Flight preparation

Yesterday I’ve checked the CG once again and it still seems to be just fine with the batteries all the way back on the tray. On the given center of gravity, the plane seems to point its nose very slightly downwards, but I’d rather see this than leaning to tail heavy and they’ve given a range that should be okay around the marked CG of almost 1/4″ either way. I’ve also used all standard / adviced components, so all in all this should be it.

I saved the following step in the building process for last, because I wanted to know where the batteries had to go for the correct center of gravity. Now I know where to place them, so I could install the hook and loop tape on both batteries and tray, to prevent the batteries from sliding back and forth. I also had to enlarge the recesses on the front side of the tray, because the batteries were too short to make it up to the stock recesses. With my latest additions and adjustments, the batteries can be strapped in safely and very tight:

And finally, I got to setting up the control throws, dual rates and expo. I set up the high and low rate control throws per manual, together with the expo settings mentioned on the website of Hangar 9. I defined one switch for all surfaces, so I can toggle between the two modes with the flick of a switch:

I’m planning to take off on low rates, especially because of the sensitivity of the tail wheel / rudder. If this is not enough, I can always switch to high rates, but as I’ve read in multiple reviews, the plane should fly relatively calm and easy on the low rate settings, which is a good thing for a maiden flight. I really hope to fly the plane on Saturday.

I’ll keep you posted!