Smoke Stack

...and nearly a Walrus stack as well

I did some flying this morning at the field down the road - a heavily overcast morning with a breeze coming in from the South.

The Walrus's prop pulling off is happily already a distant memory, with several launches and a fair bit of powered flight without so much as a hiccup. Here's holding thumbs it stays that way. As always the Walrus launched with ease and really is so stable to fly that it always makes for a very relaxing outings.  

Having done a few circuits of the field I headed off to the north and overflew the old brick factory, with its landmark smokestack rising a hundred feet or so. I ambled the Walrus around and then headed back to the field for a bit more aerobatics and general flying around.

It wasn't until later when I was having a look at the video that I realised how close the Walrus had come to the stack - its left wing had literally shaved past the huge brick stack.

A few inches closer and I'd had spent the morning scaling fences trying to retrieve the remains of Wally...

Motor Shaft Fixed

...and the Walrus flies again

I wasn't too sure of fixing the Walrus motor, although I had read that replacing bent shafts appeared to be common enough, so re-securing the shaft in the motor shouldn't be too hard. However The circlip really didn't inspire too much confidence.

As it turned out I couldn't get an 3mm external circlip anyway, but what I did get I think is better, although it required a little modification to the motor mount. The external locking ring has almost full engagement around the shaft and I really can't see that coming loose, unlike the sad little circlip (which I found hiding in the fuselage).

The only problem is the outer diameter (10mm) is much larger than the circlip, so the hole in the bulkhead had to be increased from the original 8mm to about 12mm, which I did with a round file.

Having re-assembled the motor and done a brief power test (happily the prop didn't fly off) I checked the weather then dashed off to the field with the Walrus for a fly before the rain came returned...

An Action-Packed Morning

...never a dull moment

It was another lovely calm morning so I packed the Radjet and Walrus and headed to the field. Having got to a manageable skill level with the Radjet I was looking forward to getting some good airtime to explore capabilities and responses. And I got just that, plus a little more than I expected.

As said before, the little jet flies beautifully and it's speed is now not so intimidating with a little better understanding. It climbs without bound, rolls well and does beautiful loops. I did encounter something completely unexpected - a flat spin. As often with the gliders I put the Radjet into a vertical stall, expecting it to flop over and continue flying. Well, it did flop over but into a flat spin. And, like a Tomcat, I've discovered the Radjet doesn't recover from it - don't do it.

The best I could manage was elevator and opposite aileron which helped to slow the spin so that the Radjet sort of fluttered to the ground. Landing in longer grass the damage was limited to the tip of the nose coming off, again. This time I couldn't recover it, but it flies well enough without it!

I was about to pack up the Radjet when I had an urge to do a bit more launch practice, that being the a little nerve-wracking as it usually rolls and dips to the left, requiring quick correction to keep it off the deck. On my second launch the Radjet climbed steeply so, to avoid another flat-spin scenario like earlier, I let it drop until the speed was well up before I started to level it out heading back towards the field. 

Unfortunately its trajectory coincided exactly with a goal post, so its swift progress was suddenly reduced to a burst of parts. It didn't look pretty, however putting on the wing and aileron should be fairly easy, however restoring the dented leading edge will take some doing, if at all.

I returned to the car for old faithful, the Walrus, for a bit of post-traumatic stress therapy. The Walrus is great because you can launch it at almost any power and it just cruises up. Well, this morning I flipped up a little more throttle to get it buzzing right up. 

Unfortunately, and most unexpectedly, the prop pulled off the front and the Walrus turned into a real glider for a second or two. As it turns out the circlip retaining the motor shaft got a little tired and went to lay down in the back of the fuselage.

So a little work to be done at home so I've got something decent to fly. Odds are on the Radjet, just hopefully it doesn't get crashed again as it's running out of lives...

Radjet Takes to the Skies

...and flies beautifully

This morning was absolutely perfect, with cool, calm and sunny conditions prompting me to pack the recently refurbished Radjet. Having previously established it was flying stably, before it ploughed into the paddocks on its next ill-fated flight, I was looking forward to having an enjoyable flight with it.

Despite it's now very battered appearance, the little propjet flew beautifully - as stable as you could wish but still very manoeuvrable. I'm still adjusting to the "bank and yank controls", sometimes finding myself wondering why it isn't turning after I've put it into a bank. However it flies so well now that small pilot delays are accommodated without disaster. Orientation miscues, like looping down instead of pulling up, are likewise rectified by the quick responses of its aerobatic nature.

