72 oz ready to fly with 5s 4200 battery.  Removed 3@ of the pocket hinges.  ^ @ flap was way too many and getting the hinge wire to hit 12 .030 holes was taking my patience.  Also had to enlarge the battery hatch to fit the larger battery.  I was totally too tail heavy so instead of adding lead, I added battery. 3oz under getting the "Miss Piggie Decal".  I am comfortable flying a heavy plane and I think I have the power and with 710 squares I hope I am OK.  It balances at just under 30% of center chord which has me worried some. It gets it's stripes, registration and name Monday.  I am thinking of calling it what it is - "Endgame Mk4" on the Wing and "Hammerhead" on the fuselage side....or not.

Already getting the butterflies.  1st flight probably late this week.

Ken

Very nice Ken.  By the way I like logo number 3!

Don

Yup,  number 3 is the way to go!

I'm happy to ee this Ken. It truly helps describe the approach and mission of your work with this concept. It looks devastatingly lethal and project's maximum purpose. By the way, #3's the one.

John M.

First flight in the books.  Not much progress on the trim schedule but I can confirm that the 5" bellcrank and the up front Canard work as hoped.  The plane is rock solid in level flight even being a bit tail heavy.  It takes off and lands like it has tricycle gear with a long controllable glide.  Only time for two sets of corners (really more like hard bumps) which responded better than the first canard.  Line tension good through 45 degrees.  Needs to speed up a bit.  First flight was a 5.8.  I want no more that a 5.4.  Now that the butterflies are gone I can proceed with the real trim.

2nd flight was a disaster with a happy ending.  A wheel fell off just as the motors started.  it took nearly 1/2 lap but I got it air born with one wheel and a strut.  The inboard motor was not running and I flew it out on just the outboard.  I was told it would fly on one motor.  They were right, I could even maneuver some and had good line tension.  Still don't know why it stopped or for sure if it ever started.  The inboard prop shows signs of a prop strike which may have shut off the inboard ESC or far worse, the inboard didn't arm.  I will fix these little things and get back out again ASAP.

One thing that is abundantly clear.  I need a portable rack to put her on upside down to do trim.  I have a weak knee and getting my 220lb carcass up off of the ground is becoming a two man job.

Ken

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/3rPGDabplmw

I lost an update somewhere between here and there.  I found the reason the outboard, yes it was the outboard not the inboard that didn't start.  Some idiot forgot to turn off the programming mode on the timer so it thought it only had 1 ESC.  The Spin 33 beeps when it arms so takeoff protocol now includes "Do not start the timer if you don't get two beeps"!  I also learned that you really have to tighten the prop on the reversed one.  I found that the castle propnut has a purpose.

Time to close the build and open the trim thread.  Today was the first flight with some limited maneuvering.  Some loops and inverted a square and some lazy eights.  The canard in clean air works better than the one on Endgame III behind the prop.  The plane turns effortlessly and draws a straight line without fighting.  Turns are equal and no hint of hunting.  It needs some speed.  Right now it is turning a 6.0.  I need it down to at least a 5.6.  I think I want more pitch as well.  I am using BA 10-5s.  I think it will do better on a 6.  I am completely happy so far with my decision to go with a 5" bellcrank.  The controls are so solid.  The logarithmic box makes everything adjustable through one bottom hatch.  The bench trimming routine is quite different with the Canard.  Step 1 is to get the canard movement equal, then the elevators in line with the canard centered and locked down, and finally the flaps get centered.

The video is the first flight with maneuvering. The camera man must have misunderstood me when I asked him to not follow the plane.  I am testing limits and much of it was flown upwind.  I like to see how my planes perform when placed in the wrong spots.

The Twin has a completely different feel.  I don't know how to describe it yet, other than to say if you get the opportunity to fly one you will know what I am talking about.

Ken