with all the systems implemented.
The second maiden was done in turbulent
wind in the hot Dubai summer. Conditions
were tough with an OAT of 43 centigrade and
density altitude of 6000 ft. This flight was short
as the plane proved to be a bit tail heavy and
quite demanding to land. So I only did one cir-
cuit with it. Anyway, the landing was not bad at
all and once again, airframe #4 showed some
good manner at slow speed/ high AOA.
Subsequent flights with #4 were done at a
COG moved further by almost 1” and with
about 50 oz of lead in the nose. This plane
was flown for about 10 sessions to fine tune
the trims and throws and then sent to the paint
booth to get the VF-111 “Sundowner” red
scheme.
It was then flown according to my test flight
program including development of full aeroba-
tic capability and max design G load testing.
The test flight program took 3 months to open
up the entire flight envelope of the plane and
be ready to take the airframe to the market.
Crusader #4 is still flying on a regular basis
and gives me a lot of information about the
max load handling of the aircraft. Following
this link you can see a video of the Crusaderflying in 12 kts cross winds:
https://vimeo.com/
Crusader #4 has a takeoff weight of 18.6 Kgs.
Typical production line airplanes come out at
13.6 Kgs dry/ 16.6 kgs wet for the regular ver-
sion with a B-140F engine and 12.6 Kgs dry/
14.2 Kgs wet for the JWM version with plasma
bag tanks and 100N class engine.
Our production line is running on a compre-
hensive industrial quality system. Everycustomer purchasing a plane from us gets
access to our intranet system and its progress
report. Our team leaders post all the quality
checks on that intranet with pictures. Every
customer can see how the airframe is pro-
gressing and has access to the critical tasks
list with its pictures. This list includes things
like spar gluing, stabilizer torque rods pin pla-
cement and gluing etc... Each plane has got
its own serial number and every component is
traced. The team leader and production
managers sign the quality form at the end of
the production process and the plane is deli-
vered with all the quality forms as well as a
certificate of airworthiness.Tech specs:Scale: 1/7.
Fuselage length:2.3 m/ 90.4”
Span: 1.51 m/ 59.4”
Power: 140 to 160 N/ 30 to 35 lb
Fuel: 4 Litre/ 140 fl.oz Kevlar tanks (standard)
or 2 Litre plasma bag (JWM).
Dry weight: 12.7 Kgs to 13.7 Kgs/ 28-30 lbs
MTOW: 14.3 -16.7 Kgs-/ 31.5-36.8 lbsThis 3/4 view shows the typical profile of the plane with the wings up.The Crusader on approach.A slow pass with the wings extended. Always a pleasure to watch. A typical
flight routine can be seen on this video: https://vimeo.com/WEBSITE
Available in Europe from:
http://www.enata.comAvailable in the USA from:
http://www.ultimate-jets.netAUTHOR: OLIVIER NICOLAS
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