The last surprise is how well it now glides. Coming into land with power off and full elevator, it floats along as if it were a glider and lands with as much elegance as you could expect from anything.

I'm still a long way from mastering this little firebrand simply because it's so much faster than anything else I've flown and I need time to adjust - the flight this morning was at no more than half throttle. I've also experienced some difficulties in picking orientation which is a little worrisome, although I think it's mainly as it's been getting a bit too far away ("why isn't it turning?").

So I'm looking forward to exploring it's capabilities of the Radjet, hopefully without further damage. And, when the nerves are a bit shot from high-speed manoeuvres, there's always the dependable Walrus to take for a relaxing fly...

Radjet on the Mend

...and hopefully flying soon

Well, the routine maintenance on the Radjet is progressing well, with the nose re-attached as well as the wingtip, which got ripped off as well. The nose will need additional work, however it is at least attached and reasonably well aligned, which is a step in the right direction.

It will probably be a couple of days before it gets in the air again, enough time to make sure the glue has fully cured. 

However, I am confident based on the brief flights this morning that the Radjet's balance issues have been resolved and that it is now quite manageable to fly, as well as capable of impressive turns of speed as well as being highly manoeuvrable.

Here's looking forward to the next test flight...

Radjet Success

...followed shortly by misfortune

After completion of the now-routine crash repairs, the Radjet was up for its first flight with all mass balance mods completed, giving it the best possible chance of flying decently.

A gentle westerly was blowing as I launched the Radjet on max power, helping it climb quickly into the overcast sky. Happily, I soon discovered that the Radjet was now flying much better, although I still had it blasting around the skies of full throttle as I was still concerned about it losing lift and stalling. However, after a few heart-stopping episodes, I managed to calm the beast down and bring it in nicely for a good landing.

Reflecting on the flight I realised that, with it's improved flight characteristics, I no longer needed to be flying it at full pelt just to keep it in the air, so I decided to give it another go at a more moderate pace. Finally an opportunity to experience how the Radjet should fly...

Which, I can tell you, is really very well. It's stable, fast and responsive, with a super-high snap roll rate with just a flick of aileron. Also, its now docile enough to be able to fly around at moderate throttle settings. So all good except that, as I made a circuit of the field, the Radjet passed behind one of the trees. Now this is a common enough occurrence that has happened frequently with the gliders. But this wasn't a stable-flying glider...

After a second with still no sign of the little plane I ran to the fence for a better view, occasionally feeding a bit of elevator in the hope keep the plane from crashing. As I stared across the paddocks hoping to catch a glimpse of the Radjet in flight it was as if the plane had vanished into another dimension. It had just disappeared!

Not for the first time I climbed through the barbed-wire fence and went walkabout in the paddock. The cattle had fortunately gathered to graze at the far end so there was no trouble from them, and I greeted the curious observations of the kangaroos with a friendly hello.

After tramping through the swamp and up and then down the hill, I finally spotted a small orange fin of Radjet sticking above the grass. I hoped that gliding down without power it had managed to land without incident, however on reaching the plane it was clear this was unfortunately not the case: the nose was almost completely ripped off and the fuselage splayed open. In fact it exhibited the classic "peeled banana" look as if there had been an explosion in the cockpit.

Still, at least it would be repairable with the usual suspects, super glue and fibre tape...

Radjet Ready & Camera Card

...but not necessarily together

The Radjet is now glued together again and ready for another fly. This morning would definitely have been too breezy for the little craft, however I'm keen to get it into the air again for a bit more high-speed fun.

As far as mass-balance is concerned, I'm now packaging the receiver into the fuselage as well after the battery, and I've put a couple of screws in the rearmost section of the fuselage so as to get the maximum counterbalance for the minimum weight, and without disrupting the airflow.

I have also received the new micro SD card for the wing cam, a class 10 U1 speed rating. I'm not sure that the U1 rating will do much in this application as I gather it's some sort of software driven feature aimed at mobile devices.

 Anyway, it won't do any harm. I'd love to put the camera on the Radjet however, considering its delicate balance and propensity for crashing, I think we'll reserve on-board video for the Walrus and Floater Jet...

