X-20: Maidened!

I got to sneak out for a quick first flight on the new X-20.

OH MY GAAAAAWD!!

With the LoongMax 3s 500 sitting pretty far forward in the nose, the CG came in right within the range as called out in the building instructions. As usual, I had the rates set WAY too high and the flight was a roller coaster (ok, need a little right trim - will compensate on the sticks until I get some altitude. Whoa! Way too much compensation!! Now a little left. Whoa! Too much left!! You get the picture... :D ) I'm glad I forgot to charge the FlyCam to get video of this nonsense as the distraction of it stuffed into my hatband would have probably been too much and I might have destroyed the plane! I needed full focus to keep up with it!

I was able to get it down safely and then proceeded to dial in some low rates - I ended up setting it to 40% of normal and threw it in the air again. MUCH BETTER! This plane performs AWESOME but is certainly not for the weak of heart. Blipping back and forth from low rates to "super" high rates was a ball because the high rates make the little booger roll like MAD!

Half throttle flying was great, as there is still greater than 1:1 thrust to weight ratio and with a little wind, I could probably just kite it all around at around 1/4 throttle.

I estimate about a 5 minute total flight time and the battery was only slightly warm (but hey, this is Texas, so I consider that to be alright). Torque from the prop wasn't too bad, but was present. Had I not been warned to expect it, I'm certain the result would have been carnage! I'm gonna try to steal away tomorrow and fly it some more and also try out a 7x5 "speed" prop.

Final flying weight - 6.2 ounces (177 grams)
Motor: 1700kv Blue Wonder from HeadsUpRC
ESC: 10 amp PowerUP from same supplier
Prop: GWS 7x3.5 DD
Servos: 2x TowerPro SG50 same supplier (you see who I like to deal with, huh?)
Battery: 3s 500 LoongMax from HobbyCity
Construction Material: Foam safe CA, 6mm Depron, Zagi tape for color
Rx: Spektrum AR6100
Tx: "Spektrumized" JR 8103
Plans: www.rcpowers.com

Jason, thanks again for a fantastic design! I'm glad I took good care of my templates. I'll be building a back-up soon 'cause I'm gonna be thrashing the heck outta this plane alot!!