RE: Viper500 Tips Before I maiden it ?
Viper 500 full report....
Yes it flies, and it flies very well. Does have some interesting issues to resolve however.
New carb on the TT Pro .40 and she runs very good. I did my flights this past Sunday with the mixture a little fat. I am going to creep up on it, I don't want to lean it too much and hurt it.
It unloads just fine with 8.8" x 9.0" APC. I'd venture to guess that on it's 2nd flight after leaning her a little, it's running north of 100mph at this point and there is much fine tuning to go. Would like to get it on the gun and see for real.
Now the oddities. I have 3 rate settings on almost every plane. I have Low, High & HolyCrap nothing else works so I need all the throw I can get. I Take off on High Rate per the manual. No issues there. Climb out start gaining speed and flip it low rates and the nose drops and she starts downward! I was obviously caught off guard. So I flip it back to high and the nose comes back up and she flies level. So I decide to investigate further. I flip it up to Holy Crap and the nose instantly points upward and up she goes!
I have never seen trim changes when changing rates! This is something i will certainly look further into.
All in All, good flying airplane, pretty darn fast for the $$$ investment and while it does take a little creative planning to land nicely due to it's glide ratio it's a good sport plane. Inside loops, outside loops, rolls, spilt-s, immelman, and all the rest are pretty safe and easy. Doesn't have enough rudder authority to stall turn or spin, but that's okay I have plenty of ships that will perform those moves.
Now we go after more speed!