[wingtipper]

OHHH MY !!! R.I.P VIPER .
day started off real well , maiden flight take off all went well , C of G as per manufacturers recommendation , i used 2 4000mah batteries . which is rather leanient as people are using 5000mah batteries at 60c .
i struggled to get C of G , with mine with batteries all the way back , anyhow it took off at a low angle after about 50 metres runoff anf increased speed , 1/2 flaps take off , wheels went up flaps up and it needed a few clicks of right aileron , i noticed i was holding elevator stick down to keep nose up , it needed a fair bit of trim to level out the ELEVATOR , and 1/2 throttle + to stay in the air , the JET SOUND WAS INCREDIBLE AND SO WAS THE AFTERBURNER SETUP , it flew like it was on rails but needed spool up time and near full throttle on turns . i think it had maybe 1:1 thrust /weight ratio , it felt heavy and needed to be flown at speed , it had washoff speed on turns , it really felt and looked like a heavy jet , flew on rails . had a 1/4 throttle perfect landing with flaps 1/2 down . had lots of great comments, by pemec members . my opinion was it was a little nose heavy , but flew really well , as long as you allowed spool time . i set the flight time at 2 min 40 sec , it touched down at 3 min , and cell count showed 3.71v per cell . so only a safe 2min 30 sec flight time .
2nd flight , time to take it up high , try a roll , i gave it a longer take off for more speed , but it stopped speeding up on the ground and needed FEW SECONDS AFTER I PULLED BACK THE ELEVATOR , it took off same as last time but bounced a little at hi ground speed 1st , which caused the front retract door not to close , this was cause for concern . did a few passes and found due to its weight it didnt really wash off any speed flying straight and level , but did on banking turns so needed power to maintain speed , really looked and sounded the part , but was scary as its power wasnt instant and it was pretty fast and needed to stay that way . took it up really high ( well i thought it was ) and rolled inverted and started seeing the nose drop , so pushed the elevator stick full down , and noticed it wasnt going to fly level at all and it was losing height quickly , in immenent crash situation , i had no choice but to roll and try and pull up . of course it didnt pan out that way , and ended up in about 6 pieces . very dissapointing .
IT WAS TOO NOSE HEAVY , which caused pilot error , i should of trusted my instinct and added tail weight after the 1st flight , . i should of checked the elevon trim position after the 1st flight .
it was a real shame , $525 us + 106 us delivered , + $120 batteries , + $180au rx . = $980 in the air . there is some salvagable parts . like esc and edf seemes uneffected . receiver survived , servos and some retract parts ok .
HOLY COW !!!!! I CANT AFFORD ANOTHER . AND THATS WHAT CUTS , I' MAY HAVE TO LET THIS VIPER GO DOWN AS DEFEATED AND DONE WITH. I ISH A HAD A FEW OF EM ON THE BENCH . BUT EVEN THE FRAME IS COSTLY FROM TAFT .