2m Raptor Glider

...sleek thermal rider

I've been searching for options to replace the Phoenix after its disastrous crash. It may be repairable, however with its foam wings already susceptible to deformation in the warming weather and combined with a massive crash repair, I don't think it would be flying very straight.

Hence looking at composite gliders, although one soon realises that carbon wings are very expensive, with a two metre ARF carbon glider in the region of five hundred smackers.

The Raptor, therefore, provided an intermediate solution, with a fibreglass fuselage and fibreglass/balsa combination wing hopefully providing more durability than EPO, and the ARF package coming in at just over a hundred bucks.

It'll need six servos, more expensive metal-geared bearing units being recommended, and I'll probably use the spare Phoenix motor I have along with the carbon prop which survived the crash.

To that just needs to be added an appropriate spinner and we should be good to go using a trusty 2200 3S pack to get the Raptor soaring into the air...

Fox Glider

...should be good.

I've splashed out on a 1.5m PNF Fox glider, a fibreglass fuselage and balsa creation from R2Hobbies, available for the very modest sum of just over a hundred bucks all up.

So what's the catch? Well apparently there's an issue with the tail plane angled too low, causing the Fox to be nose-up which apparently causes instability. The upshot is rework required , with the full fix being cutting out the tail plane mounting slot, raising the incidence by 3mm and then filling the gap with a wedge of balsa.

A lot of work, yes, however at the end you get a speedy and maneuverable composite glider, which can also double as a speedy slope soarer.

Not a bad deal...

Canadair New Motors

...more speed!

I fitted the Canadair with three-blade props of 7x4.5 on the basis that dropping a size from the standard 8" twin-blade props is recommended. However, in this case, the originals are big paddle-props so a change to regular three-blade props of the same size would probably have been a better equivalency.

An issue with the bearings in one of the motors, which I was unable to remove for replacement, had me shopping for new motors and I came across the more powerful 250W version of the specified motor. Being the same size and weight, although with a lower quoted current draw, it seemed a natural choice, now that I had a better appreciation for the performance of the Canadair having flown it.

Also, given that the 7x4.5 props were undersized for the original motor, the higher kV rating, 1650 vs 1400, suits them very well, and the Canadair seems happy with the new combination and generates an impressive turn of speed at full throttle...

Trainstar Monster Wheels

...nice!

The first time I ever took the Trainstar to the field, someone remarked that I should put bigger wheels on it. I replied that the wheels were quite big already, to which Sensei replied, "Bigger wheels equal bigger fun".

Having recently started flying the Trainstar from the field again, in what I think will be its summer metamorphosis, I got a rush of blood to the head and decided to get the bigger wheels. The standard units on the Trainstar, installed in spats, are 75mm and looking at what was available I decided on a pair of 100mm foam wheels.

Now 25% larger doesn't seem that much but, to quote one of the reviews, the wheels were much larger than he expected. Ditto. I think it's the square law, or something like that, but it translates into a substantially larger wheel.

The wheels, of the same variety that I fitted to the Canadair, are very light and firm. However, because they are very much over-size in the case of the Trainstar, the firmness will be exaggerated.

However, with a springy undercarriage and landing on grass, I don't expect this to be an issue at all...

Rarebear Slow Prop

...shows how good the original is!

I recently had a minor incident with the Rarebear; the result of me somehow reversing the elevator, probably while I was adjusting settings on the transmitter. The result was the Rarebear nosediving straight into the turf, although fortunately with the ground being very damp there, the damage was limited to a broken prop.

Unfortunately I'd used the last of my Funfighter props on the Radjet, which now uses the same propulsion system as the Rarebear.  The only alternative were some APC style props which I'd bought based on reviews, so I got one out the bag and fitted it to the Rarebear.

This morning, a lovely cool and calm start to the day, I took the Rarebear along to try it out.  Flying on the 3S 1300 battery the Rarebear is usually pretty quick, although manageable, so I was quite amazed at how much slower it was compared to flying with its original prop.

While you would think there wouldn't be much difference between a 6x4 and a 5.5 x 4.5, it just shows what a brilliant combination the original prop and motor are together...

Floater Jet Ground Take-Off

...unlikely but groovy

Some while ago, while trying the throttle with the Floater Jet on the ground, it occurred to me that, since the Floater has a high-mounted prop, it would be feasible to take it off from the ground. Theoretically anyway.

