Those who attempted to copy and duplicate Quicksilvers have mostly faded away but some enterprises (see at bottom) built a business out of supplying parts and components that Quicksilver itself never offered.
One of the most successful of these is 
"Now that I think I've got it perfected," Andy expressed, "we're going to start production on this in 2021."
Falcon has a lot of components so it will be more expensive. "Yes," Andy agreed, "it will be a little higher priced aircraft — it takes a lot of time to assemble — but it will fly like a Quicksilver, so those pilots who want to fly faster now have a choice."
A Quicksilver-type design like the standard "Smithsilvers" that Tri-State makes from scratch typically cruise 40-60 mph where Falcon is as much as 50% faster.
"Yes, this will be a little higher-priced aircraft," Andy observed, "and it must be built as an Experimental Amateur Built." Let's put it in perspective, noting that all prices mentioned below are subject to change.
A standard single place Smithsilver by Tri-State Kite Sales assembled for fly away costs about $28,000, said Andy. A two-place with all the extras gets into the high $40,000s and Falcon with a 
Mark Smith founded the company in the late 1970s and formally organized in 1981. In those 40 years, Tri-State has delivered more than 200 complete aircraft and an uncounted number of aircraft served with replacement parts or Tri-State accessories from fiberglass nose pods to new wing covers and everything in between.
Of all these, Falcon may be the most advanced and sophisticated. It may look like a simple Quicksilver or a Tri-State Smithsilver but Falcon is a step beyond on many ways, for example, creature comforts.
Falcon has a full enclosure, front to back, and even has cabin heat. "I tested this down to 17 degrees ambient temperature, and you can stay about 70 degrees inside the cockpit." While the snow swirls around Tri-State and much of the country, that climate control sounds inviting.
Cross country flying is one of the stated purposes. How fast can Falcon fly?
"I can hit 93 miles an hour," exclaimed Andy, "and cruise is a solid 80 mph." For those unfamiliar with a standard Quicksilver or Smithsilver, that's a substantial increase, more than 20 miles an hour faster on average.
As a nearby image shows, the Rotax 503 engine is nestled down in the aft wing center section because Andy wanted to lower the thrust line to a more neutral position. This means the dual-carb Rotax 503 and its 50 horses push the airplane forwards with less pitch influence, which is a significant part of how it can achieve higher speeds.
"Falcon's standard instrument panel has all your flight information," explained Andy, "while all the engine instrumentation is housed on the right vertical support strut. Above your head are all the electric switches for electric flaps, ignition switches and lighting controls."
Unlike every Quicksilver or Smithsilver, Falcon has a control yoke as does Quicksilver's GT500 and GT400 models. However, unlike those Quicksilver models, this yoke has been configured specially to make entry much easier.
Falcon has a door that props open but when I looked at, I thought entry looked rather challenging. What I missed were the steps Andy took in designing a yoke that neatly folds out of the way. When so retracted, entering Falcon looks easy.
Once in place you pull the yoke back toward you and it latches securely into position. With details like this, no wonder Any spent years getting Falcon right on paper and three more to get the pieces and parts in the right place.
Falcon's cabin even has a hat rack …or in this case, a headset rack as that's what Andy puts in this location.
Andy referred to the current one as a "nostalgia website" because it holds extensive commentaries written by Mark Smith, the patriarch of Tri-State. His words make a fun, and historic, read but what the vintage website does not do is provide clear navigation to the various aircraft models and component parts or assemblies that Tri-State builds. The new website will address these shortcomings while hopefully keeping all Mark's original musings.
Until the new website is finished, visit 
One of the most successful airplane designs of all time is the Quicksilver. Van’s Aircraft of RV fame has delivered more kits, yet with 10,869 RVs presently flying, Quicksilver still remains far ahead with more than 15,000 flying. Naturally, such market success spawned other builders. Those who attempted to copy and duplicate Quicksilvers have mostly faded away but some enterprises (see at bottom) built a business out of supplying parts and components that Quicksilver itself never offered. One of the most successful of these is Tri-State Kite Sales, based in Mt. Vernon, Indiana — and no, not Mt. Vernon, Illinois where the Midwest LSA Expo is held every September. Andy Alldredge started his Falcon project 18 years ago when he was a lad of 20. The airplane looked good enough that I thought it was something new but, nope. This is a well flown aircraft that has been well maintained.
With more than 15,000 flying, it even outranks Van's Aircraft for kit aircraft that made it into the air — although Van's has sold more kits in total and no one disputes the Western brand's leadership position.
The earliest Quicksilvers were hang gliders (last photo). Engines came later but at first the weight-shift seat stayed (nearby image). The pilot had lateral control — still by weight shift — but via lines that moved surfaces. Pitch, however, was fully controlled by the pilot moving his or her body.
Those were fun days and provided wonderful memories (yes, I flew them as weight-shift aircraft). Yet the brand went on to vastly greater development. In this article, our focus is on the original three-axis control model, the oh-so-famous MX (multiple axis).
The MX model abandoned the weight shift idea — this was too foreign to lots of potential customers. Instead, it used stick-and-rudder two-axis controls, but with a difference. The joystick connected to the elevator and rudder while the rudder pedals were connected to spoilerons on top of the wing.
