More orphans and a CG question

I admit it. I can't pass up freebos or bargains.

This is readily apparent by the two critters which followed me home last weekend.

The big one on the left is an SD Model Condor originally sold by Nitroplanes. The little glider is an E-Flite UMX Radian. The latter set me back an entire four dollars. It needed some love, to be sure. Lots of really heavy tape held it together, the rudder hinge was torn and the linkages needed adjusting. Add to that some really ugly red spray paint on the wing which even covered the decals(!) along with a really big strip of the wrong hook-and-loop meant a project model was imminent.

As luck would have it, the electronics worked perfectly and it flew well after a bunch of transmitter trimming. Peeling off the packing tape and replacing it with small pieces of very lightweight invisible tape made a huge difference as did adjusting the linkages. Rather than buy a tail set right away, I tried making a glue hinge with some foam craft glue...which worked! For four bucks, I have a marvelous little fun flyer!

$25 netted me the Condor with all of the electronics less the receiver. It sported a 2650Kv outrunner and factory-installed 9g servos, but no nose wheel servo. Got me a new Flite Test servo with the proper arm to allow the wheel to steer, although the arm needed a bit of modifying for the throw needed. I finished it off with an APC 5x3 pusher prop per the motor specs. Guidance is via a Futaba receiver and a Castle Creations Phoenix-25 ESC, both of which came out of a totalled model from the week before. It already had an Emax 20-amp control on board, but I wanted to go with the CC which worked far smoother on the bench. I'll be updating the firmware soon since it's been a long time since I've done so.

This should be fun and if anyone has any suggestions on CG, I'd appreciate them. Seems to balance well on a 1300 3S li-po and although there's room for a 2200, it seems to be incredibly nose heavy. I'll report in soon!