Vince this is a beautiful job and you did a great job of building and finishing.  I hope others who bought the kit will see this and it will inspire them to build theirs.  It should....thank you Vince.

Mike

Looks great!  How about a few more pictures either showing the build, or with the battery area open to show your conversion and electronic positions.  Any trouble getting a vertical CG balance?

Thanks for all the kind comments, much appreciated.

Looks great!  How about a few more pictures either showing the build, or with the battery area open to show your conversion and electronic positions.  Any trouble getting a vertical CG balance?

Thanks Fred.  Here's a couple of construction photos.  I spent a lot of time trying to figure out the best way to efficiently mount all the electrical "stuff".  Actually built a mock up to get some ideas.  What I came up with was the best fit I could figure out.  It works pretty well.  The battery is sitting very close to the wing C/L.  I ended up opening up the battery compartment to fit all the pieces.  The Talon ESC is held in place with some 3M Dual Lock tape, as is the back side of the battery.  Everything is held tightly in place by the hatch, which is made of a plywood/balsa sandwich held in place with two 4-40 screws.

The wing was built using a wing jig from Eric at RSM.  It worked very well and allowed me to turn the wing over as I was building it.  I finally removed it from the jig when I had all the sheeting in place.

We are very early into the trimming process.  I started with 3/4 of an ounce of tip weight.  We increased that by 1/4 once, it's now 1 ounce total.  It was kind of turbulent on the day we were trying to trim it, I think the wings are now level, but I'd like to see it on a calm day to verify that.  We moved the leadouts a little bit forward, added some RPM to the motor and changed from 64 ft. lines (eyelet to eyelet) to 61 ft lines.  I don't have lap times yet.   I think my Cobra motor would like a 12 inch prop, but the clearance with the grass won't allow for a bigger prop.  I found a longer set of wire gear which I'm installing now for more ground clearance.  I'm going to stick with the 11 X 5.5 prop for now, take it to the Joe Nall CL stunt clinic and see what happens.

We did not add any nose or tail weight yet, but as I mentioned, we're only starting the trimming process.  It corners very well, and it seems very solid.

Thanks for your comments.

Vince 

Nice clean install.  You may need some compartment venting as the temperatures warm up, perhaps the slot will be enough.  Please keep posting as you fly.

Vince she looks great! Whose transparent covering is that? We'll go flying before you leave for Joe Noll. Skip

Thanks Skip.  I've  used both makes over the years, but this is Ultracote.  It seems to do corners just a little bit better/easier.  I do like Monokote for it's beautiful luster however, nothing compares.

Looking at some of your pics, are the control surfaces laser cut built up or stick built?
I have always loved transparent finishes but hate when you have to patch. It’s always readily obvious. My trans red Twister got two patches before it’s first flight!

Matt

Thanks Fred.  You bring up a good point about heat in that battery compartment.  I'll have to keep an eye on it.  Didn't really give that much thought.  Ugh.  I think I can install some vents n the hatch cover without hurting the strength.  I can also vent the backside of the compartment.  I'll post after I get back from the Nall.

Update:  Heat is not an issue.  Battery is luke warm after doing full pattern.