ORIGINAL: Shok
Bryce, how does it handle compared to a regular F-16?
Ronnie,
This jet was extremely stable and well designed, it had a huge flight envelope and could hover with the CG moved properly. It was also very, very fast. It had no bad tendencies and slowed right down and "set up" for landing especially with the speed brakes out. The biggest difference I noticed between the Lavi and the
F-16 was that a lot of F-16's tend to be a bit pitch sensitive at slow speeds especially entering ground effect if your speed is not just right. The Lavi did not display any of these characteristics, it would just slow down while you raised the nose a bit then "check" the attitude and it would stay there, very nice. It also had two very interesting features, the engine was located all the way in the back with virtually no tail pipe and there was no bypass or dedicated inlet to the engine. It just got the air from where ever it could.(And it still hauled ***.) Mine had a P-120 in it and if I remember correctly it weighed 31 lbs. After FJ I needed a canopy glass and Mr. Dehn was very prompt about getting it to me..............excellent response time his part! I eventually sold the Lavi to a gentleman who now has it as part of his collection. (Pretty much like the fullsize which is in an outdoor museum in Israel.) I regretted getting rid of it because it was one of those jets, that was solid and flew beautifully. But, at least it has a nice home.
Bryce
Here are some pictures.