Hurricane maiden

Since all the modifications were done it’s been an age when conditions and opportunity have coincided to test this new model. During which time I even threw on a bit of paint to help visibility on this prototype ‘white ghost’(all our prototypes are just moulded white for simplicity).

Massive joiner from the Schwing and of course massive spars to go with it!

Maiden flight in westerlies 10mph gusting to 25mph

Stuff of dreams straight out, no drama!

Here probably see one of the mods clearly, it has an extended nose to make radio install a bit less of a squeeze.

It tracks like the proverbial rails! 

Muggy day and glad I splashed on some paint.

Doddle to land with big throws on the brakes

Young Jonathan Wells flew the maiden, yes he did rolling loops!

Can't deny it I was very happy indeed!

Well we had our chance last weekend and weighing in at 1.8kg + 3 slugs of ballast (approx another 250g) it was flung off a local westerly slope in good to moderate conditions with wind speed varying between 10-25mph. The all moving tail had been set to 0-0 with the wing using an incidence meter and proved just perfect. It was twitchy in the roll though, way too much aileron and some expo dialed in during flight. Jonathan Wells, local kid supremo, did the first flight. A few fast passes and soon it was rolling circles and even rolling loops!! CG at 98mm was just about spot on. Dives from height pointing straight down with rolls on the decent and inverted fast passes and it was a struggle to get the Hurricane back off him! The tracking and smoothness of the flight is the first impression. It really grooves but eventually it was wrenched back and I flew it for the most part for the rest of the day. A session practicing EM style turns just catching the turn with a bit of rudder to fly through the exit and it became seriously entertaining. The tranny was passed round and whether it was the super stiffer wing with outsized joiner or not it certainly was a maiden that could not have been any better. It’s a very precise machine and it’s roll rate can be a blink of an eye. For a first mouldy it can be tamed to just carve beautiful shapes in the air. The tracking a joy to watch. Set up as it was it was incredibly acrobatic and a bit too much for one of the older pilots! But hey it’s easy to reduce besides rolling loops are really not in most planes repertoire and this one did it again and again! The prototype as you might expect is a bit on the heavy side but the improved strength and structural changes will be carried through. There doesn’t seem to be anything else we can tinker with.   

I think we are ready to go to production on this!!!