Graeme Test Flies his Rafale
Hi All,
I am happy to report a V. Successful test flight of the Rafale. I had always thought the landing would be challenging due to the canard / delta design, hadn’t thought about mundane things like taking off & flying. 
Liftoff was smooth / No roll correction required. Needed 4 bangs of up trim. Took off on full throw elevator & switched to full rate aileron after a minute or two. Landing approach after 5 1/2 mins from the east, quite remarkable sink rate, needed 60% power to maintain height with the nose high approach, then bled the power off & smoothly touched down. C of G was correct as per Aviation design, but I will slowly move it rearwards & also check a web program to calculate it, it seems too far fwd, but, it worked I didn’t shake / rattle / roll at all. 
Phew……..now when I have a nana nap, I won’t wake within 2 mins with a high pulse rate, visualising the landing approach of the Rafale. Thanks to Kevin Dodd, MAAA sec who is a HM & GT Inspector, for the signing off.
Regards Graeme