ENGINEER DESIGNS WHEELCHAIR COSTING LESS THAN $50
Don's (Don Schoendorfer - FWM President & CEO) approach to this design was to use components that are manufactured in high volume for other products. By this method, we enjoy a low piece price cost. He removed every extra feature possible, ending up with the least expensive design that will satisfy a large portion of the world's need for wheelchairs. This wheelchair design lends itself to manufacture by highly efficient companies where assembly costs are relatively low.

A LAWNCHAIR?
For a wheelchair you need a chair. He selected the least expensive chair he could find - a molded plastic patio chair. Perfect! It's waterproof. It's durable. It's comfortable to sit in for long periods. It's washable. It's made in many countries. You can drill holes in the arms and legs so it can be mounted on the frame.

MOUNTAIN BIKE WHEELS - A GOOD FIT! A wheelchair needs wheels. He selected 24 inch bicycle wheels. For added durability he selected bicycle tires made for mountain bikes. The difference between the ones we use and those on millions of bikes made around the world is a special wheelchair hub. Ours is considerably stronger. The mountain bike tires allow our chair to transverse rocky, uneven, and even muddy terrain that would be impossible in a regular wheelchair. We are frequently asked about using inflatable instead of hard tires. Inflatable tires allow movement over terrain that would be impossible with a hard tire. There is almost no place on earth where the tools to repair a flat tire aren't available.

HUNT FOR FRONT WHEELS SUCCESSFUL
You need castors for the front legs. Don found 8 inch diameter castors that are inexpensive but rugged enough for this wheelchair.

GONZO HELPS PUT IT ALL TOGETHER
For a wheelchair you need a frame. We started with steel conduit because he could bend it himself. Once we got something close, Don took it to a steel fabrication company in Los Angeles called Mark IV Metal Products.                               (www.markivmetal.com).

There Gonzo Viana used his creativity and his years of experience to turn his crude design into something that could be mass-produced. The bends in the single piece frame follow the contours of the molded plastic chair. At the same time, the frame is something that can be made relatively inexpensively.

VOILA!
These parts, plus a simple footrest, a few dozen nuts and bolts and miscellaneous pieces is all that it takes to make one wheelchair. Another benefit from this design is standardization. There are relatively few parts, so there is little to stock for repair.

CHAIR AND SHIPPING TO DEVELOPING COUNTRY UNDER $50
The plan was to ship the wheelchair in a kit - for two reasons. One reason is that they take up less space that way. We can pack 550 kits in a standard 40 foot container. The second reason is that in most countries the labor to assemble a kit will be very low. With little training, someone who is good with his or her hands can make three wheelchairs in one hour.

ASSEMBLY IS DONE ONSITE AFTER DELIVERY
Don made assembly instructions with photographs so someone who cannot read English can learn to assemble these kits. We supply an assembly tool kit (5 simple wrenches and one air pump) with every 20 wheelchair kits.

We verified that volunteers in developing countries can easily manage wheelchair assembly. We shipped 43 wheelchairs in kit form to Luanda, Angola. Our assembly team consisted of 16 young Angolan volunteers using simple hand tools.

Readers Digest Article tells about Don's struggle to make it happen.

New Wheelchair Design
After seeing thousands of chairs in action,
Don has made some revisions to the original chair.
The changes seen above were made in 2004.
Below is a picture of the wheelchair being tested.

Wheelchair Being Tested (above)

Assembling in Iraq (above)

2004 was such a year of celebration for Free Wheelchair Mission. One of the main reasons was because we found a new wheelchair supplier and they've made upgrades to the wheelchair. It is more effective and comfortable for a larger number of users. Among the improved design features are side panels placed alongside the seat of the wheelchair, giving more protection from anything thrown up from the ground by the movement of the chair. The wheel has been fitted with a hand-rim to make the propelling of the chair easier and cleaner; the footrest has been repositioned for easier entry into the chair and more comfort while in the chair, the brakes are better, and the axle is larger, creating more strength and durability and propulsion once the chair is set in motion. The wheelchair is still relatively lightweight and is now more rugged and suitable to the locations where it's being utilized. The most exciting part about these new features is that they do not cost more and we can still deliver a chair for under $50. It will ALSO include a bicycle tire pump and a couple of tire patches . Isn't it astounding that God would lead us to a new manufacturer with an innovative approach to our design needs?

Wheelchair Distribution Cycle
See how the chairs get from the factory to the field.

See the parts used to make a wheelchair