Well, today was my day to fly the DP Ultimate 40 for the first time. I used a Saito 72 for power which is mounted inverted. The plane came out 5 lbs, 8 ounces. That's with 3 standard Hitec 425's in the fuse and 2-Expert micro's for ailerons. I mounted the aileron servos with wood instead of using the plastic hatches. I had some scrap covering to seal around the servos. The standard 4 cell pack was mounted in the tail behind the canopy for balance. I threw out the crappy plastic spinner and installed a Tru-turn with an APC 13x6 prop.

On the first flight I noticed the plane rolling left with up elevator. After landing, I adjusted the pull-pull on the left elevator and took the plane up again (I don't care for the pull-pull on elevator). This seemed to correct the problem and I then had the chance to test the plane. It rolls nice and axial. Knife edge has some pitch and roll coupling but not horrible. I was able to knife edge loop the plane several times and it looked quite good with some elevator and aileron input. Four point rolls are not real precise due to the coupling. Torque rolling is possible. With 3 attempts I got one decent 3 turn (fairly fast) torque roll. Inverted flight needed some down, more then I thought it should but I had plenty of throw for inverted loops. I felt comfortable enough to do some low level inverted passes. Snaps are fast and furious with sometimes a slow recovery. I have 2 inches of rudder throw which will bring the plane into a deep stall. Less rudder would slow the snap and probably help on the recovery.

Landing was a no brainer. I carried some power until the threshold of the runway, cut power to idle, flared before touchdown....very easy.

I think the CG is pretty good. Im at 3/4" in front of the rear cabane. I would'nt mess with it the way that it's flying.

Considering it was a pretty windy day, Im very happy with the plane. The crosswind affected the performance but it was managable.

The Saito 72 is a very good combination. It's not overpowered. I was concerned about mounting inverted but it runs great and idles fantastic.

Chris