Breezy Morning

...but still good to fly

The treetops waving indicated the chances of getting some flying in weren't good, but it turned out that the breeze, although reasonably strong, was actually pretty smooth so the Walrus was unpacked rapidly and sent powering quickly up into the sky.

Conditions were quite pleasant, as it turned out, so did a little more inverted flight practise and tried flying knife edge as well - quarter snap roll then full opposite rudder. The result was just a slowing down of the Walrus heading down, however that's at seventy percent travel. Next time I'll put the rudder onto full travel and have another go!

I also had the flaps down for the latter part of the flight, slowly driving the Walrus around and seeing if I could get it at "standstill", which it managed on occasions when the breeze stiffened. With things getting a little too gusty, I brought the plane round to land, with flaps still deployed, and had a bit of fun trying with VTOL.

Unfortunately I think the Walrus suffered tip stall while I tried to correct a wing drop due to gusting, and it dropped a couple of feet onto the wing. There was a tell-tale crease in the wing decal, but otherwise everything was fine thanks to the robust EPO...

Floater Jet Gusting

...a brief flight of hopefulness

Today was going to be warm, so it wasn't entirely unexpected that the morning was already a bit breezy by the time I got to the field. I had opted for the Floater Jet today as it fit's more comfortably into the car so was less likely to suffer thermal effects than the Walrus. The Radjet was, of course, in for routine maintenance (crash repairs).

Eager to get into the air I rated the weather flyable and readied the Floater for an outing. This was the first time I'd had a camera on the Floater, and was interested to see the the difference from having the camera in front of the prop. The fresh northerly would assist getting the plane launched, the Floater's Achilles' heel, so that was good...

The good feeling lasted several seconds until the Floater climbed a few metres into the mainstream breeze, at which point its characteristically floaty nature disappeared out of the window. Things were clearly quite gusty above tree-level, and after a few busy seconds of trying to steady the craft, I was convinced that today really wasn't the best day to fly and I turned the Floater into a landing circuit.

Despite the considerable altitude the plane had achieved, understandable when flying into that much of a headwind, I was surprisingly able to land it straight ahead, quite evident from the camera footage.

Having watched the video I can tell you that, while there's no buffeting from the propwash, the Floater's annoying noise prop noise is still dominant, perhaps not unexpectedly as I mounted the camera just ahead of the engine pod. I have a couple of propellor options on their way, however, with a 6x4 triple blade to be followed shortly by a 6x5 twin blade. I am hopeful that, while generating more thrust, these might also abate the dreadful droning.

Having successfully brought the plane down, the final foot or two of descent were a little less successful, with the Floater bumping down onto the turf a little roughly. No damage done, fortunately, although you do get an insiders view of the rather busy workings of the cockpit, crammed with batteries, controller and wiring for the lighting...

Radjet Take Three

...and it flies!!

This morning I packed the Walrus and the Radjet. Having enjoyed several days of great weather I was happy to send up the Radjet understanding there would be reasonable probability at having to play fetch. However, finding the cattle grazing in the vicinity of the field, my resolve waned and I hauled out the Walrus instead.

Of late I've been practising inverted flight, although having to feed in lots of "down" to keep it flying level is a bit alarming, especially at first. While I have managed to sustain inverted flight no quite comfortably, I have only done this at comfortable elevation as it is too easy to get spooked and go the wrong way. I think I'll maintain the altitude buffer, sufficient to loop downwards safely, until my capability in this endeavour has progressed far beyond novice...

Walking back to the car having flown the Walrus until the battery gave out, thoughts turned again to the Radjet - the weather was still calm although with a gentle northerly which would help things. Yes, why not? So I swapped the Walrus for the Radjet and returned to the field for attempt the third...

I set the rates to high, gave the elevons a test then cranked the throttle to maximum and gave the little plane a good throw to launch it into the cool morning sky. To my amazement the Radjet arced into the sky and responded to the aileron inputs with a gorgeous roll. However not all was good - slacking off of the elevator input had the Radjet nosing down heavily. I found I had to keep about half elevator for level flight, still better than the first attempt where a flat trajectory was the best it could manage.

After a few circuits I decided to give landing a go, so I cut power, put full elevator and hoped for the best. To my surprise the Radjet still flew (I had suspected it might drop like a brick), and was quite even still manoeuvrable! I also managed a pretty good landing, which i was happy with. Not exactly greased it, it just sort of plopped down, but then it's certainly not a glider.

