I flew the maiden flight of the Oriental yesterday and I am happy to report it all seemed to work well!
The wing has a substantial twist to it, and the direction was safe (rolling out), so it pulled like a mule, but flew very outboard tip down, and inboard tip down inverted. The gun and some cranking should get that sorted.
The powertrain worked perfectly. I'm very happy with that. After tweaks to the prop and motor speed, I had flown 2 one minute flights and a 2m30s flight on the TP ProLite 2700. That battery took 1108ma.
The last two flights were 2m30s each on the Hyperion HV2800 (rated at 2500 at regular voltage, and that's where I'm running it), and it took 1583ma. About 316ma/minute. So, I'm looking at 70% discharge for a 5m30-5m45s flight. I'm pretty happy about that. Average amp draw is 18.9x amps, that seems pretty reasonable.
The plane is pretty nose heavy, and the motor is not heavy. If I were to build out another ARF like this, I would definitely look towards cutting into the wing LE and making a tunnel through the fuse bulkhead at the wing LE to get the battery back some. I knew I should have done that, I'm a bit disappointed that I didn't trust my instincts building this. Oh well, next time. I'm not going to look back.
For this particular model, yesterday I hogged out some of the I/C engine bearers, and also cut open my compartment behind the tail wheel mount and put 3/4oz in there. That should help with the CG.
It might need more, I haven't measured it yet. I will work on the wing twist and try to get that worked out, otherwise the CG will be of little consequence.
I have a couple other odds and ends to do. Bush the main wheels, add the canopy, decals, etc. Its definitely a pretty plane and I can get used to not having to clean castor off of the plane! The control system is very smooth and free, I'm happy with my install as this is only my second build. And since I revamped the entire control system, I think it was worth it if I can get the warp out of the wing. It should last longer than the plane does. Learning is fun.
All in all, the ARF is a beautiful model, and a great value. I would probably try to find an ARC instead next time, just because with all the mods that I would make, its hard to keep the model pristine. Better to cover it after all is done I think, and to also have a unique looking model. Still, a great value!
I'm looking forward to flying this a lot, it should be a lot of fun.
Thanks to Joe and others along the way for all the pointers.