Complex sentence: Two prototypes were ordered, the first flying from Yate in mid 1928, but despite its promising appearance and engineering novelty the Pipit did not fly as well as expected, the elevator being criticised as heavy while the rudder was weak and the type was longitudinally unstable.
Split into simpler sentences: Two prototypes were ordered, the first flying from Yate in mid 1928. Despite its promising appearance and engineering novelty the Pipit did not fly as well as expected, the elevator being criticised as heavy while the rudder was weak and the type was longitudinally unstable.