All up, a very good morning's flying...

Where You're At

...and how you fly

Friday morning at the paddocks relaxing and enjoyable with the calm weather, beautiful clouds and varied wildlife contributing to an engaging and relaxing morning's flying. By contrast, despite the immaculate morning, the flying at the local field was less than ideal with the challenge of dual-level fields surrounded by trees adding stress and detracting from what might have been a lovely morning's flying. Location, location, location...

Unfortunately in the suburbs the potential for open paddocks is virtually non existent, certainly not nearby. One needs, therefore, to find the best spots available and then learn how to fly there. The local field in question, the nearest potential flying spot to home, was the location of my first crashes of both the Phoenix 2000 and then the Floater Jet. Not exactly brilliant credentials, however neither incident was locatio-related, just inexperienced driver.

While I managed to fly both the Walrus and Floater without incident (although the latter did come agonisingly close to ending up in a tree, twice) it wasn't an entirely relaxing experience.

Fast forward to that evening, with the sun just setting and the full moon freshly over the horizon, throwing the Walrus up from the top field gave things a completely different perspective, with space to move aplenty giving the loops around the moon a sense of freedom...

A Perfect Flying Morning

...tranquil Zen flying

This morning dawned still and overcast with the promise of lovely flying conditions. Happily things were still calm and settled by the time I arrived at the field, and I wasted no time in getting the Walrus into the air.

The Radjet is actually ready to go again, looking a little battered and worse for wear, but with the limited flying opportunities lately I wasn't going to risk wasting a lovely morning searching the paddocks for errant aircraft.

There was the slightest of breezes blowing and, despite heavy rain clouds forming in the east, no imminent threat of rain. To add more texture to the beautiful canvas of the morning, lighter cumulus clouds  were framed by fringes of bright blue sky.

The calmness of the morning meant a worry-free flight, barring a close call with one of the flood lights, so low passes, slow flying and aerobatics at will were all on the cards. On one of the flights I also trialled cap-cam, the RD32 camera attached to the peak of a cap. It seemed to work OK so I'll have a look at the video this evening.

So, a lovely morning's flying and communing with nature...

Finally Some Luck

...amidst the rain and the wind

The weather forecast predicated rain to stop by dawn and a moderate breeze to be, both of which appeared correct when I stepped out this morning. However it wasn't long before drizzle had appeared and the wind had picked up in places. Nevertheless, considering the dearth of flying opportunities lately, I wasn't about to be dissuaded by minor details so I headed to the field.

Alighting from the car conditions appeared OK, although marginal as the rain could well develop. Not a second to lose - unleash the Walrus! With checks hurriedly done, I launched to the north from into a slight breeze. The dark grey clouds hanging heavily in the sky provided an impressive backdrop, with the Walrus' occasional erratic behaviour belying the unsettled conditions above.

Following on almost two days of constant rain, the duck pond was as large as I'd ever seen, with a trio of brown ducks enjoying the expanse of water. A flock of swallows joined, swooping low over the water before sweeping into the air, sometimes almost hovering into the wind with their small wings beating rapidly.

The wind direction changed abruptly and with it the drizzle disappeared. Taking advantage of the respite, I swung the Walrus into land and popped on the camera. Unfortunately the SD card I'm using isn't fast enough which makes the video jerky. 

Fortunately help is on its way...

Rain Rain go Away

...and take the wind with you

The run of miserable flying weather continues with a southern cyclonic cell now shipping in cold wind and soaking rains.

I had hoped that the run of breezy weather would have abated for at least a few hours to allow a quick flight. Having obsessively observed the tree-tops for signs of slackening wind on the weekend, I dashed down to the field late Saturday afternoon to take advantage of a drop in the wind.

Arriving at the field I noticed some occasional gusting in the trees but decided it was still calm enough to get the Walrus up for a bit of exercise. Very shortly afterwards, when the economical cruise speed left the Walrus stationary against headwinds, I had cause to reconsider my bravado. A few bumpy circuits later, including a full-power emergency climb to avoid a tree, I'd had enough and decided to bring the plane back in.

Coming in on approach the wing kicked violently and I suddenly realised that things could go horribly wrong very quickly and that, if I managed to get the craft down in one piece, I would have done well.

Fortunately, as the plane descended so the strength of the gusts eased, and I eventually could bring the plane in to kiss the grass in tranquil touchdown...

