We had 63 F in NJ today. The rain never really showed up although some wind did!

The OS 61 started up easily and one tank of fuel had the engine running reliably and with a good idle. The wind was so strong that it weather-vaned the Panic immediately upon thottle application.

At 1/4 throttle she left the ground in about 2 yards. She flew easily and felt as comfortable as an old glove. I had PANICs in the UK back in the late 70's I think. Then in the 80's in MA. One even flew in the 1985 Westover Nat's as a last ditch substitute for a lost pattern plane. The last one had an ENYA R-120 on the front. The nose was shortened by 3" to get a good CG. (No nose fwd of the cabane.)

Tried all the rates and a couple of spins. I could not count the rolls on high rate. Most of the flying was devoted to dailing in some auto-elevator trim for flap and for Bi-plane-crow. I used trim knobs mixed to the elevator and controlled by the flap and landing switches. Once dialed-in, the elevator settings were measured and then permanently mixed to the flaps etc.

The top flap needed about 1/4" of down trim on the elevator. The Bi-plane-crow actually needed some auto-up-trim!

Landings were very slow and two crosswind "arrivals" were enough to call it a day. Monday looks less windy.... then we'll have some fun

Regarsds,

Eric.