SF1 Rhino Prototype Takes To The Air_____

Aerotuff’s first prototype, the SF1 Rhino flew for the first time on November 23 and surpassed all expectations. Prior to the first flight we experienced our first accident with the prototype. A misconfigure of the ailerons (my fault) led to the aircraft cartwheeling six times down the runway… The result, one popped rivet. This aircraft is really tuff.

Hinterland club member, DJ, took the controls for the first flight. For this flight we set the dihedral at 10° (training setting) expecting reasonable stability. Well, we got that right, a short takeoff run and the Rhino climbed away beautifully. After a little control trimming, DJ made his first pass down the runway HANDS FREE.

DJ admitted that he was nervous flying a somewhat radical, unproven aircraft that belonged to someone else but once he was airborne the nerves washed away and he really enjoyed the experience. After a 10 minute test flight and a 3 point landing it was smiles all round. DJ reported that the aircraft responded well to all inputs and was a joy to fly.

In the next phase of testing we will fit different motors and propellers and compare results to find the optimum match up.

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