Several years ago, a duo in our club put a 90 two stroke on one. They played with it on the ground for a few hours, starting then stopping the engine for some odd reason, then asked me if I would mind "maiden'ing" it for them. I said, sure, why not, right?

So, I checked it out, basically making sure the servos were ok and connections were solid, then checked a few other things, asked about the CG, which they said was ok, having to add some weight to the tail to get it to balance out. For some resaon, I never picked it up. They carried to the runway. It was covered in all black, by the way. Odd color choice.

Aaaaanyway...

So, I put it up in the air. It took everything that 90 had to get it airborne, then would only keep flying if I kept the throttle darn near full all the time. I flew a few orbits, the thing flew like a tank with wings, then landed it.. somewhat hard because it flew so darned fast.

When I got it back on the ground, thankfully in one piece, I picked the thing up. It must have weighed about 10 pounds, possibly more. Very unusual for a Kadet. I asked them why it weighed so much, knowing it wasn't just the engine. Well, they put wrenches in the fuselage to try to get the thing to balance. When I say wrenches, I mean just that. One was a 5/8 - 3/4 " open end wrench.. you know, something you might work on your full-scale truck with.

That's my anecdote (true too) for today.

CGr.