First flight of the CCW-5 took place on July 13, 1953, with Walker J. Davidson at the controls. The company then spent the next several years performing demonstrations for civil and military audiences. These demonstrations consisted largely of maximum performance take-offs, with a terrifyingly steep climb out, using steep turns to the right and left at a high angle of attack and at speeds well below the stall speed of conventional aircraft to impress the audience. Motion pictures of the demonstration are heart-stopping; you know that an aircraft in that attitude, at that altitude and airspeed, is going to crash -- but the CCW just keeps on turning.

Slow flight was a specialty, with speeds as low as 22 mph being measured. On August 27, 1954, in a remarkable display of the channel wing's ability, the CCW-5 was actually hovered against an 11 mph wind. The demonstrations would then conclude with a steep approach, an incredibly short landing, with the turnoff not at the first intersection, but at the approach end of the runway.

Take-off technique is critical in the CCW-5, for the pilot has to rotate sharply after the first 100 feet of roll, so that the high velocity air stream passing through the channel does not bounce off the runway against the undersurface of the horizontal stabilizer. If this happens, the nose can be forced down, considerably lengthening the take-off roll.

The prototype CCW-5 had an empty weight of 3,000 pounds, a gross of 4,925 and a maximum gross of 5,400 pounds. Maximum speed was quoted at 200 mph, with a 180 mph cruise; these were probably optimistic figures, but most manufacturers tend to err on the bright side. continue...