First Flight Planned For Friday

Marietta, GA-based SWT Aviation is working diligently toward a planned first flight of its SportCub XP floatplane sometime Friday in central Florida.

John Moreland, the company's Florida sales rep, tells ANN that after some refinements to the landing gear advisory system, taxi tests have been underway this week. He said the aircraft is very stable on the Mead floats "which is what we expected since this SportCub installation is almost identical to our previous CarbonCub installation. The larger brake calipers used on the Grove wheels are very effective."

However, Moreland says that the weather in Florida for the last few weeks has not been the greatest. "It has not meshed well with my schedule so what has happened is that the days that I am available to fly the weather has been crappy or windy and crappy," he said. "Consequently, we have not flown yet. My preference for a first flight is light winds and a very light chop so as to best have an initial look at the way the floats handle on the water. We don’t expect any problems because the Mead 1430A float system has flown before and proven to be a stable and strong float.

"I am hoping to fly SportCub XP on floats this Friday so I can attend the Florida Cub Flyers event on Saturday and the South Florida Splash-In at Lake Jackson in Sebring on Sunday with more flying to follow."

Good luck, John. Here's to fair skies and light winds.

(Image provided by SWT Aviation)

FMI: www.swtaviation.com