Speedwing Nearly ready for flight...

I was finally able to spend a little tonight working on the speedwing. The control surfaces, motor, even stickers are installed and ready to go. Other than one problem I found tonight, I only need to put a couple pins in the front of the canopy to hold it in place, figure out how to stuff everything into the canopy for flight. The problem is the speed control, it seems as though there might be a bad solder joint on one of the connectors. It spins up sometimes but not others, and it seems as though if you rotate the connectors it'll affect the results.

Even so, some preliminary motor data:

Turnigy 3200kv 28-36
3 cell, 2200 mAh, 25C battery

4.1 x 4.1 APC prop = 30 amps
4.75 x 4.75 APC prop = 40 amps  (plus lots of noise!)

I think I'm going to try a 6 x 4 prop as well. I have an 80 amp speed control and I figure I might as well make use of it. Otherwise I may order another 40 amp to try and drop some weight. The extra space would be helpful, as there is hardly any room for batteries & the associated wires. This thing should rip- the wingspan is only 25 inches, and with 40 to 80 amps driving the prop it should have plenty of go-power. I think I'll probably have to experiment with the thrust angle and center of gravity a bit to get it to fly well. Hopefully it'll be controllable the first time up.

As you can see, I went with a classic 1930's US army airforce color scheme. It should be easy to see in the sky. The bottom is navy blue.