Great Planes "DAZZLER" Followup Report
By Bob McDougall--from the Oct. '98 Leading Edge Newsletter

...Well, after a major mishap, my ‘old faithful’ weekend plane is no more, so I’ve finally had to resort to removing my Dazzler from ‘hangar queen’ status. After a couple of break-in runs on the engine and only 6 test flights, I used it at the Zillah Fun Fly last weekend, so I can now finish the Product Report I started in a previous issue, which talked only about kit quality and construction.

Following a quick covering job with Monokote and Econokote, RC installation, and the mounting of a brand new OS .46FX, the plane weighed in at about 4-1/2 lbs. The CG came out right at the forward end of the recommended range, and I left it there for the first few flights. These initial flights immediately pointed out two minor problems: First, the stock 5/32 wire landing gear is a bit too soft, and second, the plane was just a bit too "well-behaved" for fun fly events. I added a bit of tip weight to correct a minor lateral imbalance, added 1-1/4 oz. of lead to the tail, and tried again. Loop tracking was improved, but the plane still feels just a tad nose heavy; I left it that way for the Fun fly, figuring it would be better to keep it on the safe side... the good news was that I survived the fun fly without mishap; the bad news was that I placed poorly due to conservative flying and the too-soft main gear, which just didn’t cut it for the touch & go events.

The bottom line after about a dozen flights: I’m quite pleased with the performance of the Dazzler so far... with the OS .46 running a 12-5 Zinger prop, the vertical power is more than sufficient to accelerate vertically or sustain a hover. The 12-5, while providing better acceleration and low-speed performance, does pose a minor ground clearance problem. Maneuvers are crisp and fast, although not like the full-blown ‘screaming butterfly’ competition fun fly ships. Taxiing is much better than I anticipated, so my modifications to allow conversion to tri-gear may prove unnecessary. My particular model exhibits a very different glide slope than the ‘old faithful’, so I’m still practicing my touch & go maneuvers... this is due to the rapid deceleration caused by the fat airfoil when throttling back.

Overall, I feel that the Dazzler will be a very good all-round performer once I get the balance point moved back just a bit further and add some stubbornness to the landing gear. The "Final Fling" this coming weekend should be a good test.