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Spiralling downwards, Barrie directed me towards a small farm strip he occasionally flies from and I began to plan an approach into it. Deciding to try a flap-less approach, I chose instead to instigate a steep sideslip during the turn from base to final, and was very impressed by the high sink rate that developed. Having convinced myself that the approach and subsequent landing would have worked out fine, I brought the power back up for the go-around, climbed rapidly back to 1,000ft and set off towards Cranfield.
As with every other aspect of the flight, the C-42 displayed impeccable manners in the circuit, although on both approaches the high residual thrust produced a slightly longer float than I would have liked. As noted earlier, application of flap produces a fairly marked change in pitch trim, although this was easily trimmed out.
After the final landing we taxied back to the hangar, where the Rotax stopped with its characteristic ‘clunk’ (due to the reduction gearbox). I folded the throttle flat and dismounted. Walking to the back of the Ikarus, I had a closer look at the TV camera, and couldn’t help but feel that a mirror does the same job considerably cheaper. As a Tug Master of many years’ experience, I was also slightly sceptical of its ability to tow many modern sailplanes. While it would probably be adequate as long as you are operating off a hard surface, I know that should the ground be in any way soft or the grass long and/or wet, then 100 horses simply aren’t enough. Indeed, less than 200 hp will probably not even pull a heavy sailplane out of the mud, let alone propel it to flying speed in any reasonable runway length. And it goes without saying that field retrieves would be out of the question.
I must say that I was very pleasantly surprised by the C-42 and, contrary to what I was expecting during the drive down, I really did enjoy flying it. Over a cup of coffee I chatted to Barrie and his business partner Nigel Sams and asked them why they had chosen to import the C-42. Interestingly, it transpired that they had never intended to become the UK distributors – originally they had merely wanted one for themselves. However, having flown the aircraft they had been so impressed by its capabilities that they decided to become the UK agents. This story rather reminded me of the late US entrepreneur Victor Kiam, who had ‘so liked the Remington razor that he bought the company’ that made them. That’s a pretty good testimony for any product! As this article was going to press, Flybuy Ultralights were waiting to receive UK approval from the CAA. The Ikarus has recently had a very high profile, having been featured in national newspapers and on TV. With good performance, excellent handling and very low acquisition and running costs,
I think we’ll be seeing a lot more of this particular ‘Small Light Aeroplane’!

November 2 0 0 1 This article appeared in the November 2001 issue of Today's Pilot. To purchase this back-issue contact our mail order department on +44(0)1780 480404 or click the banner below to visit our secure online shop.

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