Jeremy,

I originally installed angled plates in an attempt to direct the inlet air around the sides of the batteries, but those have since been removed. I also cut louvers in the tops of the battery boxes. The batteries seem to be delivering more power and staying cooler now. Heatsinking the motor sounds like a good idea.. our gets almost too hot to touch after flight. Regarding the Astro 60, it seems like there's some animosty towards us because Astro seems to be telling people that MSU got their last 60 for a while

Our wingtips just have the small nylon GP wingtip skids installed so that the wintgip doesn't get torn up on tip-overs like on the last one. They aren't there to prevent the tip, just minimize the damage. Because of the tall LG we try not to taxi SWAG. It will taxi, just tends to tip onto a wingtip if a corner is taken too fast. The nosewheel configuration keeps it straight on takeoff until the tail can aerodynamically keep the plane straight.

We flew today in a 10-15 mph crosswind and she handled fine. Our pilot didn't report any weathervaning tendancies. We got off in 120 feet no problem witht he full load. This could be the end of our flight testing, however, in order to reduce the risk of a mishap.

Have you tried the 4-lap mission with box and antenna? We can complete it, but not with much power to spare, even with our 2400 mah packs. We are swinging a 22-14 prop.

We assembled our plane in 20 seconds today without even trying to do it quickly. We hinged both our main gear and nosewheel and it just takes a quick flick of the wrist to latch it. Our aileron servos plug in when the wing panel gets plugged in. It's a lot different from our last one.

Have you tested your box-firing mechanism yet? I was just wondering if the kickback from the box would try to tip your plane over. I really want to see it in action!

Thanks for looking up the antenna thing... it *was* in an FAQ and not in the original rules. MSU scrapped the twin boom design after we asked them about that and they answered in the FAQ. I'm almost glad we did, because we see minimal effects from the antenna where it is now. It's not as big a deal as we once thought.

Hopefully Bryan gets updated pics of SWAG Jr. up soon!