Last week I manage to find some space to take the Mallard for its maiden flight. I flew the aircraft from grass and managed a successful, if short flight. I found it difficult to get the CoG forward enough, so I have subsequently added in a small fuselage extension forward of the wing to help in this regard.
Followers of the blog or Instagram will know that I had an incident with the prop chewing through the fuselage during a ground run. I managed to tape it up successfully for the first flight but it certainly wouldn't survive a run out on water. TheMallard was a bit batter and bruised, she had also suffered a bit of sun damage to the black and grey PLA.
During the first flight I wore a head mounted GoPro but unfortunately I didn't point it up enough to film the flight, only the take off. With the damage to the fuselage, Mallard 1 didn't survive the landing!
Following the precedent I have set for the other models, I have put the Mallard in the store at a reduced price (less than a coffee and a slice of cake!), until I can print Mallard 2 and do some water trials. For water operations the fuselage will need to be waterproofed, either by painting or some other means.
I am also going to use some bigger motors as during the maiden she was underpowered, I plan on using some 2836 1120kV motors, still running on 3S.
The Mallard as it is, is the original radial piston engined version but I am also working on engine nacelles for the Turbo Mallard so you can choose which look you prefer. Anyone who downloads the Mallard now will still receive the optional Turbo nacelles.
As always, Happy Flying,
Jon
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