Bryan, other then your second paragraph, which I don't understand at all, I get your point. I know how much you work at design and trimming. BTW, I have been telling anyone who asks me to set their wing incidence to .5 to .7 degrees positive compared to the stab for years. You know where that will put the CG if all the control surfaces are even. I never bought in to the aft CG trim theories. Even back to when I flew Phoenix 7's. So I know what you preach. But I think after you get a well trimmed Contra model flying you will see that it will be better then a well trimmed single prop model. But then again, I proved last year that a Contra doesn't automatically guarantee a win. It still takes being prepared in all aspects of this event.

Last year I flew a total of 300 flights on the Onas. I probably only had 180 or so before the Nats. That is way less then I have ever flown before a big event. Moving to F3A this year I now have over 400 practice flights in 1/2 year. Some of those flights were spent refining the set-up on the model. Most were spent trying to learn the patterns. I have a lot of catching up to do and at my age I'll never be a threat in F3A at the Nats again. But I can occasionally put a scare in to them at the local meets! It's been a lot of fun. It also reminded me that my main enjoyment in flying pattern is getting everything better. Trimming, powerplant refinement, radio set-ups and flying skill improvements are what I enjoy. The contests are sometimes secondary on my list of why I enjoy pattern flying. The Contra is just another item that has kept me interested.