.

To obtain better performance, we've got wing mods, ie, clipped wing sail sets, double batten sail sets, lowered dihedral wire sets, ailerons conversions, rudder brace wire kits, large prop conversion kits utilizing the belt drive set-up or advanced redrive systems featuring top mounted motors with gear boxes, underneath mounted motors with gear boxes or the latest drive system with a right-side-up motor mount which is even with the top of the sail providing a drag - free installation.

Just a word on value. Any changes added to a plane must be considered against the value of the plane when eventually sold. New sails are an excellent value and raise the value about as much as the sail set costs or slightly more. Clipping the wings is free with a new sail set but doubling the number of battens will cost $125 plus the battens.

Lowering the dihedral provides much better flight characteristics and having new wires top and bottom gives people ( and me ) a comforting feeling. They cost $375 or so and will return their cost at sale time. Wheel pants and pilot fairings pretty up the plane and will return a high percentage of their costs.

Engine changes offer excellent opportunities to raise the value of the plane especially if the motor is the Cuyuna. A Rotax will raise the saleability of a plane and if a 503 Rotax, possibly performance also.

Making motor changes will not always add to the value since other MX's will offer serious price competition. The big prop kit will cost over a thousand dollars and will return only about half of that at sale time. A new 503 will cost over two thousand dollars and return little more than a used 503.