First production Harrier Arrives

   Piggy backing on an order of my own, I was able to have my first sight of a production Harrier.  Boxed up really nicely and arriving in 9 days after shipping through Fed Ex. 

  At the time of writing,the Fed ex price of a delivery to the UK is around 170USD. 

 The import cost came to just £28 to clear the box.  Bringing the total cost of the model to less than 600gbp to the door. I can't think of better value available. 

  The Harrier was very nicely packaged.- Much neater that my garage at the moment!

  The finish, weight and quality of the model felt excellent.  I was able to drop the model off to a very happy flyer on my next day out to Whitesheet.

  A cold day on the hill but with my own Harrier feeling more and more familiar it was nice to carve it around in different feeling air.  

Fun flying and a fun day

 

  Even in the cold you can’t beat going getting out and enjoying flying, take you best friend too!  Perhaps not the most focussed of days when I think I am supposed to be learning how to up-turn but it was time I got to grips with my spare harrier with the Glass wings.

  After flying the Harrier for so much of the summer, my numb thumbs still felt in control with the set up making it easy to crank around.

  Just good fun for a day.  Things got better when my figures were defrosted enough to pick up a progress picture on the new Falcon.  That’s a nice shaped tail and is a great indication of the quality of production!

More wintery fun

   A fun morning playing with the Harrier while exercising.  A cold wind and I was determined to practise EM up-turns.  It's something I've threatened to do for a long time. Nordic, reversals, bank and yank I've played with them all but it felt like quite a plunge to pull up into a turn.

  Give it a go, the kick and pace out of the urn is amazing! I know that most of the better pilots have been using this for years but this old dog takes time to learn new tricks.

  My confidence in the Harrier now means that it wasn't until after one particularly fast run that I realised I'd failed to even flex the model, never mind bend or break it.  I do like the Harrier's roll rate- especially when I've got it pointed towards me 3/4 inverted and coming fast!

  I can't remember the last time I got back from any slope buzzing this much.  Now to be able to do it consistently or when there's a buzzer:-)

Steady progress on the new molds

   The cold weather is slowing down the preparation of the new molds.  With a project like this, its better to make it right than make it quick.

  I can't wait to get my hands on the new toy and my first full production Harrier too.  I could have a building fest over Christmas.

Storm flying with bad thumbs!

   Thanks to Ian Falconer for recording my attempts at storm flying.  The focus does improve on the second video.

  Not the best lift of the day but at 3.8kg she keeps on going!

Gliding 101

 

  There have been some absolute classic models designed and produced of around 2.5m span.  These have followed some differing design paths separated by many years.  The fabled Wizard Compact and Needle 100 are very different but very successful models.  Choosing between the 2 would be a tough choice!

  The Compact has been part of my fly fleet for many years, I love them.  On my last holiday on Lundy I soon started to wonder why I bothered to bring anything else!

  I love models of this size, they do seem to offer a wonderful balance of performance and sport flying fun.  I have raced my compact to good effect a number of times.  I haven’t been able to find a model of this size available with really appeals to me, so given the chance to help produce one it’s time to make one.

 The aim of the new model is to apply the design principals what have worked so well for the Harrier and to a smaller model of comparable size.

  The CAD files have been completed and molds are nearly ready and the test models shoud be ready to fly when the air starts to get nice and chilly in December.  Once there are some more pictures I’ll be sure to post them.

Setting up and having fun

 

  A chance to spend a few hours on the hill when the wind it blowing should never be scoffed at.  Over the past few weeks I’ve had a few chances to get out, taking the co-pilot has kept the flying time down but been good fun.

  Each time I’ve flown I’ve gone away and thought about the Harrier set-up so that the next time it’s been flown she’s been faster and better at resisting the slowing effects of my thumbs.  This Sunday the harrier felt ready to go.  Getting to know the production model has been an incremental process but the power of the tail has been great to feel.  The Harrier felt so comfortable with 900g of ballast and felt like it has a real step, were it went from fast to wow.

  Flying along side club mates, with their Pitbull 2’s is a help as a yard stick to compare the Harrier to is a huge help.  It did feel like the best thumbs in the best lift got the fastest flights- funny that!

  Stacking models to keep out of the rain!