After a lot of time in the shop, I maidened my Hangar 9 Pulse 125 XT a little over a week ago.


Copyright Simon Nadler 2012

It was a hairy experience with high winds, a heavy nose, too much elevator throw and not enough control expo - but I did get it down in one piece. I declined to fly it again at the time, mostly because of the wind - partly because I narrowly avoided soiling myself the first time around and I didn't want to take the chance again.

This past Saturday I was out again. Once again the winds were up, though not as much. From the first flight it was like night and day - the Pulse handled beautifully and was an absolute joy to fly. It's incredibly responsive and performs basic aerobatics with ease.

I'm still getting used to the handling characteristics on the ground - this is my first tail dragger - and during takeoff and landing. On the first landing of the day a prop strike broke the prop. On the second landing I had another prop strike but no damage to the prop. The third was a greaser and the fourth was good, though in both cases the plane flipped up and struck the prop when taxiing back downwind. I think there's still a little weight to be removed from the nose.

Hopefully I'll catch Simon and his 100-400mm zoom lens at the field soon for some in-flight shots. I can't wait to fly this puppy again.