Without undercarriage, however, and just a smooth-bottomed fuselage, control on the ground wouldn't be very good. Also, as my first attempts showed, the Floater can tend to skid around, especially if the controls aren't all centred, as I sometime have them in order to keep it trimmed straight for power flight.

Nevertheless, as you can see from the Floater's take-off run, ground launch is possible and a novel change to the usual hand-launch. And its pretty cool as well...

Ride on a Radjet

...high-speed fun

For some while I've been meaning to get an on-board video with the Radjet but, given the weather and choice of planes on the day, I still hadn't got around to doing it. 

The Radjet it the fastest plane in the fleet, now running the Funfighter motor and prop as well as the mini 4S battery. It's also that plane which is flown with most abandon, given it's rock-solid behaviour in the air. It's twin-tailed configuration and bold markings also make tracking its orientation easy, so I'm always confident that I know what it's doing. 

My one concern was whether the camera, mounted just forward of the tail fins on the curve fuselage, would be secure enough, considering it was only in contact with a narrow strip of velcro. Consequently I was a little conservative in flying the Radjet and happily the Mobius was still there when the radjet touched down...

Fun with the Trainstar

...I've changed my mind

This morning, cool and overcast with just a hint of a northerly, I took the Trainstar to the field for its second fly back on its wheels. Having suspected the large battery, fitted to give it a little extra punch and duration in floatplane guise, to be a bit heavy it its native guise, I switched to the regulation power pack and sent the Trainstar on its way, needing to give it a nudge to get it rolling in the longish damp grass.

As before the Trainstar was flying nose-down, needing a few clicks of up trim. However, flying it whilst in the process of trimming it, I discovered that it's actually quite entertaining flown needing a little up elevator, like I do the Radjet. What this does, instead of it wafting around the sky, is to change the high-wing cruiser into a ground-hugging machine, flying in low and purposely, not unlike its high-speed brethren except at about a third of the speed.

The lighter battery, also located further back to balance a little better, seemed to make the turns a little cleaner as well, although the Trainstar still drops like a brick as it turns as well as tightening turns as well both of which make it challenging to fly.

I understand that this is a trainer and that good training aircraft challenge you so that you can learn. Nevertheless I'd be amazed if someone could actually to teach themselves to fly with this plane, its got that many quirks...

High-Speed Afternoon

...blue skies and beautiful clouds

Today was one of those days when the weather continually surprises you; this morning was heavily overcast and still, giving one the anticipation of a dull day, possibly even rainy. Then, looking out the window a little later, one is surprised with the grey dissolving into little patches of cumulus, feeding off the warming earth. And then, a little later still, the sky is almost clear and a cool afternoon is blowing, a gift from the Southern Ocean.

Although a little breezy, with such lovely weather I decided to make a turn past the field just in case, and happily found a steady and quite flyable breeze, especially as the car had a boot-full of little buzzies.

The recent smash, and possible destruction, of the Phoenix (now there's irony; perhaps I should set it alight as a shortcut to repairing it) has left me a little nervy to fly, especially the high-speed brigade, despite the crash not being pilot-related for once. Anyhow, the opportunity to get out and enjoy the lovely afternoon whilst the planes headed skywards towards the pure white clouds was too good to let go begging.

It was the first outing of the Stinger since its repair, following its three-day stay in the paddocks after it went MIA. While suffering only minor damage, test-flying something that's been repaired has potential to be heart-stopping. Fortunately, apart from a slightly hair-raising launch, largely as a result of me throwing it skew causing the Stinger to hang on knife-edge, it flew perfectly well.

Having not flown it for some while, however, I'd lost a bit of touch with its, well, touchy behaviour, and for most of the flight I felt as if I were courting disaster. Nevertheless, all went well and the Stinger ended up in a long glide in for a safe landing.

The Radjet, flights of which book-ended proceedings, once again enhanced its reputation as a solid high-speed platform, giving relatively effortless performances and outrunning the Stinger in most departments, except the distinctive jet whine and apparently effortless performance. I have, on a number of occasions, especially since I learned how to launch it properly, have considered getting a new Radjet kit, my rough-lived example bearing barely any resemblance to the original.

However, despite appearances, which would be desirable especially during low fast passes when its chequered past becomes more evident as it approaches, as it still flies remarkably well, and fast, trading it in for a replacement would seem like a rather poor deal for a faithful plane which wears the scars of lessons learned discovering how to actually fly it...

