Dear FlyerInOKC...
Believe it or not, the best modification I made on this model was gluing leading edges between the nacelles and the fuselage.. The first 3 models always seemed drop about 2 to 3 feet before I hit the runway unless there was a really good headwind.. I just never understood it until I realized the model just stopped flying, all because the air just stopped hugging the wing at the slower landing speed.. The flaps no longer helped keeping the model in the air... In the photo you can see red leading edges I made with a $3.00 piece of leading edge balsa stock.. I used some old "ValKote" I had from the mid 80's and covered them, then added the black pin striping to make it look like radiator intakes... In the original kit, they had these flat spots (see the manufacturer's photo) so you could put Radiator Intake Decals there to make it more realistic... Problem was, the flat spots were in the area of the largest part of the wing chord and the slower air speed on approaches would just take the air over the wing surface and stop the wing from creating lift any longer.... I busted up several wheels and ripped out the gear as well in the early days... The little pieces of balsa stopped the problem finally... the only other choice you had was to come in at 40 mph and use no flaps at all... That was no fun either....
