| Sport Aviator's Test
Pilot Reports |
There it sits. That new airplane, all the final checks done and rechecked
again, just waiting for that first rush of air under those shiny new
wings. The plane seems to sit there slightly quivering in the wind,
just waiting to fly. Or maybe the pilot is quivering and not the plane?
(Have you ever noticed that it is always too windy to fly a new airplane,
even when there is NO WIND?) What
will it do? How will it perform? Will I be able to handle it OK?
Will it do what I want it to? There are a hundred questions before
that first flight. Questions shared by all pilots since the dawn
of aviation. Otto Lilienthal asked them before he launched his glider
off that cliff in 1896. So did Orville Wright as he watched the
catapult weight drop to hurl the Wright Flyer upwards into history.
Leslie Tower shared them as he climbed into Model 299’s (the
first B-17) big flight deck, as did Chuck Yaeger climbing into the
tiny Bell X-1 in the open air at 28,000 ft.
In a small way,
we are all part of this tradition. While our lives are not at risk,
we have no less an emotional investment in our new model plane.
Sport Aviator’s Test Pilot’s Reports column is dedicated
to reporting the flying qualities, flight characteristics, handling
ease and sheer flying fun of many of today’s newest designs.
These flight-only reports are always detailed and oriented to the
newer pilot. We will do our best to answer “the questions”
before you spend time and treasure on that new plane.
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