Since I've been flying this plane for one year now, I figure this is a good time for an update. Especially since the Bluejay kit is available once again.

I just got home from the field and made something like 10 - 12 flights today. This plane is fantastic! It's the only thing I take to the field any more.

I flew the DB balanced according to the plans and with no mixing for better than 6 months. Finally I moved the CG aft a little to improve the down lines. Balanced per the plans, it had a very slight tendency to pull out in vertical dives. I added tail weight until the down lines were true. This took an aditional 1 1/2 oz. Snaps and spins improved with the CG adjustment. But with the new CG, the plane doesn't like to sit on the nose wheel with the tank empty. If I built another, I'd probably move the main wheel blocks aft about 1/4" or so. But I've always liked my planes a little on the tail heavy side.

I know I balanced the wings during construction but I've also got over an ounce of lead on the left wing tip to make the roll trim match upright and inverted. Some of it may be due to the muffler but I guess mostly I didn't balance it very well. Oh well, so I've got some lead stuck to the bottom of the wing tip where I never see it anyway. The plane trims out perfectly, who cares!

Knife edge has always been good but lately I've been working on some mixing to tweak the very minimal cross coupling. The plane had a little bit of roll to inverted and a very slight push to the belly on knife edge. Nothing that couldn't be managed easily but the mixes are really nice. I tweaked my mixes again today and I've currently got 4% rudder mixed to ailerons and 2% rudder mixed to up elevator. This puts the knife edge just about spot on. Knife edge clear across the field rarely requires anything but rudder. I think on the times that I do need to bump the ailerons, I probably didn't set up the pass correctly. Best of all, point rolls are ruler straight.

Engine thrust line is set exactly per plans and pulls to vertical are perfectly true. I haven't shimmed the thrust line since it came off the building board.

I built mine with fixed gear. Retracts would have been cool but this is just a knock around sport plane for me and it fits the bill perfectly.

While the Magnum .65 wasn't the engine I wanted to put in this plane, the cost (FREE!) was just right. After flying for a year, I've never once been disappointed with the performance of this engine in the DB. Maneuvers are just as big as you want them to be with no tendency to fall off at the top of huge loops or vertical lines. Square loops track accurately even in the up to top corner. So there's plenty of pull and plenty of speed. If a (new) 18 year old Magnum .65 will pull this plane this well, I'd say any modern .60 class engine would be fine. And if you can get one a little lighter than the Magnum, so much the better, I needed 2 1/2 ounces of lead on the tail and the battery mounted in the aft of the plane, just in forward of the subfin just to get the CG to the location on the plans. With a .60 class engine flying the plane for all it's worth, I'd be leery of using a larger engine. You'll really be packing the lead on the tail and the upping the overall weight.

So my impression after 1 year of flying? I love this plane! And the only thing I'd change is the main gear location as mentioned.

Oh, if you're thinking of building one, and you should, do see my notes in the first post about drilling the wing dowel holes after setting the wing incidence.