The Raven wing has been with us for a long time now, and despite continuous improvements over the years to maintain it at the cutting edge of Flexwing design, it has retained the same appearance since the old Southdown days. It is easily recognised from the large, shark-like fin, with the aid of which it cuts through turbulence like a knife. The basic wing design has remained relatively unchanged because there seems to be little room for improvement - strong, fast, light yet positive in pitch and particularly in roll, the Raven wing is a joy to fly, and is much admired by any who have flown one. The Medway trikes, the Hybred in particular, have also retained much of the original design philosophy over the years. Built for simplicity and strength, this trike is hugely rugged - some have described it as "agricultural", which can only be taken as praise, given that it is normally agriculture from which they fly.

What there hasn't been up until now is a power unit able to show the full potential of this wing. Until now, the only options were 447 or 503 Rotax. Fine though these engines may be (my old 447 never missed a beat in 10 years flying), they lack something in the power department. Thus, when Medway announced the EclipseR, powered by 80hp of Australian Jabiru muscle, I confess I slavered. Unpleasant but true. So much so that I was easily talked into buying the prototype by Chris Draper. Without flying it. Without seeing it fly. Was I mad? We shall see.

First looks show that this machine is indeed a prototype - some of the finish, particularly on the huge ramair ducts, is a tad DIY. The trike, though, looks the business. It sits a lot higher than the old Hybred, due largely to the addition of suspension (yes, I know, a bit girly for a Ravener) to the front forks. The old cable side-stays have gone, replaced by two McPherson suspension struts. The pod is a little wider (my prototype has fibreglass, production models carbon fibre), and a little longer, than before, and the gaping hole for foot ventilation around the front forks has been reduced to the minimum necessary to allow steering. The ridiculous hand-throttle has been replaced with a much nicer T-bar affair. Most strangely of all, the fuel tank, formerly sitting proudly atop the engine, is now slung between the rear forks like the valuable bits of a prize bull.

This is all very nice, but it is the lump of metal sitting on the back that we are interested in. The Jabiru is a 2.2 litre (really) flat four 4-stroke, delivering a nominal 80hp, although I doubt that I will ever pull that amount of grunt. It looks beautiful, gleaming aluminium, let down on my version by some very functional engine mounts. Attached to this is a three-blade in-flight adjustable variable pitch three-blade prop. This is direct-driven, no gearbox to worry about here.

OK, it all looks very nice, but does it go? I chose a crisp November day to put it through its paces.

Getting in is not as easy as in the old trike, but once in all feels familiar. The dash has a lot more instruments than I am used to, and sits somewhat further backwards, making it much easier to read the dials. Fuel on, strap in, all checks completed. Time to hear her run. She turns over easily on the starter, and after a few seconds roars into life. Or rather, burbles into life. It sounds more like a Cessna than a trike. On full choke, she idles at about 1200 revs, enough to make the rear brakes (oh yes, it's got brakes too) useful. A quick check of the oil pressure, OK, and as the CHTs come up, pop the choke in and the revs drop to about 800. At these revs, the noise level is so low that normal conversation is no problem. A quick tickle of the throttle and we are rolling.

Pre-take off checks complete, CHTs above the magic 200ºF, it's time to take this baby up. Set the prop pitch to about the mid point, and give it some gas. 2400 rpm and we are hurtling, and very smartly airborne. At these revs, one-up, climb rate is about 600 fpm, very respectable and very quiet (this is a somewhat noise-sensitive area, so every little helps). Once I am away from the field, and the easily-offended village, I pitch the prop to fine and give her some gun. 3000 rpm and we are going up like a lift, over 1000 fpm and a little scary, so I pull the bar in to an IAS of about 70mph.

Up to 2500', ease the throttle back. About 2200 seems to hold altitude, and this drops to closer to 1800rpm when I coarse up the prop a little. At this setting, the engine purrs along merrily, just a reassuring drone in the background. This is slightly unnerving to someone used to having a 447 screaming at 6000 rpm behind him, but you get used to it verrry quickly! A few tight turns to reassure me that she handles like a Raven should (she does), and then pull on a bit of speed. This machine is trimmed to 55, and in this configuration I can't pull on more than about 70 before lunch gets in the way. Increase the revs slowly, watching the ASI, looks like about 2100rpm to maintain this speed. I notice that the buffeting by the wind is somewhat reduced by the slightly higher windshield on this machine.

OK, time to go home. Back to the circuit, a bit turbly-burbly and I am a bit out of shape as I touch down. No matter, the suspension absorbs everything and turns an arrival into a greaser.

Next, two-up. With the lovely Jenny as ballast, back to the skies. This time, the take-off roll is slightly longer, and the climb rate slightly reduced. A wee bit more power, and we are getting 550 fpm again. Once again, away from the field, full chat, fine pitch and hold the bar at 50, and we are getting 600.

In the cruise, 2-up, 2000rpm seems to hold it, and apart from being slightly more sluggish (that ought to read imperceptibly less sprightly) in roll, she handles just the same.

Back to the ground then, a bit turbulent again, but back into practice again, we approach straight and true, pull off a beauty without assistance from Mr McPherson this time. As close as I can tell, we've used between 7 and 8 litres of 4-star in these two jaunts, about an hour of flying with a fair bit of upping and downing.

Conclusions? Well, in the air she flies just like my old Raven - flawless. Performance – I am impressed. A couple of minor niggles – in this machine the exhaust is not too well set-up, and on full chat with prop pitch fine (about 3100 revs), this machine is LOUD, according to people on the ground. However, a bit more pitch on the prop, to keep the revs down a bit, and she whispers. Very quiet and very lovely, as described by one eye-witness. So a bit of technique to be learned here (apparently Medway have now tweaked the exhaust to get rid of the top-end racket, and all production aircraft are a lot quieter). The clearance between fuel tank and ground is a bit tight for my taste – I do land in some quite nasty fields sometimes (anyone been to Emlyn's?). Once again, production machines have somewhat more clearance, so this should not be a problem for others, or for me once I get one of the new tanks fitted.

However, any niggles are more than offset by the performance – this is the engine for which the Raven wing has been waiting for ten years. When properly managed, she is very quiet, very smooth indeed. The variable pitch prop, something I thought was a gimmick, really does seem to make a difference. Economy looks good, and will certainly be even better when touring. As far as reliability is concerned, time will tell. There are plenty of Jabiru-equipped aircraft flying without problems, so I don't anticipate any. Certainly nothing so far gives me cause for concern – there have been some rumours floating around, propagated mainly by an unnamed manufacturer, that there are problems cooling this engine. Well, I haven't seen any problems – she never goes near the red-line, doesn't seem to matter what you do.

TECHNICAL STUFF – Medway Microlights EclipseR

Following figures are for G-MZME only – production aircraft may differ in some areas.