jbloom

Well, the maiden flight when great! Today was slightly breezy, pointing the plane into the wind and advancing the throttle brought the tail up almost immediately. A take off run of about 15 feet and she was up. No surprises as she climbed out strong. I gave it two clicks right aileron, and three clicks down elevator and she was straight and level. I made a note to self to add about 25% negative exponential, that elevator was really sensitive. The rolls are quick and on the mark, no straying from course. Inverted flight required only a breath of down elevator to hold altitude. The knife edge was a bit more tricky. The plane wants to veer towards the wheels when rudder is applied. However, a little practice and it was holding fine. At one point, with the throttle at full and the rudder at full, I did a half knife edge loop. The Super Tigre .90 is plenty of engine for this plane, and the rudder carries a lot of authority. The standard cuban eights, split-S's, loops and rolls are on the money, with only a slight straying to the left when doing a full power verticle climb.

Landing are nearly effortless. Wings level and let it settle down. Anyone at our field, young and old could have out run that plane as it settled down to the runway. In short, it was a great day of flying.

Here are a few pics from the day.