Trainstar. Back on the Ground

...and still a handful to fly

The advent of warmer weather, combined with access to the lake being restricted, meant that it had been a long time since I'd flown the Trainstar floatplane and, feeling rather sorry for it hanging around in the study, I decided to take it off the floats and restore it to it's original undercarriage.

A simple process of removing four bolts and unplugging the added rudder servo had the floats off, and the the aluminium undercarriage strut was quickly back in place. Whereas on the floats the Trainstar looked rather diminutive, with the undercarriage it looks positively oversized, making me think I should get a pair of outsized wheels for it, bush-plane style.

At the field the next day, on a rather dull grey morning, the Trainstar was soon launched and into the air. For some reason the elevator needed a lot of up-trim, however this was soon sorted in flight although I brought it in just to check that nothing was awry. Satisfying myself that everything was OK, I gunned the motor and had the Trainstar straggling into the air, its left wing dipping towards the turf as ever.

The one change I made was to fix the tailwheel, and I found that this helped it to track straight on take-off, something I'd discovered similarly when I added the rudder servo which helped keep things on an even keel, literally, during takeoff with much better control than the cable system ever could.

Having the Trainstar now flying a bit more evenly, I was amazed at how difficult it is to fly. I think I've remarked before that it's quite engaging because of it's idiosyncrasies. It is, but also quite frustrating when you're just wanting to cruise something around the field without having to be on guard at every move.

This is especially evident after having been flying the Canadair which, also having the same wingspan, is completely easy to fly and as docile as you could wish, while still looking like a character plane and having capability for some aerobatics.

Nevertheless, it's good to have the Trainstar back in service, and I'm going to be working to get familiar with its characteristics again so that it's less baffling and more enjoyable to fly...

Phoenix 1600 Smash

...did I just lose signal?

Today was warm but, despite these sort of conditions usually ending up windy and gusty, it was still quite calm after lunch, so I decided to take the Phoenix to the local field to see if any thermalling was to be had. 

Being around thirty degrees, I launched the Phoenix with flaps and climbed it quickly a few hundred feet before leveling it off to check if any lift was around. I set the Phoenix in a turn to try and settle it when it suddenly started to turn left sharply and start to dive. I have had some issues with this due to the foam wings warping in the warm weather, I think particularly when sitting in the car, so I suspected this to be the case.

I put opposite aileron but, to my surprise, the Phoenix continued to spiral downwards, even when I moved to full opposite aileron, something which would usually have the Phoenix wheeling around, especially at the speed it was going. Suddenly knowing it was out of control, I could only watch as the Phoenix spiralled the last dozen metres down before smashing into the field, shedding foam and parts generously.

Picking up the bits and heading to the car I was puzzled, I'd suspected the wing warping being the problem, yet the Phoenix had launched straight and climbed without hint of issue. Then I started wondering; was the Phoenix's lack of response because it wasn't actually doing anything. Had I somehow lost contact?

This scenario seemed highly unlikely; since first suffering this issues many moons ago, I run most of my planes with a satellite receiver as well. And, in the case of a few of them including the Phoenix, I have the receiver antenna poking out of a hole in the bottom of the fuselage. Additionally, I have the radio on the higher-power US setting just to make sure.

And yet...

Canadair Hand Launch

...just so easy

I took the Canadair to the field again this morning, cool and calm before a warming and windy afternoon. I'd previously flown the Canadair off the field however, being of a fairly delicate EPS construction, one launch and landing off the grass had already managed to remove the paint from the sea-plane's hull. So I decided to give hand launching a go.

Although a large and somewhat awkward to hold plane, the Canadair is quite light and generates an abundance of lift in addition to possessing an excess of thrust. Still, not quite sure how it was going to behave being launched in this manner, I set it at at a little over half throttle and gave it a moderate throw.

To my surprise, the Canadair took to the air seamlessly, its broad wings and plenty of prop wash setting it off as if it hadn't been stationary in my hand a second before. The more I fly this plane the more I am enjoying it; it's very relaxed to fly, can turn on a ticky and possesses a lovely presence as it heads towards you, its dark nose dipped down a little...

Stinger Under Repair

once too often...

Despite the potential for major disaster, the Stinger suffered only minor damage to the front with the fuselage bent a little to one side and the nose snapped off. However, this area being repaired for the third time, it's increasingly difficult to try and get things looking nice again.

However I am endeavouring to be patient and attend to detail to try and get the Stinger nose smooth so that it doesn't suffer from extra drag due to a craggy nose.

