IN FLIGHT: A cruise RPM of 5450 produces 69 kts at 15 litres/hr on 96 octane automobile fuel. This gives 5 hours with 30 min. reserve with the 80 litres useable. At the low cruise speeds very tight radiused turns can be achieved with quite small bank angles. Laying one of the windscreen V bars (that go from the wing root down to the top of the engine mount) flat on the horizon gives a 35 bank angle and it is hard to envisage where more rapid turns would be required. Roll control is very light and the stick, centrally mounted between the seats, has very little movement. Rudder inputs are not totally instinctive and a self centering mechanism in the nosewheel steering set up tends to make for rather clumsy rudder operation initially. Any out of balance condition results in very audible airflow buffet on the very thin large slab fuselage sides. The rudder is easily trimmed on the ground by turning the rod connecting the pedals to the nosewheel which adjusts it’s length. I have trimmed mine for cruise which also works well for cruise climb but requires  attention on other manouvres. The 701 is very stable in cruise and with the infinitely incremental electric elevator trim can be set up to fly hands off  for long periods, any pitch variation corrected by leaning forward or backwards fractionally, any roll wander corrected by the slightest squeeze of rudder. This is great for map reading or for inflight refreshments.

STALLING: The power off, flap zero stall occurs about 30 kts although it is hard to pick until one observes the altimeter unravelling.. The aircraft remains with a body angle of about 5 deg nose up and is quite stable. The flaperons which are set below the wing are still in reasonably clear air and “washout” is effected by the outboard section being set a few degrees less than the inboard. The result is that provided the rudder is balanced, roll control remains effective albeit sluggish. The power on stall with flap 0 takes more stamina than I can provide. With 5000 RPM set and the stick hard back the airspeed settles back to about 20 kts. The body angle hasn’t been measured but it is so steep it feels as though the dry sump lubricating system must surely be in jeopardy or the acid must be spilling out of the battery. There is still a slight climb and the angle of attack indicator, a vane some 300 mm forward of the leading edge slats reads 52 degrees relative to the lower surface of the wing although I think the true angle of attack is more like 28 degrees. It is a pity one can’t see the airflow at that point the upwash must be fantastic! Flap extension is arguably the most difficult operation in the 701. With a speed limit of 55 kts the designer set up the control leverage so that only Superman could combat the airloads at speeds of over 40 kts and weaklings have to reduce to about 30. The flap 30 (full flap), power on stall is a buffet acompanied mush with a very low descent rate with virtually no airspeed indication. The nose remains relatively level accompanied by twitchy pitch oscillations of  about 10 deg. It feels as though it’s going to bite but hasn’t yet.  (Well it has since this was first written! The right wing dropped rapidly in turbulent conditions. A squeeze of left rudder and a slight check forward and it was happy again. The inadvertant roll was only around 20 degrees before recovery. It was not alarming.)  In 15 kts of wind it is quite easy to fly backwards and is interesting to note the GPS counting down 4, 3, 2, 1 and then appear to increase, 1, 2, 3, 4, even though one knows the speed in decreasing. It all makes sense when one twigs to the fact that the Track Made Good has flicked through 180 degrees and we are reversing! The power off flap 30 stall is rather strange and treat my explanation with some caution as I don’t know for sure. Entering the stall attempting to maintain a “one g” loading is difficult as with the combination of high drag and low inertia  the speed washes exceptionally fast. At about 35 kts the nose drops and the aircraft settles about 5 deg nose down. A very small power application restores elevator authority. I am reasonably sure that what has happened here is that the elevator has lost it’s effectiveness through the disc drag effect of the 3 bladed prop blanketing the entirley prop wash swept tailplane. (See also my earlier comments).

ENGINE FAILURE: 
Question:During a power-off glide (engine shutdown) in a piston engine aircraft with a fixed pitch propeller, is the glide ratio better with the prop windmilling or with the prop stopped?
Answer: (Courtesy of "Ask the Experts" at ipilot.com.) "Stopped, because the propeller produces more and more drag the faster it turns".

In the 701, switching the engine off results in the prop stopping almost immediately which is of course quite different to G.A. aircraft. This is due to the 2 &1/4 gearbox reduction coupled with the relatively high cylinder compression. With the prop stopped elevator control is available to much lower speeds and the glide distance is noticably improved. Whilst I have not attempted to stall it with the engine stopped, elevator control was markedly better during the touch down than when the engine is idling. (This raises the spectre that the simulated engine out practice done by closing the throttle is possibly quite erroneous and a real engine out under the same circumstances could result in overshooting the mark. Unfortunately I havn’t enough instrumentation to get accurate data but I suspect there will be a RPM setting which would equate to the stopped prop drag.) With the engine running and throttle closed at moderate weights with 4 degrees set on my angle of attack indicator, (best lift drag ratio) speed equates to 48 kts. I am guessing that at the same weight and ang/attack with the engine stopped the speed would be around 40 kts.)