Fresca

[george kennie]

Wow,wow,wow,.........I just got back from the flying field after doing
the maiden on my new Fresca.  When I got there it turned out to be
windier than I had hoped that it would be. I almost packed up and came
back home, but I decided to chance it as my trip to the field takes
almost an hour and I didn't want all that time to go for naught. Well,
at any rate, I gassed it up and taxiied out to runway center lined it up
and took a deep breath......"Here goes" advancing gradually it became
airborne in about 80 feet and proceed to fly out pretty straight, kinda
by itself, as I was a little nervous and not focusing all that
well.After all, this thing took me longer to build than anything else I
have ever done so I was somewhat apprehensive. O.K., procedure turn and
back for my free pass, oops got a little dive here, two or three clicks
of up elevator, "Ah that's better, Hmmm, this thing doesn't need any
aileron, boy, it feels like my Focus! O.K. let's try that stall turn
with 1&1/4 up, Zooooom, Wow that roll rate is impressive, and still have
beaucoup climb after completion of the roll. Oops, screwed up on the
down line and rolled the opposite way, that's O.K, I'll just pull out
inverted."
Well anyway, you get the idea. I was somewhat aghast that with a 15 mph
30 degree cross wind blowing in, this thing would come out of a down
line and transition to level flight and the wings would ABSOLUTELY LOCK
straight and level like there was no cross at all! For me it kinda
confirms all the stuff that I've been able to learn about force
arangements over the last 5 or 6 years from guys like Bryan(helped me a
lot).
I proceeded on through the Masters pattern and was really impressed with
the vertical performance. I threw in the figure 9 from the FAI  sequence
just to see how well it would handle all the drag and it never even
slowed down. You're probably saying, " they're not supposed to with a
DZ". Well I want you to know that I am using a 120 FZ on 20/20 and this
thing is awesome. Verticals are more authoritive than my Focus with a
150. The thing that really blew me away is the fact that I don't think
this thing has unlimited vertical. I did one ascent that had me
convinced that it was going to cease gaining altitude, but that point
occurred at about 1200 feet, it was a spec!
I took it up twice and then decided to pack it in 'til I get a little
more stick time on this bird under more favorable conditions.
Yeah, I know you're saying, "what's a Fresca?" It's a design I came up
with around the first of last December and built it up over the winter.
Oh yeah, I forgot to add that the mix is almost negligeable. It's got a
very slight pull to the canopy on K/E to the right and straight as a die
to the left. Just a hint of adverse couple to the right, but you have to
wait quite a while before it starts to show.
  It's a little smaller than 2 meters, but the nice thing is it came in
at 8&1/2 pounds.It has a one piece wing that weighs, with servos
installed, covered, and a substantial belly pan/pipe tunnel on the wing
bottom, under 28 ounces.Matt K. has always told me about light wings and
now I know what he's talking about.In spite of the roll rate being quite
crisp the wing stops quickly and stabilizes.This is my first experience
owning an aircraft with a power to weight ratio of this calibre and I
also know that there are others out there with an even greater ratio
which must be totally awesome.

 For me it was all in all a pretty rewarding experience.
Georgie
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