Graeme Lean

My Falco VH-LZD (aka the lizard) had its first flight this morning. I had organised a test pilot, but that didn't work out at the time so I had to 'grow a set' and do it myself.

Tony Chamberlain flew chase in a Cherokee Arrow with my wife as a passenger. (I think they preferred to be above the ground if it came down.)

The first flight was a short 20 minute hop with gear extended, on the climbout it proved too fast for the Arrow, and Tony had to beg me to throttle back a little. I kept it below 95 kts for the flight handling was docile except for an interesting flick to the left in stall. Approach and landing was extremely civilised.

I took it up for a second flight this afternoon with gear retracted.  This time it exhibited a right-wing heaviness at speed -- a small matter of adjustment I expect. There seemed to be a lot of very warm air around my feet and the CO2 monitor was going wild so I will have to pay some attention to that before the next flight.

Despite the teething troubles it handles well in the air.  I haven’t worked out cruise speeds yet but stall is about as advertised.

I'll send a full report shortly.

Cheers
Graeme

 

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Here are a few pictures taken from the chase plane with a cell phone - sorry about the quality. They depict me fueling before the flight and midair photos of the flight