That things can go wrong when you maiden an airplane in 10- to 15-mph quartering winds gusting to 25-mph or more with clouds threatening to burst at any moment:

1. The model could blow off its stand before you could even insert the battery.

2. Your spotter/back-up pilot/coach could mutter over and over again, “Are you sure you want to do this? Are you really, really sure?”

3. The model, a taildragger, might swerve uncontrollably into the soy beans.

4. Assuming it survived take-off, your Cub could flounder around the sky like a kite because of its possibly low wing loading, the one thing you forgot to calculate.

5. Your model could stall five feet above the runway because an errant gust blew from behind.

6. You might have to turn the clubhouse upside down to find a trash bag big enough for the pieces.

Thankfully, none of the above happened although the weather was exactly as I described.

The Cub taxied well and responded to the rudder flawlessly during take-off. It took only a few clicks of right aileron to fly straight and level. And landing was drama free. There were only four drops of rain on the wing.

Besides learning that the Flitfire Cub would actually fly, I also discovered that it could handle gusty conditions. While I would have preferred a moderate, steady breeze aligned perfectly with the runway, I came away satisfied with this model’s performance.

Sorry, no pictures. Besides, the model is fairly ugly at this stage, with a white cowl, cloudy windshield, and no markings whatsoever.

From this point on, I’m going to work on detailing the Cub during pauses in other projects. Thank you for following along, and I hope you will check back occasionally for updates.