Wednesday 23 July 2014

Trainstar Floatplane First Flight

...it flies!!!

Opting to go with tenacity, due in part to today being the last very calm day forecast, this afternoon I headed off to the lake again with the Trainstar. The lake was not the location of first flight test, but rather another smaller venue promising virtually no onlookers, a feature which I found highly desirable.


There was a slight breeze blowing, not enough to unsettle the surface of the lake but sufficient to lend some assistance to the Trainstar to get airborne. The wind was also a northerly, helpful as access to the lake is at the southerly end.



The Trainstar was soon unpacked and on the lake, all tested and ready to go. I can't exactly remember the sequence of events, this first session also not being video'd for fear of tempting fate. Nevertheless, after a few false starts, I had the Trainstar in the air and flying.

Having had a brief airborne episode before I knew it would fly, although not exactly how, so the first takeoff was very much a beginner effort, with the Trainstar being hauled up, the climb angle eased off and then immediately increased as the plane started to drop, not being at all sure how it would behave.


The turns also took some getting used to, the weight of the floats dramatically increasing the self-righting effect the Trainstar has thanks to its wing dihedral. Nevertheless, the Trainstar still climbed and turned surprisingly well, and I cruised it overhead before turning back over the lake.

As I mentioned before, it becomes very floating with power off, I think due to the increased flap setting I'm using, although I'd expected the opposite with the float drag. However, having said that, I did expect the boat-shape of the floats to contribute some lift so perhaps that effect is more than anticipated.

At any rate the Trainstar floatplane is very predictable of landing approach once the speed has dropped off from cruise, although I still only managed one landing which was good, the others being a decaying series of slapping jumps off the lake. However, due in no small part to the generous nature of the floats, the plane never once ended in the drink, the buoyancy and stability of the floats righting and steadying the Trainstar every time, even once when I had the wingtip on the water with power still on full.

The only problem I had was running out of battery one one last approach, the Trainstar landing in the middle of the lake, having to resort to occasional brief bursts on reserve power and the breeze to return the plane to the shore...

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