Sometimes because of noise the audio from my DX9 is difficult to hear. I've turned both battery meter/volume control and system setting volume control to 100% but the stock speaker is just not loud enough. I have a second DX9 and it is the same. The DX 6, 7, and 8 are even worse. Spektrum Technical recommends wired ear buds or headphones. I have a Bluetooth transmitter and headphones that work very good but sometimes a louder speaker is better.

Mike B (fellow clubmember) found a speaker for me to experiment with and with some extra hardware I'm very pleased with the performance and ease of use. The speaker comes with a cord for charging and you must use your own USB type charger. It does not come with a male to male 3.5 mm cable but does work with Bluetooth so you can use it with a smart phone for phone conversations or music. I have a $15 Bluetooth transmitter that plugs into the rear DX9 audio jack and the speaker works fine this way. However the transmitter is another thing to charge and pair between the DX9 and speaker so it's more of a hassle. Mounting the speaker so that it's easy was a challenge. Initially I used 3M Dual Lock but ended up with Velcro screwed to the back of the speaker. I had to disassemble the speaker to ensure the 1/16" drill bit did not damage any speaker or component. The speaker comes with a rubber strap and suction cup for shower mounting and I shortened the rubber strap by drilling a 1/8" hole in the strap. Email me for more info.

Valiant' s blue paint over the white foam is fragile so I covered the whole fuselage with 3M 40x heavy duty packing tape. This only added 19 grams but now I can handle the fuse without damaging the paint scheme. First thing I wanted to do was to eliminate taildragger nose overs so I relocated the main gear as far forward as possible. This was much easier than modifying my Apprentice and Timber with Valiant gear. The ground testing convinced me I can taxi fast and make tight controllable turns without groundlooping or damaging the fuselage bottom. The CG was moved forward and even with the EFlite 3000 3S all the way aft there is still a forward CG. However the slight up elevator trim required for hands off flight (SAFE Self Leveling off) did not effect my style of flying. I did see a tendency to enter a snap/tip stall with full up elevator on slow flight with a Self Level on so I did not want to aggravate it by moving CG further aft. With full power Valiant climbs vertically better than my Timber. She is faster and almost as slow as the Timber but I am very pleased at the overall design and performance of the Valiant. She should be a very rugged trainer.

Main gear still protecting prop
The Pandora main landing gear can be pushed into the Apprentice front float gear slot just like the stock Apprentice gear. However the Pandora leg wire diameter is larger and stronger and offers better protection against prop strikes during taxiing, takeoff, and roll out. Of course if you don't flare and drive her in with a nose down 10-20 pitch then the stock 11/8 prop will probably hit and then inspection for damage is recommended before further flying.

The Pandora wire and wheels can be "plugged in" either swept forward or aft if the wheel pants are not installed. Most of my clubmembers prefer the pants and wire leg fairings so I use vice and vice grips to twist the axle area so the wheel pants are parallel to the fuse centerline. The plastic parts add very little weight but reduce drag and look attractive with trim covering. Here are two versions . The chrome legs are swept forward and the red legs are swept aft. I think the aft swept gear minimizes ground looping and looks more realistic.