Your bride is correct. Go for it!

Removed suspect aileron Futaba S3114 servo and teardown confirmed it was the cause of the crash.

The top gear (black) in the top housing was split vertically. The broken piece was held captive by a recess in the top housing and caused the aileron to jam and prevent further motion.
The split seems to have occurred along a mold line, appearing that it was present at the time of assembly.

There was sufficient gear lube present and no other defects observed on any of the other plastic gears under microscopic exam, after the lube was cleaned off the gears.

There were no defects or issues observed or measured relating to the motor or electronics. Idle and stall current, along with linearity were all nominal.

Now that the book is closed on the Contender EP, I won't be building another one.

If anyone is interested in any of the following free parts (Just pay actual shipping charges once received...will include a self addressed stamped envelope):

Complete wing/gear assembly (no damage, never hit the ground)
Nose gear assembly/arm
Rimfire 10 and CC Thunderbird 36 ESC and spinner
Original foam wheels (never used, too small for my field)

Please send me a PM.

I have no use for them and if someone here can use them, that would be great.

Thanks.

The remains of the Contender EP (undamaged wing, CC Thunderbird 36, Rimfire 10, wheels, nose gear) have been dropped off in a cardboard coffin to the UPS Funeral Home.

They are on their way to PA tonight.

YF-23 on the bench currently, Sebart Stev S30E waiting to be started next week, Concorde has shipped and is on the way.
Maybe someday I will take another shot at a Contender EP.

Originally Posted by ltc

yes, my major disappointment with this kit was the quality of the covering.
hopefully it was just the first/early batch of kits and as they get more experience it improves.

apart from that, it seemed to fly pretty well !

I'm not sure Top Flite cares. I filled out their "Product Feedback" form on their web site a couple weeks ago about the poor quality of the covering work on the fuselage. I never heard anything back from them.

I really didn't mind the covering quality. It was meant to be a "keep in the car, lunchtime parkflyer". From a few feet away, it looked nice.

It looks like they simply didn't stretch the covering in both directions prior to tacking. I attributed it to new people learning to work on a new kit assembly.
I assume it will be better as time goes on.

Of course, that all changed 90 seconds into the maiden flight when the S3114 servo gear decided to divorce itself; the impact seemed to stress relieve all the wrinkles
Trash collection just took the remains away.
Looked pretty funny seeing the tail sticking up out of the top of the trash can at the end of the driveway.

On a related topic, the quality of the (Oracote) covering on my new Sebart is amazing ... night and day.

Ultracote/oracover/aerokote is a big improvement over Monokote. I have two models 5-6 years covered with Sig Aerokote with barely a wrinkle. The Monokote of 30 years ago was better than the product now.

Actually, the yaw/roll coupling is the only real negative I have about the Mini-Contender. It actually makes it more interesting to fly! It is a fantastic touch and go airplane - when you roll out of the base to final turn it naturally assumes a slight nose up attitude like jet fighter. A little power and it lands at walking pace in zero wind. It is the only model I have I can execute an outside loop from low level inverted flight and feel comfortable about it. This has turned into my standard airplane I always take out, replacing the Parkzone T-28.

Because of the roll/yaw coupling, blunt leading edge and thick airfoil, snap and spins were very difficult to do until I discovered a little trick. During a spin entry, as you enter the stall and apply full up and full rudder, go to full opposite aileron (anti-spin, as opposed to pro-spin) - essentially a cross-controlled stall. Spins like a top! The recovery is instantaneous and almost violent. I also have managed to get it into a weird, wing tip pivoting zero airspeed CLIMB...a really cool thing to see!

Russ Farris

Great news! The Mini Contender Review has been released. Here it is:

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1711503

Enjoy!

McD

Well thanks to all and especially McD for the great review. I recieved mine from Tower and maidened it today. Excellent flyer. Absolutely love the high alpha approach and main gear touchdowns. Had to put several clicks of up trim at the recomended 59mm cg however.. Anyone else set it further back? Had a bit of a time with knife edge. I am wondering if moving that cg back might help. I am definitely happy to have this in my collection.
Happy Flying,
Jay

Still plugging away on mine hope to finish this weekend, I've always loved this airframe and the looks of the over exaggerated classic panel lines that I associate with the mini's big brother . I feel that the smaller battery is good advice. I'm going to use a 1600 mah paired with the turnigy C3530 - 1100

Regards
Mike

Originally Posted by flmlm

Still plugging away on mine hope to finish this weekend, I've always loved this airframe and the looks of the over exaggerated classic panel lines that I associate with the mini's big brother . I feel that the smaller battery is good advice. I'm going to use a 1600 mah paired with the turnigy C3530 - 1100

Regards
Mike

I have the C3530 in mine now. I am going to replace it with this:
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...arehouse_.html

I had to put a 10-7 prop to get much for watts. Suffers from a little too much torque with that set up. I am hoping to run a 9x6 with the Aerodrive motor and get away from the torque pull.

Thanks for the heads up I was thinking 9x7. Looks like a good motor choice thanks for the link as well.

Regards
Mike

im runing the eflite 25 race motor with a 60 amp esc, 8,8 prop with the eflite Electric Retracts great little plane and alot of fun fast and looks good with the retracts!

Originally Posted by crazyflyer92

im runing the eflite 25 race motor with a 60 amp esc, 8,8 prop with the eflite Electric Retracts great little plane and alot of fun fast and looks good with the retracts!

Pictures?

Originally Posted by crazyflyer92

im runing the eflite 25 race motor with a 60 amp esc, 8,8 prop with the eflite Electric Retracts great little plane and alot of fun fast and looks good with the retracts!

I'd like to see that as well. That motor is awful heavy how did ya balance the airframe with all that weight upfront?