Since the loss of the VQ Cap-10B .60, my focus has shifted back toward an unlikely source, namely the fifteen-year-old Hobby People/Global Hobby Raven .40 profiler which has proved to be not only great fun to fly, but invaluable for sharpening my aerobatic skills. It's a remarkably low-buck project. The plane, engine and some of the servos were freebies. No junk, I'm pleased to point out.

An interesting freebie came my way a little more than a month ago. The same gentleman who gave me the Evolution 46 in the Raven (it was given to him and he flies almost exclusively electric) gave me a complete GWS Formosa less transmitter but with a GWS battery, speed control, servos and even a Berg Microstamp4 receiver! He'd gotten it as part of an estate sale consisting primarily of electric gliders and he had no use for it.

I'll say this: Darn thing is fun but underpowered as all get-out with the stock 380 beer can and gearbox.

I may be doing the brushless thing sooner than later. It's slow, but boy, does it handle.

There's nothing worse than when a plane crashes. Even a gentle crash means broken bits o' balsa.

Such was the case a few months ago when I tried to fly the Raiden Tech Zero Fighter 25 I reviewed on RC Power last year.

The one time I chose not to check the control response meant a reversed elevator and a crash on takeoff before I could recover. I was able to fix it, but doggone, the poor little plane hasn't been the same. The TE of the wing is now a bit warped among other problems, requiring lots of right aileron trim to get it to fly straight.

Stranger still was the plane's tendency to nose over on landings no matter how careful I was.

Enter our esteemed club president, a gentleman who's been flying RC for years if not decades.

To my way of thinking, a plane which wants to nose over is nose heavy and suddenly so, in my case.

The prez offered to give it a try...and pronounced it tail heavy on landing.

Tail heavy? With a tendency to scrape the cowl almost every time since its repair and with no weight required before this?

For the next test, he took the Zero up to a suitable altitude and put it in a hands off, 45-degree power dive. A balanced plane would have maintained heading, a nose heavy plane would have wanted to pull up and a tail heavy plane would have tried to tuck in and sharpen the dive.

Holy mother of CG.

The Zero tucked under.

Tail heavy!

Off to the hobby shop for some weights. An ounce of lead went on the engine mount...Continue Reading