Woohoo - it flies! I finally got it airworthy last night, and as luck would have it needed to take this afternoon off work anyway, so off I trotted to the nearest slope at Wittenham Clumps. A pretty place, but not a great slope at the best of times, and with the wind at about 45 degrees to the main slope, it was not the best of times! I tested the air with my DLG - that had no trouble staying up, but the air was rough and not providing much lift. Worth a go, though.
So off went the Quark - and wow! It's so sensitive and responsive, even at low speeds. With a touch of flaps it actually stayed up pretty well (though was obviously never going to match the DLG). The wind turned along the slope after a while, but before it did I managed to catch a thermal and gain enough height to do a loop and roll - the roll rate is amazing, and I loved the howl that it produced! After having to land due to lack of lift a few times I thought it best not to push things too hard. Really looking forward to flying this in good conditions!
