I have a Just Aircraft Escapade, which is now sold in the UK as a Sherwood Scout which has a larger tail and some other changes. The Highlander has a larger tail too which looks almost identical to that of the Scout.
Anyway, I've done a few hours in this Escapade and it's a fun little plane, and well mannered at lower speed. However, at cruise of around 80kt the plane exhibits quite poor directional stability. It has really bad adverse yaw as well, but I can live with that.
The main problem is that in anything but dead smooth air, constant work is required to keep the plane pointing straight, so it's quite tiring to fly. The obvious answer is to fit the larger tail, and I have contacted the manufacturer but they don't seem too excited to sell me a new tail. Again, I can live with it, but it's certainly annoying especially when letting passengers fly.
Is there anything else I could look at doing? The tail is fairly short, but the fin area doesn't seem abnormally small. Rudder and elevator control is perfectly adequate. I realise the only practical answer may be to simply fit a bigger tail though.
Anyway, I've done a few hours in this Escapade and it's a fun little plane, and well mannered at lower speed. However, at cruise of around 80kt the plane exhibits quite poor directional stability. It has really bad adverse yaw as well, but I can live with that.
The main problem is that in anything but dead smooth air, constant work is required to keep the plane pointing straight, so it's quite tiring to fly. The obvious answer is to fit the larger tail, and I have contacted the manufacturer but they don't seem too excited to sell me a new tail. Again, I can live with it, but it's certainly annoying especially when letting passengers fly.
Is there anything else I could look at doing? The tail is fairly short, but the fin area doesn't seem abnormally small. Rudder and elevator control is perfectly adequate. I realise the only practical answer may be to simply fit a bigger tail though.
