Now that I've had a few flights on mine, I can say it is a very nice, stable airplane and has a good speed envelope. I'm flying it with an Axi 4120-14 motor, 80 amp ESC, 4 cell 5000ma pack and a 12-6 three blade prop which gives me around a 7 to 8 minute flight. Radio is a Kraft Series 80 single stick with KPS-14 servos. With the three blade prop, it sounds like a turboprop spooling up which is the effect I was looking for. Takeoff roll is reasonably short with a very smooth climb out to altitude. Aerobatics are good, elevator is very good however the roll rate is ok due to the small ailerons. It does not stall, it just mushes forward. I think because of the rudder shape, it can be very touchy in turns (I need to explore that) so rudder inputs for coordinated turns are very small. Spins are more like spirals (I have to work on the Cg a bit). Mine has the original fixed flap so on landing when you find the proper angle, the flare to touchdown is nice and smooth. Power off, the nose drops considerably; watch your glide angle and carry a little power if needed. Color and markings are copied from a Royal Navy Bolton-Paul Sea Balliol T-21 trainer.

A couple pics from today's flying.

El Falcone,..... Looks like a beautiful place to fly you have there! Good to see you are enjoying your Contender.

Mike.... I like your color scheme too.......Gene

hiiiiiiiiii
i am building a contenderGold Edition.

I will post the photos soon.....

The contender you built is excellent and Cover is very beautiful.

You know the Contender has its little quirks, but it is fun to fly.
It can take quite a bit if wind.......lands easy.....flap is fun....

It has proven to be very tough, but really I have not abused it much.

I hope your build goes well.

My son's Contender. A bit smaller than your plane, but still a blast to fly!

UMX Contender 180 Maiden (2 min 47 sec)

Contender 180 Flight 2 (3 min 48 sec)

Originally Posted by Mike Denest

Now that I've had a few flights on mine, I can say it is a very nice, stable airplane and has a good speed envelope. I'm flying it with an Axi 4120-14 motor, 80 amp ESC, 4 cell 5000ma pack and a 12-6 three blade prop which gives me around a 7 to 8 minute flight. Radio is a Kraft Series 80 single stick with KPS-14 servos. With the three blade prop, it sounds like a turboprop spooling up which is the effect I was looking for. Takeoff roll is reasonably short with a very smooth climb out to altitude. Aerobatics are good, elevator is very good however the roll rate is ok due to the small ailerons. It does not stall, it just mushes forward. I think because of the rudder shape, it can be very touchy in turns (I need to explore that) so rudder inputs for coordinated turns are very small. Spins are more like spirals (I have to work on the Cg a bit). Mine has the original fixed flap so on landing when you find the proper angle, the flare to touchdown is nice and smooth. Power off, the nose drops considerably; watch your glide angle and carry a little power if needed. Color and markings are copied from a Royal Navy Bolton-Paul Sea Balliol T-21 trainer.

Nice job on your plane

Had a bit of a mishap. Dead stick low and slow....had to coast out into the tullies.

The plane has been a workhorse, doesnt mind wind, normally engine is reliable. Except today, maybe my fuel was not the best,

Minor damage. I hope. Wing pulled out of fuselage.

Whoops.

Glued it back...wing aligns the same. Just ragged looking covering.
I will probably repair with clear film, since I do not think I have any of the original covering left

Gorgeous plane.