Back in June, two staff from the Skyleader factory traveled to NZ and updated SkyFreedom Aviation’s GP One to the latest specs. This included making significant changes to the exhaust, radiator and cowling layout.
As they left to fly back to the Czech Republic, they asked me to look after the assembly, engine run and initial flight. After completing some unfinished tasks and adding some extra features such as storage compartments, a friend and I transported the GP One to the Invercargill Airport where we assembled the light sport aircraft in the Southern Wings hangar.
On a miserably wet afternoon, I tied the GP One down and did an engine run. The temps and pressures came up OK.
I had to wait a couple of days for the weather to improve before flying the GP One.