Well, it didn't work out as well as I had hoped contest wise but I came home super stoked anyways. The first round this morning was to be an unknown. Not a major deal as we were just supposed to fly the next class lower known sequence. I had judged 2 rounds of intermediate on Saturday so I didn't think it would be a big deal. Well after a top hat there was some confusion between my caller and I that resulted in me not performing the next maneuver. 4 zeros in that round. Final placement was another 4th place. My lack of flying during the Divergent build still has a firm grip on me.

Now the good news, pattern guru Tony Frackowiak must have seen something he liked in the airplane and had asked if I would let him take a flight. After sorting out a rudder trim issue that eluded me he started flying through some FAI sequence maneuvers. Tony made the airplane do things that looked so effortless. He did some inside and outside snap rolls and commented on how well it kept track during snaps. He also commented on how well it flew through rolling loops. His only criticism was that he felt the CG was a bit aft and that it needed a bit more right thrust which is what I was trying to compensate with the rudder trim. He also commented on the very positive rudder authority. I am very pleased to know that the design is capable in the hands of a legend of our sport. After hearing Tony's comment I did say that after a few more additions to the Divergent tooling that I may be ready to start some limited kit production. Tony asked that his name be added to the list of interested parties.

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Pictures of the weekend.

Not really the direction I wanted to go. At least now I know it is my flying that needs to improve and the airplane is solid. I need to get an actual practice schedule going and stick to it. Flying only a couple times a month is just not cutting it.

I think that practice and just plainly getting more time on the airplane will really show up in contest performance. Although it will be a bit tough I have made the decision to clean house a bit. I am going to sell/give away some current projects in order to free up more time for actual flying. I have a classic I want to finish up and then I will be making a pre production Divergent kit then do a cost analysis on it to see if it is a feasible venture to make ARC kits. My estimate at this point would be they would run in the 1,800.00 range.

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Still fighting some gremlins, hopefully fixed. During the last contest my Hacker died during round 2. I suspect that I did not have enough cooling air exit area. I made a decision to install a Dualsky 6355 DA-12 motor that I had been flying in my Hydeaway for over a year with zero issues. Well, that changed about 30 seconds into the test flight with the different motor. What I beleive happened is that the motor connectors were too loose and would not allow good current flow which caused the motor to stutter or cog. The result was that the motor and ESC ejected out the front of the airplane. The good news is that with over a pound of weight off the nose, I was still able to keep the airplane under control and land without further damage. The lesson was learned and a new mount was fabricated, new correct fitting motor connectors were fitted and the damage was repaired. At this point the Divergent has 16 flights with the Dualsky outrunner and has never flown better. Now back to trying to free up time for practice.

Hans, I am using the OS OC1100HV. I really like this particular ESC and really wish they were easier to get here in the US. R/C Japan have them listed and I tried to order one over a week ago but sadly have yet to receive an invoice from them.

Great! Thank you very much.

All settings are default except timing is 20 degrees and brake is 10%.

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It's been a while but I finally have some pictures of the Divergent in flight. These were taken while just horsing around at a local club field.

I haven't updated the tread in a while, not much flying lately. I have all the nesessary materials in house for a couple kits. Very few changes will be made. I'm currently making molds for a slightly longer landing gear for a bit more ground clearance, molds for the wing fences which will be a bit smaller and the rudder will have a bit more taper top to bottom. A slightly different fuselage layup should yield a bit less weight as well.

You know me, I don't pay full price for anything. Well wait, except GM transmissions. I end up paying double for those.

A little more to it then that with electrics Ken. One of the side air intakes has a duct that directs air directly onto the motor. The spinner in a standard Great Planes unit that has an aluminum backplate that I cut the tip off of to get a bit more air to the motor. The bottom air intake and the second side intake provide airflow over the ESC and batteries. An electric actually has the potential to generate more heat then a glow engine.