EZ Christen Eagle II
This is an EZ models ARF that I found hanging from the ceiling of a
local hobby
shop. It wasn't quite finished, but it really caught my eye. It was
originally designed
to be powered with a .25 class glow engine. I modified it to run with
a Model
Electronics "War Emergency Power" Turbo 10+. I used 10 matched 1700's
to spin
the prop. I was told by a few glow fliers at the local field that it
wouldn't fly with a
schnuerle ported .28 so there was no way it could fly with an electric
motor. With
this in mind I didn't expect much when I tried some taxi runs on a
grass strip. The
day had about 10 MPH winds coming right down the runway. As I slowly
advanced power the "P" factor really started to kick in. I compensated
with the
rudder and before I knew it, she took off! I wasn't even
imagining this so I was
caught totally off guard. I kept her straight and gained some altitude
before turning
back towards me. By this time my knees and my hands were shaking and
it was
all I could do to get it around and lined up with the runway. I dropped
the power
slowly so as not to stall it and she settled down to a one bounce
touchdown!
Boy was I relieved and excited all at once. She actually flew
when I was
convinced it wouldn't work, and was still in one piece! Since then
I flew
her about a dozen more times. It really didn't have all the power I
would have
liked, wouldn't do a loop without a slight dive. The ground handling
was a bear
and I broke a few props before I decided to retire her. She now hangs
proudly
on display in my home.
