Spaniard becomes second MXS pilot in field

Alejandro Maclean said he loves his sparkling new MXS plane that he took on its maiden flight on May 18. But the Spaniard, who became the second Red Bull Air Race pilot equipped with the U.S.-made MXS, also knows that he’s got a lot of work to do to fit his particularly aggressive style of flying into the sensitive, agile plane before he gets the most out of the stunning new machine.

“The plane is very good and I’m sure it’s going to perform well, but I was really struggling through the first run on the course,” Maclean said after trading in his Edge 540 “It’s much faster but it’s much more agile. It’s completely different from the Edge. I have some control problems due to the settings. We reset the plane and changed some things and got some faster times. Eventually, once I get it sorted out, I’ll be able to fly precise and not think too much about the reaction of the plane. I’ll know what they’ll be. I think it’ll be good. But how long that will take? I don’t know whether it’ll be two or three runs or two or three years.”

Maclean, who joined Britain’s Nigel Lamb as the second MXS pilot, added: “The main thing is for me to know what the plane will do rather than waiting to see the reaction. If you have to fly and don’t really know what the plane will do, that’s not so good. It takes time to know what the plane will do it and when.”

Maclean said that the first test runs after taking delivery in Oregon went extremely well. But that was at an altitude of about 1,000 feet. Flying through the course on Thursday for the first time was a different story.

Source: RedBull Airraces