Thanks to the building prowess of clubmate Aldwyn Matthews I've finally flown the Banana.
Not only did he build it for me, he also delivered it and took me flying, what a guy!
So there we are, on top of the Garth mountain that overlooks my house ( the mountain was the inspiration for the Hugh Grant film 'The Man Who Went Up A Hill And Came Down A Mountain' ), standing in a 15 mph easterly and enjoying some great flying, more of which in a moment.
Local twin stick pilot Guillaume takes the sticks while I take some photos. He did a great job and I got some awesome shots. I landed the rascal and posed a few gorgeous photos. The mountain overlooks Cardiff, the sun was setting and the moon was in shot - perfect. I'd even dragged a tripod all the way up the hill. The exposures on the preview screen looked stunning. Stunning that is until I noticed the warning message 'NO COMPACT FLASH CARD INSERTED'. No, it can't be. I'd left the memory card in my laptop and all my others were in another bag. F%^k, tw*t, Bo@*ocks. So that explains the lack of photos - I'm a daft fu@?er!!
Anyway, the Banana.... it's definitely good. I need to do a few tweaks to the differential and snapflap but all the ingredients are there for a great performer. It absolutely zips around the place, turns quickly yet is a complete doddle to fly.
It reminds me a little of the Voltij in that it absolutely, totally and comprehensively encourages you to fly in a manner that you perhaps would not with other aircraft.
A full write up will follow soon, and hopefully some photos!!!