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Review: The CG Mirage 550 (Part III)

The Carl Goldberg press photo of the stock Mirage 550. The modified version discussed here is lightened slightly, with ailerons and very little dihedral.

This is the last in a 3-part series about my experiences modifying the Carl Goldberg Mirage 550. In December, I gave an overview of the kit and outlined some of my modifications to the structure (lightening holes, dihedral mods, ailerons). In January I highlighted the motor and battery system for ``glow'' performance. And now...

The Moment of Truth; when you advance the throttle and hear the whisper-quiet turbine-like whine of a geared motor spinning up to maximum RPM. Watching white gossamer wings lift buoyantly as you pull back on the elevator ever so gently and watch it take to the air, gracefully but very authoritatively! And wow, what a sweet flier. With 10 new 2000 mAH NiCads, it lifts off very briskly and has a very steep climb angle, especially into a light wind. Aileron response is good right down to the stall speed. Landings are slow and controlled, and with the Mirage's clean lines, it will float forever if you keep the airspeed up. Its Selig 3021 airfoil shows its sailplane heritage when the lift's good as well. Modest aerobatics are a snap (no pun intended). All-in-all, it lives up to its name as an all-around relaxed but fun flier. And I put hooks in for floats, so...

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Summary: Designing and building an electric plane for ``glow'' performance.



Craig Kulesa
Wed Mar 3 21:45:44 MST 1999