My Invader #1: Built according to the plans at JimZ's. Flight result - destroyed itself on the third consecutive power-prang.

My Invader #2: Micromaxx-sized, built with 1/64" plywood and a nose cone from FlisKits. Wing diameter = 3"; weight -~3 grams. Flight result: power prang.

My Invader #3: Normal-sized, built with lighter balsa than #1, and with the motor mount tipped downward by 2-3 degrees, as Craig described. Flight result - One semi-successful flight, with a glide time of 3-4 seconds. Destroyed itself after three subsequent power-prangs.

All of the three were bare wood, with no paint or coating of any kind. All three were extensively trim-tested until they had decent glides in multiple successive hand tosses (20 feet or more, even for the micro). In the one flight that didn't result in a power-prang, the "glide" was more like an angled death dive. If anyone can somehow manage to crack the code for making this design boost and glide, please let me know.

I read somewhere, maybe on TRF, that someone had downsized the wing to 2/3rds of the original pattern, which supposedly solved many problems. I may try that next, once I work myself up to deal with another bout of total failure.

Mark \\.

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SAM # 0011