the GEE BEE 72 inch Wing Span by George Manser.

edited by Mick Hirst.

for photos of the naked frame work click

The maiden flight take-off is always a test of nerve and this model was no exception. Quite a strong tendency to veer to the left, probably due to the 90 four stroke powering it. Once in the air evaluation of the control responses soon indicated hyperactivity. A little left stick resulted in a severe (almost stall) turn in it's own length whilst right stick was reasonably controllable.

Getting it up to a decent altitude allowed trimming to commence and surprisingly very little was required. Then after a few circuits the engine cut, fortunately on an approach towards the strip, now the pressure was on (brown trousers). Landing a new model for the first time is bad enough but with a dead engine, hypersensitive controls and no chances to conduct dummy runs was a real test of nerve however, we got it down in one piece.

Realising that the engine had run out of fuel was relieving in that there was no apparent engine problems. So a couple more test flights was done allowing a little more familiarisation and assessment.