OK, finished my Christen Eagle finally last week. I just ran out of excuses and had to take it out for a test flight today. Weather was nice, and wind was around 10 mph right down the runway (at a full scale airport) so perfect conditions.
I had not started the engine (DA 50), but hoped that this wasn't going to be a problem, and as it turned out it was not. The DA fired after the 5th or 6th flip. It ran just right out of the box. A little on the rich side just as I was hoping. . The Eagle range checked OK with engine running and off. So no more excuses. Oh yeah, but first a couple of pictures of my new baby. Just in case . Take off went just fine. The tail comes up almost immediately. Just I was used too from my GP Pitts. Climbing was no problem and trimming out neither. 2 clicks of left aileron and 2 clicks of down elevator was all she needed. The engine performed well, and it had plenty of power. I didn't wanted to push it, and just snapped her negative a couple of times and did some Knife Edge flight. This is where I was really amazed. KE is so much nicer then with my Pitts. It flew in KE down over the runway by just holding the rudder and some very very minor aileron. No pitch coupling what so ever. Simply perfect. Flew it around a couple more turns and landed. Landing was also a piece of cake and went uneventful. Just keep the power up and you will be fine. As also used to from the Pitts some of the flying wires broke. I will just leave them off in the future. Saves me some headaches.
Unfortunately I couldn't perform a second flight because the filler fuel line touched the muffler and melted []. Oh well, that was all that needs to be fixed. We will be ready for some more fun next weekend.
It is balanced towards the aft recommended CG, and I think that it is just fine. No led necessary to balance. Ignition is mounted on firewall and battery next to the throttle and choke servo under canopy. The Eagle screams for Smoke, but I will add that maybe later once I am completely used to the Eagle.

Here is my setup and a couple of pictures. Hope you like it :

-Engine : DA 50 with Slimline smoke muffler and 2 3/4 red anodized standoffs from Aerografixs.
- Tru Turn Ultimate spinner and Biela 22x10 prop.
-Servos: 4x JR 4735's on ailerons, 3x JR 2721's on elevator and rudder, JR 4131 on throttle and JR 531 on choke.
-JR 649 PCM receiver. Radical RC 6V 2700 NIMH battery on radio and JR 4.8V 1100 mah Nicad on ignition.
- Pilot from litepilots.com
- Ohio Superstar tailwheel
- All CF linkage from Central Hobbies and Aluminum Servo arms from H9.

gREAT!

Sa-Weet!

You put a woman at the controls of a Eagle ... are you nuts ??? ( let the fun begin )

Have a ball ... I'm also looking at this plane for a future project.

Mine is about a week away from flying! Great info. I have the DA also with hitec 5625's all around and Duralite plus batts. Mine is right on the center cg without a pilot or canopy.(still looking for a pilot!)

Congrats........Beautiful airplane and I know you must be thrilled to have the maiden flight behind you. There is just something about the first flight. What a rush. Nice pictures.

I just ordered mine -- to my door by the end of the week.

I'm planning on mounting the Fuji 50SA with the short prop shaft per instructions. I know it won't be as responsive as the DA50 but it should satisfy my needs. (I have an AW X300L Profile with a Moki 180 to satisfy my 3D needs.)

I haven't made my flight pack decision yet. I usually go with the Hitec 5600 digital servos for 1/4-scale airplanes. According to the instructions this plane only needs hi-torgue in the rudder. Based on that I'm contemplating (6) Hitec HS-5475HB servos for the airlons and elevator and (1) Hitec HS-5975HB for the rudder. Throttle and, if used, engine kill will be standard servos. MPI Miracle switch/voltage regulator and a NIMH 3500 battery will finish her off. Since the engine is a magneto/electronic I don't need an ignition battery.

Since the flying wires are not functional, and I'm not planning on submitting this bird to a scale contest, I will leave them off. I will make the decision about the tail wheel and spinner for when I get the kit. I like your choice of pilot and will look into litepilots.com.

Texas 3D,
Nice Pics. I like your spinner choice. I went with the 4" Tru Turn P51 spinner, but I have the Ultimate also. Maybe I'll throw it on......
I , too, was amazed at how well this thing knife edges. Its a great ship!

Yeah, I think my Eagle is going to see a lot of air time. Anybody knows why the KE is better then with the Pitts ? I thought they where basically the same ships. Could it have to do something with the incidence ? The incidence on my Eagle was right on. At least according to the Robart incidence meter. 0 degrees on lower wing and -0.5 on the upper.
Has anybody experimented with the throws ? Mine so far are set as per instructions, but I might go a little higher on high rates. Let's see if we can get this baby to do a couple of 3D maneuvers. Some nice waterfalls woud be nice. Maybe a blender. Well, first will have to see how this thing flat spins.
Oh yeah, I have my GP Pitts for sale in the marketplace btw. RTF with radio and engine. Check it out.

I increased elevator throw until it would snap at full throw. I've got to get the CG back a bit more before anything else. Mine has a G62 in it and came out a bit nose heavy.
I'll bet it will do a nice blender though, once the Cg is right.