Simple Magic

...rediscovering the joys of flight

I'd come across rubber band-powered models whilst browsing for my latest purchases. I remember having fun with these planes from my distant youth, along with the sore finger resulting from doing hundreds of propellor-winds!

Having spare space in my parcel I opted for two - a small Piper Cub and a larger Sukhoi 29 aerobatics plane. I also got the battery powered winder - an absolute must especially as you can have it for only a few dollars!

Arriving in a large parcel of other aircraft and ancillaries, it was not altogether surprising that these diminutive craft were left sidelined for some. However they eventually piqued interest and were assembled easily enough. I had thought that both models were of similar scale, however it turned out that the Sukhoi was an altogether larger and more powerful craft compared to the diminutive Cub.

A lazy sunny afternoon was the perfect opportunity to take the little craft to the field for an outing. The Sukhoi was the obvious point of interest being much larger and equipped with quad rubber bands compared to the mini-Piper with only two. The Sukhoi was needed 200 turns (the battery winder is actually equipped with a winding counter, believe it or not) while the Cub needed just a quick 70.

Now, considering the total package cost only fifteen dollars one would not have expected much entertainment from these little planes, but we were soon convinced otherwise. Launching the Sukhoi revealed a marvellously-well balanced plane that flew gracefully like a much larger craft. Remarkably it would often manage to execute an excellent landing, quite remarkable something of such rudimentary construction.

The Cub, which appeared to be much too small to be used outside, proved perhaps the biggest surprise, accelerating at a jaw dropping rate before executing loops and stalls. It would also often finish with acrobatics landings, cartwheeling before flipping or landing on its nose, all without the slightest hint of damage to its delicate frame and wings!

It was many launches later, when the winder's batteries was beginning to run low that we finally picked up the little flyers and headed for home. The Cub had made one bad landing which had split the wings in half, causing spontaneous mourning for the plucky little craft.

However we reassured ourselves that two piece of sticky tape carefully applied would restore it to pristine flying condition, ready for another afternoon at the park...

Radjet 800 Second Attempt

...and crashed it again

That evening I did some searching regarding these lesser known flight characteristics of the Radjet 800. I found one video post indicating that the standard centre of gravity was too far forward and recommended moving it right back to the finger grips.

I had used the specified battery, a 1300mAh 3S unit, which pushes up against a stop in the fuselage. Easy. Simple. Except that this doesn't seem to work, at least not in my case. So I cut nearly an inch from the internal stop so that the end of the battery is now just inside the fuselage tunnel. I also moved the receiver position a little further back, the combined result of which was that the centre of gravity had moved substantially rearwards, although not quite as much as suggested in the video, but that should be fine.

The repairs complete and the Radjet suitably taped-up, I returned to the field with high expectations of a fun flight. The launch went well, with the plane zooming low over the paddocks towards the hill. Having launched with generous elevator based on my previous experience, I was dismayed to find that setting the elevator to neutral caused the Radjet to dip swiftly down. Not good, and by now the plane was well away and heading towards the woods.

I tried to turn it but was rewarded with a multiple snap roll instead, so now having lost orientation as well as almost losing sight of the plane, the result was virtually a foregone conclusion. A second attempt to turn and climb ended up off course and the little jet ploughed into the hillside, triggering the sudden flight of a pair of frightened birds.

It had been a while since I'd tramped the paddocks in search of wayward aircraft, but now I headed through the paddocks again, greeting the kangaroos as I headed up the incline towards the downed Radjet. The nose was still intact this time due to the fibre tape applied during repairs, however this had resulted in the nose to becoming a crumple zone instead which was probably worse. The canopy had also taken a beating with a section of the plastic shattered which would need fixing.

I'd chosen the Radjet because it looked different and fun but, so far at least, it hadn't worked out that way. Considering the problems I was experienci

ng it did cross my mind that the Rarebear probably would have been a better choice, with its conventional layout and more stable flight characteristics. On top of that it's also faster than the Radjet, although somewhat more expensive. Still a Radjet that doesn't fly isn't really much of a bargain...

With the parts in hand, I headed towards the car wondering what I should do next...

Radjet 800 First Outing

...and crashed it three times

I was very excited when I watched the video clips of the Radjet flying - high speed and lots of fun  on a modest budget appeared to be the order of the day. So I happily put the plane together anticipating an exciting outing when the weather cooperated with a calm morning.

