Flight of the Phoenix

there’s always something...

My first thought when I arrived at the field with the Phoenix 2000 was to make sure everything was properly trimmed. With the Floater I’d had a nasty experience launching it and having it head steadily into a right hand turn. This is very off-putting and alarming. I had managed to put the Floater down and reset the trims on that occasion, but I certainly didn't want to risk it with the Phoenix.

So with the surfaces set flush and the tail tweaked to level the elevators I launched the Phoenix fairly flat with moderate throttle. Banking a little to the right I quickly corrected but with little effect. Cutting power, the plane continued its bank into an unceremonious landing. No apparent damage, so a quick control check and we were ready to go again. The second launch, very similar to the first, saw similar behaviour except this time the left turn was more severe, ending in an uncomfortably severe thump into the ground and a bit of a ground loop. Not exactly an auspicious return for the poor aircraft!

Nothing critically wrong, although the wing root had torn a little at one of the rear mounts (bad thoughts) but still flyable. A thought suddenly occurred to me while I was checking the controls - all the reversing switches were down because that was how the Floater was set up. Hang on a minute...Checking again showed the ailerons and rudder to be reversed, which explained why my attempts at correction had ended up in a terminal spiral. Yes, more bad thoughts.

Nevertheless, few seconds later all the controls were trimmed and in the right orientation. I set the power for launch although noticed the motor sounded a little rough - the shaft must have bent. Anyway, determined to get it into the air I set about a third power and lobbed the Phoenix off.

With a small bank quickly corrected, the craft climbed gradually and displayed the elegant shape of its high-aspect wings. The flight was serene, just was I needed to give myself a bit of confidence, then I brought it in for landing. Being very stable it’s actually really easy to land. Not knowing its response to elevator I over-flared it a little, but it settled down without issue to a perfectly smooth and level landing.

It was only on the when carrying the Phoenix back to the car that I noticed about two centimetres had been sheared off one of the propellor blades. Yes, that would certainly explain the propellor running a bit roughly...