Gimpy Pilot Report – Christen Eagle II Aerobatic Biplane

So in late Summer 2012, I finally scored an Eagle ride. Thanks to Conrad Nordquist (owner) and Norm Manary (pilot) at historic Flabob (KRIR) in N22XS. Norm let me take the PIC seat and we went out for almost an hour. I was able to sample general ground and air handling qualities, flew a bunch of figures in the practice box at Redlands (KREI), and even sampled a little cross-country and radio work.

The big bubble canopy and easy ingress/egress layout of the Eagle cockpit is a key feature I am sure has had an impact in the long term success of the airplane – visibility is, for a biplane, tremendous and as an amputee I take ingress/egress pretty seriously.

On a flight in a beautiful 160hp Long-EZ to the Golden State airshow in northern CA a few years ago, I tried the front seat on for size after we landed, and when I tried an emergency ground egress drill my prosthetic foot got stuck under the instrument panel lip – when I jumped out of the airplane I was short a leg, it was still in the cockpit – pretty funny as a story, but not good if I would ever need to get out in a hurry.  There are no such worries in the Eagle II.

Engine start was easy enough, and my leg was no issue for taxi. Given the tightness of Flabob’s runway and my low tailwheel experience, Norm elected to conduct the takeoff and landing but I rode along on the rudder, didn’t seem much more pedal dancing than the Extra.

Departing Flabob, Norm gave me control of the plane shortly after takeoff and I carefully explored the basic handling qualities as we made our way over to the box at Redlands.

Once in the practice area at Redlands I tried some Steep Turns, then a few Aileron Rolls before moving on to a Loop, a 3-turn Spin, a couple Half-Cuban 8’s, two decent Hammerheads, a nice Split S, and a comfy pull-pull-pull Humpty-Bump.  The Eagle just plugged right through all of them, even though we were slightly heavy and it was warm out.

Navigating back to Flabob it became apparent that the cockpit and instrument layout are perfect for solo flight being split between the front and rear cockpits (radios, engine and fuel controls in back,  flight and engine instruments in the front), but it is surprising how usable they are with a passenger in the front seat.

Norm brought the Eagle back into Flabob for a nice easy landing, and we rolled out for a fairly smooth and straight landing.  As with the takeoff, I rode along on the rudder pedals and it really didn’t seem much more ‘nervous’ than the Extra, although the Eagle at least from appearances, is much more short coupled.

Overall, for a design that is more than two decades older, has the extra drag inherent in a biplane, and only 200hp, the Eagle actually compared well to the Extra in my opinion. Probably the biggest thing I noticed is that the rudder and elevator inputs are much smaller than roll in the Eagle, that would take some getting used to.  In this sense the Extra is better balanced.

The back side of the front seat seat pan did scratch my prosthetic a little, and my knee was close to interference with the canopy hinge fitting on the right side but I am convinced I can make an Eagle work for me. I was able to get on the brakes well enough it seemed.

Thanks again to Norm and Conrad for the opportunity and hospitality.  Now I just need to collect the coin needed to get one of my own.

‘Gimp