[caption id=”attachment_419” align=”alignleft” width=”300” caption=”Super Cub”][/caption]In the sense that it left the ground and came back again in the same number of pieces. It wasn’t necessarily pretty. I was able to put in about 5 flights this evening on the Tritle Cub that I started a couple months back. It’s still not complete, there is still some painting to go and some kinks to iron out (literally), but it was done enough to get airborne.

The first flight was a bit jumpy while I worked out a few trimming issues. My covering job certainly could use some tweaking as I believe I introduced a couple warps in the rudder and wings that need some attention. I’m confident that can be fixed though. I was able to work it out enough to get a few more shorter flights in to get a feel for it. It’s a big departure from my customized Lancair… you could almost catch this cub as soon as land it. It’ll be interesting to tweak over the next month and see how much some balance, trim and re-covering will shore it up. Being my first plans build I kind of expected this type of learning curve.

This was a fun first plans built project. I learned a lot. First and foremost, I’m sticking to planes with a little more substance from now on! It was pretty amazing to see all the flimsy sticks of 1/8x1/8 balsa come together into something that is remarkably sturdy for its weight. It took a bit of finesse during the build though, and I felt more like a bull in a China shop. That said, Pat Tritle makes a nice short kit, I remain curious to see his future kits.

Aside from straightening out the flight surfaces a bit, the finish needs to be completed. I decided to base the covering on the Mountain Goat Stol. Some blue on the cowl and painting in the mountains and that will be done. After that it’s just a matter of hooking up the lights and enjoying some calm evenings.

And now I believe it’s time to get back to some technical content…