The first pass looked reasonable, and I'm now taking time to fill in the dips and grooves as best as possible. Giving the filler and glue time to dry properly, the Stinger should hopefully be in the air within a few days, all going well...

Canadair on Grass

Cool, man...

With access to the lake somewhat restricted, I decided to give the Canadair a go at the field. I'd seen a few videos showing it was possible, but still wasn't quite sure how this venture was going to work.

As it turned out it works fine, although quite different to flying from water. In fact almost the opposite! Unlike on the water where modest amounts of throttle will get the plane moving and resistance builds up until it gets on the plane, on grass there is no movement until the considerable friction is overcome.

Moving the throttle past the halfway mark with no signs of movement, I was certainly considering that this wasn't going to work when, at about two-thirds power, the Canadair suddenly broke loose and quickly started to move across the grass. Of course, with that much throttle, as soon as friction is overcome, the acceleration is brisk, so the Canadair was airborne within seconds, gliding sweetly into the cool morning air.

Flying the Canadair at the field was actually pretty groovy, with lots of space and the ability to do low fly-pasts which isn't always possible at the lake with its border of trees. And quite fun getting to know the flying characteristics of the big water bomber in a safe environment.

As you would expect, with that much wing area and the proliferation of fences and stabilisers, it is slow and steady, although sharp turns are quite possible with the assistance of differential thrust, much like vectored thrust..

Floater Jet Reconnaissance Mission

...for a bird's eye view

The search and rescue mission for the flown by the Phoenix to try and locate the Stinger EDF unfortunately drew a blank; a few maybe's but nothing definitive, with a subsequent foray through the paddocks on foot found nothing either.

Therefore a second reconnaissance mission was required, this time using the Floater Jet with the Mobius mounted on its nose. The sloping mounting provided look-down capability, something missing from the Phoenix's wing-top placement, and additionally provided an obscured field of view.

The weather was, unfortunately, not conducive to the structured coverage of the field I had hoped for, with the warm and gusty weather making flying the Floater hazardous and doing low passes even more so. As a result the flying was haphazard, battling to keep the Floater flying level while maintaining an even altitude, although desirable, was out of the question. In fact, from the video, it's clearly apparent that the Floater was skimming over fences and brushing the grass tops at stages.

About halfway through it's search, a pale speck showed on the extreme edge of the the video image. Having checked numerous specks already without success I was doubtful this would amount to anything, particularly being out of the search zone. Zooming in on the speck it took some form and appeared to have a vertical black stripe. Looking closer it also seemed to have faint hints of something horizontal on either side.

Zooming again the appearance of a circle in between seemed to cement the realisation that I'd actually managed to locate the Stinger. The next day, after twenty minutes of wandering around the paddock trying to match the video clip orientation, I finally found it...

Stinger 64 MIA

search and rescue underway...

The perfect afternoon begged to get the planes out, so I headed to the field on the way home planning to give the Stinger and Radjet a quick run in the gorgeously sunny conditions with a cool southerly blowing.

As I've mentioned before, the Stinger is a bit twitchy in turns, so I've turned my low rates right down making it much less sensitive, and have subsequently become accustomed to it's moderated behaviour with recent flights. Unfortunately something must have flicked the aileron rate switch to high as I found the Stinger alarmingly sensitive to these inputs.

I managed to level the Stinger up and bring it round in a turn as I frantically sought to get the switch reset without crashing the jet and, when this was finally accomplished, I hit the elevators to get the now low-flying Stinger some air. The effect of this, however, was not the expected leap into the sky but rather an abrupt disappearance into the grass of the paddock.

I can only surmise that, having been distracted by resetting the switch, the Stinger had adjusted orientation and that the elevator had sent it spearing sideways into the shrubbery. Alarmed and disappointed, I climbed the fence and headed through the marshy flats to where I'd last seen it go down.

Emerging from the tall reed grass onto the plain I expected to see the brightly-coloured Stinger lying about conspicuously, but instead saw nothing. Having not made an exact reference as to where it had gone down due to my expectation of finding it immediately, I commenced a somewhat random series of traverses across the paddocks, inspecting thorn bushes and grass clumps for any sign of the downed speedster.

Finally, baffled as to the mysterious disappearance of the jet, I hauled out the Phoenix with camera on board for a search and rescue mission. An FPV setup would've been perfect for this situation, however I'll have to make do with a video analysis later...

Taming the Sting

...still a blast to fly

The Stinger got another run today, on a beautifully clear afternoon with a fresh southerly blowing. However, despite having flown it many times, I still feel that flying it is always a risk. 

