The Monarch E is back in the air. After spending years in storage, Jim Goebel’s 1988 Monarch E recently underwent a light dusting and minor repairs to become airworthy again. This aircraft has a great history, having served as Jim Marske’s personal E model for many years, trading its original orange-and-cream paint for a clean white finish.
After flying the Monarch for about six hours across three days, I can report it is a wonder to fly. It flies nice and slow, turns tight, and makes you feel right there with the birds as you thermal. The ship locks into turns so well that I had no problem tightening up and climbing inside both a Schweizer SGS 2-33A and a Schempp-Hirth Discus B. The controls are well-balanced, and the aircraft is not difficult to fly.
While it lacks in straight glides, you can’t realistically expect high cross-country performance from this design. I expect some minor modifications, such as taping, fairings, and a refined CG position, will slightly increase the L/D. Current testing indicates an average glide ratio of around 14:1, with a thermalling radius of 200 to 250 feet at a 20 to 25-degree bank. It can and will go tighter if prodded. A tow pilot even remarked that it looked like I was thermalling with my wingtip on a fixed point because the radius was so tight for a shallow bank.
Overall, the Monarch performs exactly as expected for its extremely light 2.1 psf wing loading with me flying it. It was built to excel in weak lift and tight thermals rather than long, fast glides. In that role, it performs exceptionally well.
All Monarch E flights so far are available for viewing on WeGlide. The link will update automatically as we log more flights.
Special thanks to the media team who documented this restoration and flight test series. Credits for the photos and video featured here go to Tom Rudolf, Ace Stewart, Amanda Pray, and Jack Derrickson.
Join the conversation.