Was windy at Cobb County RC club in Marietta, GA but had a maiden today on a Peter Wales vintage built and Donnie Roberts painted Vario Scchweizer I purchased at the annual Scale fly-in Darrel Sprayberry hosts in Dalton GA every year. I hadn't been in 10 years and bought two great machines - this being one.
Electric power with 10 pole 295 kv KDE motor with a 12.25 gear ratio, the machine taps out at 900 RPM - and flies well there (but could use some governor headroom). Demon 3X and Castle 120 A Phoenix Edge HV ESC with 12S (2x8000mah in series) makes for long flight times. Just getting used to the 3X but it flew ok after some dialing in. Added position, strobe and landing lights and got the Scalerchelis light system working.
This is a big bird that weighs a good deal more than the 15kg the Vario catalog suggests it weighs - but that's likely because of the two lead bricks the 8000mah packs add. :) Loved it though.