It's fast, twitchy and relatively small, and I don't think the multi-colour scheme helps, to the degree that I'm contemplating stripping the techno-camouflage off the wings to make it more visible.

The launch is also often a bit of a heart stopper, with the throw usually leaving the Stinger alarming half-inverted, although its jetstream somehow allows it to hang in the air long enough to get it corrected without ever having any problems.

While not being over-powerful it's still pretty fast, with the best view of it being coming in low and fast with its sharp nose pointed straight at you and the swoop of its canopy giving a menacing look.

And, of course, being a jet, it's sleek shape and addictive howl compensate for the edge-of-your-seat experience you have when flying it...

Floater Jet Aerial Lake Tour

...camera at the ready

Having packed the Floater Jet it seemed opportune to load it up with the camera and give it a fly for a scenic tour around the lake.

The brisk northerly, however, made this anything but a simple exercise, having to launch the Floater over the lake without having it ending up, well, floating in the lake. Fortunately the Floater launched OK and soon powered over the lake against the gusty breeze.

I'm always fascinated at the different perspective provided by the aerial camera, obviously the same reason that people want to fly FPV, and the view of the lake and trees spreading out below the Floater as it climbed in the sunny blue skies was both intriguing and lovely.

The approach to landing seemed impossibly high however, as is clear and evidence of the headwind the Floater was experiencing, it worked out ok although it did end up a little close to the rubbish bin...

Canadair at the Big Lake

...on a warm windy day

Access to the lake is a bit restricted and, along with variables of weather thrown in, the opportunities of actually getting a plane on the lake are not brilliant. So, despite it being a warm and windy afternoon, I headed past the lake just in case.

It turned out that it wasn't that windy, although the lake surface was covered with ripples. In the end I opted for a partially sheltered spot between some willow trees and decided to give the Canadair a go. The rougher water caused some problems with the wing floats, as would be expected, and I had some issues with the Canadair turning because one float was still on the water.

Nevertheless, I still managed to get the Canadair airborne and flying without incident, although the strong wind made it more of a reactive flying session than anything else. Landings, however, were a breeze with the Canadair descending almost vertically to literally plop down onto the water.

Although slow and stable, the Canadair still needed careful watching in the wind, with its large wing area and so many winglets and stabilisers making crosswind effects more pronounced.

So a bit more experience with the Canadair, but the take-offs still need some work. But at least its fairly easy to fly. Next time, perhaps some aerobatics...

Radjet Test Flight with 4S 1800 Battery

...without disaster or mishap

This afternoon was gorgeous and sunny, slightly warm with a gentle breeze from the south west, perfect for letting the recently-refurbished Radjet loose with its boisterous battery pack, the 1800 4S 40C borrowed from the Stinger.

As mentioned previously, I'd had several concerns relating it being too heavy with the oversize battery or simply bursting into flames due to the ESC being overworked. Fortunately, neither happened, with the Radjet taking to the skies without incident and flying well.

I did a few circuits before bringing it down, needing to make a few adjustment to the elevator settings after the servo change, and also to dial in a little more expo with the new servos having a bit more travel than before. Having sorted out the details, I threw the Radjet up again to give it another run.

The battery, significantly larger than the recommended 1300 and substantially larger than the 850 I'd been using, is rather oversized for the power system and changes the characteristics of the Radjet into something of a grand tourer. I think a 1300 4S battery is probably the ticket, providing enough current and flight-time without carrying any excess.

So, while this exercise answered one nagging question, it also raised another; considering it can comfortably carry the 1800, what if you uprated the motor and the ESC...

Radjet with Big Battery

...and a servo upgrade

Following my conversion of the Radjet to give it a battery hatch for easier insertion of the chubbier 4S batteries, I was playing around the other day and discovered I could actually get an 1800mAh battery in without much effort. This was rather remarkable and something I had thought of doing before but never taken much further as I thought it unfeasible.

My concerns are that the sustained current supply from the larger battery might overwhelm the stock ESC, and the other that the additional weight might cause issues with the Radjet, especially on launch. Regarding the former, the 1800 is a 40C while the little 850 is a 45-90C, so I don't think there should be too much difference, except for duration. To hopefully reduce the heat-load, I have installed an extra cooling port (slurpee straw) directed straight onto the ESC and of course the Radjet runs without a canopy these days.

In the case of the latter, I think the Radjet should be OK with the mass, considering the Stinger runs with this battery on a smaller wing area and with a heavier body.

