Whenever you design and build something, its always exciting to see wether it works or not. With most devices, there is a gradual scale of success. For instance, a lawnmower or a radio can (on the one end of the scale) work or (on the other end of the scale) not work. And in between there is an area of limited success. The lawnmower or radio can "kind of work". Some grass is left standing and the reception is so so.
Now when you design and build something that needs to fly, you enter a field where there is no gray area between success and failure. You cannot say something "kind of" flies. It either flies or crashes! There is no room for mediocre functionality. This is what makes aerospace an interesting and often unforgiving field. You either do your job 100%, because 99% means crash and failure.
And thus, the victory was sweet when the kiteplane took flight and flew wonderfully. The effect of vertical stabilizers on the lateral dynamic stability was wonderfully obvious. The coupling between the stabilizing effect of dihedral through slipping flight and the weathercock stability was something that was theorized about. And alas, reality concurred. It was a good day!
~ Jeroen Breukels
