kneeforu

Maiden Flight Report

Engine OS .55 two stroke, 12x6 prop

Took a couple of weeks of on and off again building and the plane came together very well. No surprises with the build. The covering was the best ARF I have had so far. Not one wrinkle. Everything looked good and balanced out with the battery about 2 inches short of being all the way in the nose.

Set the rates as described in the manual, then set the low rates at about -25%. Exponential of -35%.

Taxi was easy. Virtually no wind tonight.

Take off was slightly harder than anticipated. You have to use aileron to get the wings level as you gain speed. Once the wings are level and you have good speed, the plane lifts well with a little ripple on the water. The last flight the lake had calmed completely down and was like glass. It was hard to get the plane to break the seal of the water, even with the additions on the bottom of the hull. Like the manual said, those hull lifters are a must.

Once in the air, took a couple of clicks of right and a couple clicks of up, and the plane flew very true. No problems.

Aileron rolls were nice rate, loops no problem, did a hammer head stall turn with no problem however when the nose came around the plane wanted to go slightly inverted most likely due to the engine being mounted above the center line of the plane.

Now for the fun part... landings. It was a dream. I had a plane with floats and compared to that, this is so easy. All flights tonight landed exactly the same. Just a slight bounce, more like a skip and then the plane settled and on the water and coasted to a beautiful gliding stop. No issues what so ever with landing.

I didn't do anything special with the wing saddle and I had no water issues in the hull after 3 consecutive flights tonight.

Great flying plane, looks great in the air at the lake, and a dream to land. Take offs are just a little harder than anticipated with needing to control wing level and make sure to get plenty of speed to break free of the water.

Really fun!!!!!