Some of us have seen Jeff F. (aka "EDF Jeff") tear up the skies over TEMAC with his jets.
So I was surprised to receive his pilot report on his new acquisition quoted here with his blessing:

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Maiden 'Fly' Report:     

Well the very warm temperature on Sunday was too good to pass up. I didn't have proper batteries (coming on order) the only close one I had was a single 4S 2200mah. The plane is setup for 3cell 3300mah, power 25 and 12X8 prop, but use what you got right!? I found a beechwood turnigy 10X7 prop lying around and bolted it on. Hooked up the watt meter to make sure nothing would pop and got 37amps and 550watts on a 90% full lipo. Ok not too bad, next step try to make CG somehow, I threw in a 2S 1000mah and with everything shoved to the firewall it balanced half decent. Eflite has a large CG window on this one..     

Made it out to the field late, around 3:30pm, there was intermittent passing light drizzle, but not enough to worry about. I topped up the battery and put 'er on the runway. I initially only wanted to do a taxi test and do a lap of the runway, but she tracked straight and I had no time for games, so I throttled up and gently pulled back on the elevator. She didn't want to lift until the last quarter of the runway - this bird needs speed to take-off! Winds were very calm at ground level, but up higher was a swirling crosswind that made it difficult to fly and trim. I forgot how susceptible bi-planes are to crosswinds. I trimmed it a little, although it was difficult to judge since she was getting knocked around so after a couple minutes I made a bumpy landing.     

Well I decided to have one more go to see if I could do any better. I cranked up the charger to 8amps and 10mins later the battery was 95% full. It was starting to get dark, but at least the west winds seemed calmer now. I powered up and this time she took off with authority at a nice shallow angle. I kept the power on and did a few circuits, this time she was groovin'! I was surprised she had a good turn of speed in the air. I then tried an aileron roll, wow, the Rhap seemed to hover in the air! didn't lose any altitude, this one is definitely built for aerobatics, after a few half loops and hammerheads it was time to land. There was almost no wind at ground level, so I came in low and fast from the south for a smooth landing on the grass

I flew for 4 minutes using more power this time, it really handled the wind better, and the battery was at 14.8V, so with the proper lipos 6-8 minutes flights should be no problem.

Well there's a lot of untapped potential in this one, but will be put to rest until spring arrives  
cheers, 
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Congrats on your maiden, Jeff!

Nice airplane!


We're seeing more and more biplanes at the club. I like it!

Kind of looks like a Skywriter!

Nice update. Congrats Jeff.