My Dad purchased this kit used from a fellow flier at our field, Ken Jewell. We had seen him flying it on numerous occasions, and when he put it up for sale, we purchased it. Its not the perfect plane, but it was a decent introduction into giant scale aircraft.

This plane is not a great flier, due in part to its high weight, and due also to some incidence, CG, and thrust issues that we are slowly tracking down. The plane pitches strongly to the canopy when inverted, but there is very little pitch on downlines, and the incidence checks out perfect. Because of its large size, however, it is still relatively smooth, and I like the way the tapered wing flies. I think it has potential, but I have not given it proper time to fix its faults.

It took us a while to get this plane flying. Our first attempts at starting the engine were unsuccessful. Ken had used a large starter to turn the engine over, and we were trying to hand start it. The hand start was not enough to fire the magneto ignition, so we would crank and crank, but the engine wouldn't even pop. We looked into our options; a larger starter, a spring starter, or a C&H jump start. We settled on the jump start because of its simplicity and low onboard weight.

The first time out to the field, the right aileron servo failed. Upon replacement, the aileron extension on the opposite aileron failed. Eventually, we got the radio system problems sorted out, and it has been flying fine ever since.

After a few months of flying, we decided to install a smoke system into the plane, as a curiosity. We used a B&B Specialties smoke pump coupled to their smoke muffler. The plane smokes well on a clear day, but its not worth filling the smoke tank if it is cloudy out.

My next order of business is to decrease the main wing incidence and see if that helps inverted flight and overall tracking. Nothing I will do will cure the high weight, which makes landings interesting. However, if I can get it tracking straight, it would be much more pleasurable to fly.