Getting in and out of the Chaser S takes more a little care than its dual seat counterparts because of its closer and more enclosed cockpit facia. The pilot's legs must be bent 90 degrees before being slotted under the instrument panel. Once in, the pilot's legs disappear into an abyss, and are not seen again until he exits the aircraft. The inability to see your feet to make sure the nose wheel is straight takes some getting used to particularly on landing approach. The Chaser will accommodate tall pilots, but entry and exit is a practised art.

The seating position is unlike the upright position of most dual seat flexwings, it is slightly reclined and feels extremely comfortable. The control bar position is also quite different to dual seaters I had previously flown, but was in keeping with everything else about the aircraft - it feels just right. Even the ability to rest your helmeted head against the monopole cushioned by the high back seat padding adds to the pilots in flight comfort.

You don't sit in a Chaser S - you wear it !

The throttle and brake pedal positions were not given too much thought at the design stage, and are uncomfortable in that very short time between coming off the gas, and finishing your landing roll. The throttle and brake pedals are aligned vertically with the steering bar, which means that because the pilot is sitting higher than his feet, he must bend his feet back and curl his toes up to avoid hitting the brake or applying throttle on landing. This has since caused me one or two faster than necessary landings.

Despite these small negatives I had heard great things about the Chaser, and within an hour of arrival I was leaving Roddige Airfield with my new toy - without having a test flight !

I am not keen on pull starting the engine from outside the aircraft, and still think there must be a better way.

Once fired up and 'slotted in' I strapped on the Chaser and then the close proximity of the engine to my head became noticeable. The Rotax 447 which has never really idled smoothly or quietly somehow did not sound as reassuring as my old 462, maybe it's because this only has a two bladed GSC prop.

On taxiing, the 'twitchy' ground handling warnings were heeded. The steering bar is probably two-thirds the size of a dual seat equivalent, and that is enough to make a noticeable difference. The smaller sweep of the steering bar requires much smaller inputs compared to larger dual seat aircraft, and the lack of any suspension other than the tyres certainly helped focus the mind during take off and landing rolls.

After the necessary pre-take off checks, it was time to go. Acceleration over the ground on full throttle didn't feel any different to my old Flash 2. But, unlike the Flash 2 the wing did not instantly feel like it wanted to fly. At 50 mph the bar required a very positive push forward to get the wing interested. At this point the difference was clear, the Chaser leaped skyward and the ground beneath passed by very quickly. The handbooks quoted rate of climb of 1100ft pm was not achieved, and I was surprised at the bar pressure required to keep the aircraft climbing and later also in level flight.

I zipped around the circuit at an indicated 75mph at 5,800 rpm. Things happened a lot quicker than I had been used to and it was taking much longer to become accustomed to this aircraft's characteristics. An uneventful but very fast landing followed, and I sat and read the handbook again. It suggested the Chaser has three hangpoint settings, and mine was on the centre hole. The handbook recommended pilots new to Chaser use the back hole which reduces speed and generally requires less bar out pressure. The adjustment was duly made, and I prepared to take this pocket rocket skyward again.

This time the wing became interested at somewhere between 40 - 45mph on the take off roll, and generally felt much easier to live with. The positive bar push out had reduced significantly, and the ground beneath was no longer a blur. The take off roll is probably no more than 100 yards.

In the circuit this time at 55 - 60mph at 5500 rpm the aircraft felt very easy to fly. The 1100ft climb has been achieved but is most commonly between 700-900 ft, probably due to the weight of the extra kit on my machine including carb heat, dual strobes, battery, regulator, GPS and radio. Very much lighter pitch and roll inputs than the dual seaters I had flown, and extremely stable. The aircraft did have an unusual tendancy to yaw, which at first was a tad disconcerting. This characteristic is normal for the Chaser and is sometimes caused by the fully exposed front wheel if not straight, or because the machine has no wing or spat fin for stability. I later fitted new spats with fins and this eliminated this characteristic, and somehow gave the aircraft a much crisper turn.

The Chaser S excels in turbulence. No more yanking or hauling the control bar to straighten a displaced 36' wing. In turbulence the Chaser S wing simply needs dampening by gentle corrections. No more tired and aching arms for me. It is hard to imagine how the in flight characteristics of the Chaser S could be improved upon, it is an absolute delight to fly and would be very suitable for a newly qualified pilot. On the negative side it does not have the engine off glide capability of a dual seat machine, and the rate of decent does require a powered approach and landing to produce a 'greaser'. The Chaser S has a recommended approach speed of 55mph, but I have found this to result in a high decent rate and slightly sluggish response in roll. My practised and preferred approach is no less than 60mph, sometimes much more in crosswinds, and touch down is just a few miles per hour less.

I had been warned about the Chaser's 'twitchy' ground handling, and much of this is attributed to the reduced control input requirement on its small steering bar. It is not a serious problem, but in the Chaser the landing is not over until the landing roll has ended. Landing the Chaser does demand a little more concentration for longer.

The Chaser S is said to have a limited endurance. It has a 24 litre single fuel tank and burns at a rate of 8 - 9 litres per hour. This gives the Chaser S an endurance of 2.82 hours, which is of course less than dual seat machines, but for me any leg over two hours is too long. On long cross countries Chaser S pilots must simply get used to choosing to land at airfields that can supply fuel.

Having now made some other wing and trike adjustments to my Chaser S I could not want for more. I accept its tricky ground handling characteristics, and as yet these have not proved to be too much of a problem. I know the Chaser S has limited storage space, and limited endurance, and yes I know I can't take anyone flying with me. But everything good about the Chaser S more than compensates me for those small inconveniences. The Chaser may not suit everyone, but for me this aircraft is a joy to own and fly. I am looking forward to trying the front hang point hole, and a new 3 blade prop. By my calculations it should have similar performance to an F16.