GP One landing After a crazy busy February and March, I've finally got back to flying in the GP One. Murray Hagen has been instructing me in the gentle art of landing. Lots of low passes the length of Manapouri Airport's 1.6 km sealed runway have helped me gain an appreciation of how high the aircraft should be off the ground and increased my confidence in how controllable the GP One is at low speed.
Bruce preparing to fly I find that the GP One is quick to accelerate and is airborne in about 100m without trying. After some adjustment of the prop pitch, it is now climbing at 5500rpm engine revs. Cruise at 5000rpm is over 100 knots, with maximum speed in excess of 115 knots. The GP One is very light on the controls. When approaching the runway for landing, it's nice to be able to flick the electric flap lever to #2 position, then after slowing the aircraft down to 50 knots and adjusting the trim, it obediently holds this speed and nose-down attitude right down to the levelling-off point. With plenty of drag from the flaps, the GP One settles nicely onto the runway.
