It flys - It flys!

[ByronF]

Well after a month of delays due to lousy weather finally had the chance today to maiden my Mauler.
The Mauler powered by and HB61 Blitz charged down the runway and was airborne in no time. The controls were set kinda by the manual and seemed to be ok although I did crank in about 30% expo just in case.
Think for the next flight will put in low rates for ailerons about 80% but leave the elevator as is.
The plane flies great although I needed about 5 click of down trim for hands off level flight. Never needed more than 3/4 throttle. Did not really wring it out on this first flight. Just flew around getting a feel for it.
Landing was no problem. Slowed down nicely with no signs of a stall and then it settled right in touched on the mains and rolled a bit and then came to a stop.
Now that is out of the way can concentrate on flying this bird.
Although I expect that as usual my first landing is always the nicest and the next dozen or so will be bouncy bouncy, but i guess thats how it goes. May also try shimming the engine mount for more downthrust in order to get rid of some of the down trim.
Byron

[AJCoholic]

Nice looking plane... :TU:

AJC

[Bdegan]

Congrats
You don't see Mauler's very often :)

[PurgatorY]

nice looking bird..congrats..

[ByronF]

Thanks guys for the comments. I don't normally post about something as insignificant as the maiden flight of a plane - even a warbird! But could not resist in this case.
To explain I like warbirds and have a preference for the more obscure ones, ie not a fan of Mustangs and Spitfires as everyone seems to have one. So one day I came across this little gem and it certainly filled the bill in terms of being unique.
It was made by Flyboy Models. I did some searches and only found 2 other threads where some guys had the plane but not a lot of information and certainly not a lot of interest.
Then it came on sale for $93.00 WITH mechanical retracts. I could not resist. Heck even if it was basically junk I reasoned there was enough there that i could bash it into something reasonably airworthy.
Well you can imagine my surprise when it arrived at how good the quality actually was, so I just decided to throw in an engine I have had sitting for over 25 years but still NIB.
As indicated in my first post the plane flew well on the maiden flight. I have since put in 4 more flights and as the new old HB starts to work in it really moves. At 1/2 throttle its very fast and more than that I can't keep up.
The manufacturer suggests a .75 for authority but they must be kidding because with a .60 at full throttle its like a pylon racer.
Unless what they meant to say was a 70-75 4 stroker......hmmmm think I have one of those laying around here somewhere..... This may even work as the plane only weighs 7 lbs. I would think a 70 4 stroker should be able to haul that around at a more realistic scale speed. Any thoughts on this theory?
Anyway my 4 flights were a blast and as I predicted each landing got worse until the last one when I ripped the left gear out. Cheap mechanicals. As I want this to be an everyday flyer I am going to convert it to fixed gear and forget it.
So all in all for $93 I am happy. A good lightweight unique warbird that is a great flyer for very little money. What more could I ask for.
Hmmmm I see that Flyboy has the Boulton Paul Defiant on sale now. Another unique bird for the collection. Now where is my credit card......
Byron

[Max]

Wow. Byron. Great looking plane, it is not one of the cookie cutter planes we keep seeing.

Glad you got 'er to go. And for less than 100 bucks!!! Nice!