Pegasus France

So what does one do early in the morning. I took my hang gliding friend to Sisteron this morning at 0645 to catch a bus to Marseille. On my return I received a call from my friend Pierre who asked if I would test fly light weight trike. The machine is a combination of a light weight trike and a beefed up hang glider wing. The engine was a Corsair 2 stroke that delivers 25hp. On first seeing the machine it was evident that the machine was very well put together and had a high attention to detail. The finish was very nice and I was very curious to see how it might fly . So as they say "if it looks right then it will probably fly alright". After an inspection of the machine I could see no reason not to give it a go.

Single seat trikes, like this one, are far removed from the machines that we are used to flying....powerful,fast, long range and full of sophisticated gadgets. This machine is all about the fun, for the hell of it, for the joy of being in the air, for the real sensation of being aloft and the practicality of something you can de-rig/rig as required without a million battens and a whole load of weight. This is the sort of machine you can thermal, soar with the local vultures, switch off in flight  and take to the cloud base in a strong ascending current. This is not the machine that you will fly in strong winds or tour with easily but presents a new dimension into adventure. It reminded me of the early days when it was a miracle to run out of fuel before you ran out of engine. To be fair though the engine is a modern power plant that shows exhaust gas temperatures and a cylinder head temperature too. It is beautifully put together and has a lovely finish.

Following my brief from Pierre I started the engine and felt quite confident in it's ability to deliver the goods. I taxied out...not much to check...one magneto meant that the mag was working if the engine was making noise. Fuel? a consumption of 2.5 litres per hour meant that I could amuse myself on as much petrol as you could soak into an oily rag. Trim....hasn't got one so fly by feel. Instruments .....look over the side and see how small the houses look in flight and that's how high you are. I felt at ease with the simplicity and thus was looking forward to slipping the surly bonds of planet earth and taking the machine aloft. Here is the start up:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiCC3JGFmhw&feature=youtu.be

I lined up on the tarmac runway and floored the throttle. The delivery of power was quite solid and the machine was eager to go. In pitch the machine was immediately seen to be stable and I took off in a matter of yards. On the climb out I wasn't doing the usual 1000 feet per minute but I was climbing. In fact there was no gauge to say how fast I was climbing but I could see I was making vertical progress. I flew around for a while enjoying the handling that was akin to my competition hang glider. Floating along at perhaps 30 mph it was delightful and I had a silly grin on my face that I used to get flying a Lazair. Turning the machine was a single handed affair and one could almost park in the air if I gently eased the bar forwards. The stall was hard to achieve and I had a great time playing in the machine. Three landings later Pierre and I had adjusted the mixture to allow for a reasonable cylinder head temperature as the initial mixture was slightly lean.

After half an hour of larking about in the air I departed in my car and headed off to Tallard where some serious mountain flying awaited with six eager pilots keen to tackle all the mountain strips. A different kind of flying all together but I was raving to them about the joys of simple flying...no fuss...no things to fiddle with and all the time in the world to look at the wonders beneath in a simple flying machine. If anyone is lucky enough to get a chance to go right back to basics then I firmly recommend the experience. A real detachment from aviation as we know it today . Back to the days when pilots were alchemists and we flew from fields with simple means . When being aloft was a real thrill and we had no big fish to fry. Many thanks Pierre for letting me have a go and I look forward to trying it in the thermals one day! To see the machine take to the air then click on the link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y86vM7YfBvY