Flights 2 & 3 this evening. Wow, time to think! It flies slow and sure LOL. Was very hot, like 90 with no wind, so took it easy and kept flights shorter until I could see how it hacks the heat. The ESC was warmer than I would like so will solve for cooling airflow and optimal settings. Reduced timing from Med to Low for flight 3 which helped, but may go back to Med once the airflow improves. Motor sounds got weird with Low timing but the data logging was on and performance did not suffer too much so I pressed on (logging gets turned off when I am happy with the set-up).
I liked the CG @ 270 better today than 275 on the maiden flight. May even try 265 at some point but will stick with 270 for a while. Nose did not drop right off during the roll.Right roll trim still an issue, albeit a small one (+/- 1.5 mm each aileron).With the CG at 270 I was able to dial out most of the nose-up trim (the elevator halves are now within the profile guide included with the ARF).Half looping figures were easy and predictable. Effortless inverted with a little push after a spell. Rev half Cuban-8s also very nice. One stall turn also quite nice for flight 3, but different at the pivot than my other rides. Will work on all this with friends over the weekend if we connect.
OK, we all like to take some time trimming out a new ride, but if I had to fly the Sportsman sequence tomorrow before the judges for scores, I wouldn't hesitate to go for it on flight 4. Of course, that's not going to happen tomorrow and I have plenty of time to sort things out, however that's my initial impression of calm day performance with the Nuance. Windy days I anticipate it will fly differently than my other rides so will have to get used to that. And my landings just picked up a badly needed point or two, I swear! OK, anyone can score up on a calm day, but I like the Nuance very much so far: docile handling that doesn't feel like it will bite you; but perfectly precise feeling where it counts, IMO, trim issues notwithstanding.
All that said, it is NOT a screamer. If you like to fly at all fast, or power out of situations by converting Watts to knots, this is NOT the airframe for you, IMO. What do I know as a Sportsman right? Well it's going to give me lots of time to think and stay ahead of the airplane in the sequence without worrying about it falling out of the sky. Even with the Advance, throttling up beyond half way is very likely just producing heat and shortening flight times as the airframe does not like to go any faster. Oh and yes, downlines are sweet for that reason. That's it for now. Cheers!
P.S. I believe slowing down the servo speeds in the empennage is the right thing to do (or use slower servos to start with): no tail wagging the dog issues or yaw in need of damping IMO.
UPDATED following morning after dialing-in trim to the servos.
UPDATED: relocated ESC to bottom of fuse, raised slightly so that cooling airflow from chin cowl openings can circulate. Worked wonders. ESC timing back up to Medium. Have flown the Sportsman sequence half dozen times now, I LIKE IT! The last flight of the day today the winds finally picked up to 10-12 (headwind): I was pleased to see the Nuance move upwind at a good clip. Perhaps the Advance is breaking in now as well? Couldn't be more happy with a new pattern ship after 10 flights in one week. Great job Mr. Park! I like it!!!