Well, I set up my flap-down, gear-down approach pretty much as I wanted on the third pass. Still, the sink rate and poor elevator response of this bird at slow speed was dramatic. Deceleration was violent and loud. The nose gear collapsed aft instantly, faster than I could kill the props, so they both shattered. Because the nose gear broke at the rotator cam, no damage to the upper units, servo, or support formers. Linkage to one of the flaps pulled off, dowels connecting aft wing to right boom snapped, and fiberglass of left boom cracked where it had been repaired from a previous single-engine landing. I've already sent the nose gear off to a talented machinist. The rest shouldn't be more than a night's work in the shop, unless I find more.

I've been kind of second-guessing myself ever since for not bellying in, but my previous experience with tail damage was a strong factor.

Thanks for playing,

mt