First flight of the updated version took place on October 21st. The weather broke just in time to get in three flights. The weather was overcast with a slight breeze down the runway- good enough! Everything was checked and double checked. Range check went fine and the control throws (after discussing them with my buddy James) looked good. It was time to fuel up the bird and light the Thunder Tiger Pro .46 engine. I taxied to the edge of the runway and turned her into the wind. I let the Goshawk eat up a fair amount of runway before rotating. The engine had no trouble getting the five and a half pound model off the ground. James (thanks man!) helped me out with the trims as I flew around. The model was much more stable in the air than I expected. The first flight was short and consisted of flying the traffic pattern and then a practice approach before attempting a landing. On final the model bleeds off speed at a nice rate and settles on the mains in a nose high attitude. No flaps were needed. The second flight was longer than the first and aileron response was tested. Rolls were crisp and axial on low rates. There was also no loss in aileron or elevator authority at slower speeds, however, no stall tests were attempted. The third flight was spent flying around for the camera and used up almost every drop in the 8oz tank. To sum things up, I was very pleased with the performance of the model.

             UPDATE (10.23.06)- First flight was a success! (details above)