I've also replaced the original wing servos with Turnigy TG9z's due to these stripping when I pancaked the Radjet on its most recent flight. I'd bought these servos as the HXT 900's were out of stock and, while expecting much the same, I was amazed when first powering these up at how quiet they were in comparison. I gather these are not quite as strong as the HXT's, however they should are well rated and sound super-smooth!

So, since today was just way too windy from start to finish, I'm hoping that I might be able to get the Radjet into the air tomorrow and see how it goes...

Canadair 415 Float Mod

...the last piece of the puzzle

The Canadair 415 has been somewhat of a trying exercise; first the several hurdles in getting it built and then the issues on the water, namely non-functional rudder, researching proportional thrust and then, finally, figuring out how to launch it without the wing floats diving into the lake.

The solution for the latter was, fortunately, quite simple, requiring just a few millimetres (I took off five) trimmed off the front of the float-mount to increase the angle of incidence of the float. I'd actually considered doing this up-front but had decided to try it out unmodified.

The default configuration may work, but only in mill-pond conditions in my opinion, as the scale-float cannot manage even the most modest ripples ,which simply wash over the float and causing it to immediately submarine.

As I said, I randomly chose a 5mm trim which has worked fine, although I have seen videos where the floats have been tilted significantly more than that. I think it's a matter of "horses-for-courses", however I think that some increase in incidence is required to avoid frustration...

Phoenix 1600 Soaring

...my first soaring flight!

This morning I had, rather unexpectedly, my first soaring flight with the Phoenix 1600 glider. Rather unexpected is as much as I had no expectation of there being lift about at that time, a leisurely nine o'clock departure due to sleepy disposition precluding getting out any earlier.

It was a lovely sunny morning following a clear cool night, although the breeze was already beginning to pick up from the East. I launched the Phoenix but saw immediately that it was turning to the left, an affliction which I have annoyingly been unable to eliminate satisfactorily, although twisting the left wing a little is a topical remedy.

Whilst bringing the Phoenix down for repairs, it was accosted by a very annoyed magpie flying down from its nest, the episode spurring me to mount the camera on the Phoenix to capture the antics. So it was, with the wing corrected and the camera running, that the glider powered up again into the blue morning sky.

Having previously tried to get the Phoenix in lift with only very moderate success, I was amazed to find that, once up a few hundred feet, that the glider didn't seem to be coming down in a hurry. Without having a variometer it was of course difficult to determine where the lift was, but flying over the road seemed to work well. The first run lasted a good few minutes before the Phoenix fell foul on sink and headed towards the field.

The next run was more successful, the glider staying up ten minutes, having to turn it back at one point as it climbed and drifted into the distance. Finally the breeze grew too strong, pushing the lift too far away...

Flying the Canadair

...at last

All the planets, including Pluto, finally aligned to provide an opportunity to get the Canadair in the air. All flight modifications had been completed, with the water rudder deleted, differential thrust programmed and the wing-float angle modified. All this with a plane I'd got as an easy-flying companion to the touchy Trainstar floatplane!

It was a lovely spring afternoon with just a moderate south westerly breeze as I turned into the still-open gates to the lake. Unpacking the Canadair I wasted no time in getting it onto the water, first trying a few mock takeoff runs which showed that the wing-float modification was working a charm, allowing the Canadair to run up to planing speed without risk of submarining.

However, realising that I was on the wrong side of the lake for the breeze, I left the Canadair floating mid-stream and sprinted to the the other side of the lake at a moderate pace. Finding the Canadair still out of the weeds, I taxied it over and lined it up for takeoff.

The first attempt was both alarming and laughable. Running the Canadair up to speed with full elevator, as I do to prevent the Trainstar from nosing in, the plane lept almost vertically into the air, dropping a wing in the process. Over-correcting, it then lurched in the opposite direction before finally flopping down onto the lake, its airspeed exhausted.

Trying again with just a touch of elevator had the Canadair executing a perfect lift-off, blurring the line between floating and flying as it eased off the water. As with the Trainstar, finally getting the Canadair into the air was a major achievement, although actually flying it was a breeze. Unlike it's companion, the Canadair is light and highly powered, making it easy to fly. Its abundance of stabilisers, winglets and large control surfaces also makes it easy to control.

Landing it was also pretty easy, again being light it slows down very quickly and, being low to the water, is pretty stable. So, now that it's all set up, I'm now looking forward to some relaxed flying with the Canadair...