Phoenix MP Snowy ~ Maiden Flight

Two months after finishing the model the weather and opportunity finally arrived and she took off today.
With due credit to the designer I have to say that this glider exceeded all expectations.
I have built a few rudder/elevator 'trainer' models in my time and their flight performance is typically slow to move and slow to respond especially to rudder input. Not so the Snowy, from the moment it left my hand it was clear that this is a surprisingly slippery ship, with no penetration issues in spite of its low weight. The rudder looks small, but it is remarkably effective and Snowy will turn on a sixpence if required, then only a dab of down elevator is needed before pulling back for a tiny tight loop or two. All this and my thumb was barely moving the stick - I think I need to reduce the throws or set 50% exponential, which I have never needed before.
There was a warm NE breeze on Wolstonbury Hill this morning, it was very light, but no need to worry because Snowy needs barely a whiff to take it aloft and when the wind picked up it didn't want to come down at all. So it's an ideal model for marginal conditions.
The two-piece wing made for easy transportation:

Assembly was very straightforward:

And she's ready to go:

There are no landing aids, like airbrakes or flaps, so you have to bring it in straight and level and hope for the best. As you may know Wolstonbury Hill is very lumpy, so the impact resilience of this model is very welcome. The wings popped off a couple of times - on the first occasion they left all the rubber bands in place on the fuselage (a very neat trick); the second 'abrupt' landing bent the wing joiner slightly, so I'll get some spares for next time.

Happy landings,

 

Russell H