Well, a few days later and I was at the field on a calm cool morning with cattle happily absent on the adjoining paddocks and the regular kangaroos contentedly foraging for their breakfast. I wasn't too sure with how much power I should launch the Radjet, so I opted for around two thirds throttle and hoisted it aloft at a fairly steep angle to give it plenty of air.

To my astonishment i was rewarded with the Radjet diving down rapidly and hitting the deck before I had a chance to react. With no apparent damage done and not to be put off, I put the battery back in place, refitted the canopy and had another go with a little more power.

Unfortunately the result was much the same with the Radjet again behaving like a brick, except that this time the tip of the nose was broken off. The brief flight has demonstrated clearly that the Radjet wasn't generating enough lift to stay in the air, even with the amount of elevator I had applied to try getting it airborne.

My final response was to add a healthy dose of up-trim on the elevators which finally managed to get the Radjet into the air at the third attempt. All was not well, however, as I quickly discovered that I could only keep the plane in the air by applying full elevator. Furthermore, as the Radjet rapidly disappeared towards the forested rise, I discovered it was turning to the right probably as a result of the elevators not being completely even.

I managed to turn the Radjet around to head back towards the field, however having to keep full elevator and compensate for its bent towards the right finally got the better of me and it plummeted to earth, just across the boundary fence but fortunately short of the flooded drainage ditch, in a brief flurry of scattered parts.

The damage was bad but repairable with the front of the fuselage snapped clean off. After a short hunt in the grass I also managed to find the battery which had disconnected and been flung out of the plane during the impact.

So I headed back to the car disappointed and with handsfull of parts. As always I didn't get a shot of the crash as it's a sad sort of occasion, imprinted on the memory so it doesn't really need a photograph...

Walrus 11x6 2200mAh First Flight

...and the ESC hasn't exploded yet

I've fitted the fitted Walrus with an oversize 11x6 carbon propellor instead of the underwhelming white plastic unit 9x6" with which it comes standard. I've previously flown it with a 10x6 carbon carbon prop which went very well.

The 11x6, as you might expect, is a bit of an overkill, being twenty two percent larger than standard, however it does make for very quiet flying as the prop barely needs to tick over to keep the Walrus flying.

I've limited the throttle to ninety percent so the ESC doesn't explode and so far have used full power only sparingly as I want to get the feel for its capabilities first - I certainly don't want the Walrus to end up as a smouldering wreck...

All Lit Up

...waiting for a calm evening

Anticipating the successful restoration of the Floater Jet I'd splashed out and purchased a Lumifly LED system, comprising a controller, manual switch and four half-metre white LED strips. I also got a small 1000mAh 2S battery, one which has with the small red connector whose official designation I don't know but it's not the regular yellow XT connector.

Packaging these additional components into the Floater's nose was a challenge to say the least, and also raised a concern about it becoming excessively nose-heavy with all the extra gear packed up-front.

First of all, to clear some space and transfer a little weight backward, I pushed the receiver right back into the rear of the fuselage where the ESC resides. To ensure no loss of signal will all the gear on board I made a hole in the side of the fuselage and taped the antenna to the outside. I didn't bother with a satellite receiver as I'm not planning to let the Floater stray too far from base these days...

With limited space between the battery and servos, I opted to lay the extra battery flat on top of the main unit and placed the LED controller on top of this held in place by velcro tabs. I also pushed the whole lot as far rearward as possible for better weight distribution. The LED strips, which are not the self-adhesive kind, I taped onto the wing and fuselage with clear tape placed in between the LED's themselves. 

The result is quite spectacular when viewed in low light, with each strip having five high-intensity LED's shining a clear white light. The kit comes with four strips as standard but I'll be adding another pair to the underside of the wings for better visibility from below.

With all this gear on board I was understandably a little nervous regarding how the Floater would respond, particularly on launch with its unfortunate predisposition for nose-diving into the ground. Well, having tried a few launches with success, I can happily say it manages the extra weight with little apparent effect. One does still require care not to launch with excess power and to be ready with the elevator as it noses down on launch, but otherwise it flies pretty much as well as ever.

The characteristic porpoise effect is still there as a result of the large disparity between powered and unpowered flight regimes. However it's at its happiest when gliding, its large wing area allowing it to float peacefully and silently as if magically transformed into some sort of ethereal whisp...