ORIGINAL: badger5964
Well I finished building one last winter. I did modify my rudder, added a little to the ailerons and left off the wing tips. I like mine very much. It does have a quirky habit of rolling opposite of the rudder. The wingtips were to prevent that but left them off. Rolls nicely and is just a solid performer. The flap is a new one and I recommend building it. You'll enjoy the plane for its aerobatic, but it is diffently not a 3D type.
See this thread for build and flight reports
[link]http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_3421799/anchors_3421799/mpage_1/key_contender/anchor/tm.htm#3421799[/link]
Thanks, Scott! I was searching about on RCU last night, and found your thread. Wow!! Man, that generated some action... I spent about 3 hours reading on it, then bookmarked it so I could go back and read some more later. Good stuff!
I had been out of the hobby pretty much, since about '93 when I bought my current home and moved into it. I joined the local club and kept my membership up, but was so wrapped up in work and was additionally starting up a new company, I just didn't have time to play. I recently got back into the hobby, and was surprised at the changes that have occurred over the last 12 years (and amazed at the advances in electric technology!).
One of my big surprises was with kit building. It seems that those of us who build are in the minority these days, hehehehehe... Oh well, I've always thought that building and flying were to separate hobbies, and I guess the boom in ARFs proves it. I remember, ever since I got in the hobby back in the 70's, lots of folks didn't like to build...they just did it because they had to in order to fly.
I still enjoy building a lot, and am up to my ears in balsa dust again. Can't wait to get my new (to me) Contender up in the air! My fuse on my last one was painted and had an O.S. .40 on it. It was _VERY_ heavy, but still flew well once it was in the air and had a little airspeed on it. It had those tapered tips, but they didn't turn up-wards. The wing was flat, and the bird rolled well. It would do everything in the novice pattern lineup. BTW, I see that class of pattern no longer exists... what is the beginner / entry level pattern class these days?