Well the model is toast.  At least I got to fly it AT VSC, if not IN VSC competition.  The model was flying great and I had a handle on getting a full pattern in.

Unfortunately the elevator clevis broke .... for the 3rd time!  The first two times it went splork into muddy grass with no damage.  No such luck here in Tucson.  That dirt is dry and REAL hard.  To quote James Bond, once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, but three times is enemy action!

I have a well balanced engine and prop, but there is a resonant mode in the model that  will destroy a nylon OR steel clevis in 4 or 5 flights.  I will build another one with lots of attention to structural dampning.

One amazing thing is that, except where the wing came completely off, through all 3 crashes, the Coverlite covering didn't tear.  The wing left on the plane has the covering intact, the torn off wing only has torn covering where the balsa parted under it.

It is a carbon fiber tube.  Shold be a very high frequency for the resonance and good dampening. Plus, I could feel the vibration at the handle and hear when it was goin on.

I don't think the problem is the engine, but I will put it on another model to find out.

Add some strength to the clevises, if the clevises on the end are the small thread ones, go to the 4-40 / 3mm ones to get some more strength or change to ball fittings if there's room for them.

I like this one the best. This proves once again that *clevises do not belong on stunt planes*. Even teeny ones.

    Brett