N46203,

I have my contender over a year and they are the greatest to fly, and even better to land. I too, built the flap and the upsweep wing tips. The flap, I don't really need because the contender takes off quickly and lands slowly so I never had the urge to use it. I will mention the comment by DaveB regarding the nose landing gear mount - use the blind nuts ! Also, I can now say that there is one more modification to make that will eventually pay off. By all means, use metal clevises on the control surfaces and particularly on the elevator. Two of our club members had these break and fail in flight. The results were terminal. Mine broke on takeoff before it left the ground. This was a real surprise as you watch your contender speed past you down the runway and just when you feel it's right to apply up elevator - nothing happens, but you keep on going. In my case I was lucky and shut down the throttle before it caused major damage. for some reason the clevis provided by Top Flite seemed to have failed. I'm the third in the club to experience this. So, use metal clevises and you will enjoy the Contender for a long long time ( barring any mistakes). I powered mine with an OS 50sx. It really moves. A 40fx would certainly be more than enough also, besides theres less cowl to cut away to install the engine. I hope some of this helps. Send some photo's and let us know how you make out.

Sledge_78