As a new forum member I have some questions regarding building this aircraft. To
begin with I'm a rusty low time pilot with time in the usual Cessnas and Piper
aircraft including some instrument time in a 180 Archer. No tail dragger time
although I would certainly get this prior to flying any homebuilt project.
I'm currently reviewing a number of project possibilities including the Fly Baby
and the Piet, the advantage with the Piet being the 2 place configuration. (
Both similar build times ) How difficult is this aircraft to fly? and is it a
hand-full on the ground?
Years ago back in the 70's I built a large RC model of this aircraft that I entered
in the Canadian Scale Nationals in Calgary. Frankly I was less than impressed
with the flight characteristics. It was difficult to balance with the short
nose moment, a bear to handle on the ground with that narrow gear, being prone
to ground loops and dragging a wing tip, especially in a cross-wind. In the
air it was particularly touchy in pitch and not pleasant to fly.
I realize it is difficult to compare the flight characteristics of a model to full
size ( Reynolds numbers etc. ) but they both have that narrow gear and almost
no dihedral, in fact in head-on flight pics the aircraft appears to have
zero dihedral.
Any thought on these comments? I love the aircraft and would consider powering
it with a C-85 or possibly a Corvair, the photos of the British G-BUCO are especially
inspiring.
Thx for the help,
Nigel Jones, BC, Canada
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Nigel R. Jones
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