Well, I got 2 flights on the SHP on Saturday.

The first, out at the club's North field, got cut a little sort by impending floodwaters. Sigh. It went fairly well, much better than the maiden. It was still flying very tail heavy but not quite so bad. With the improved control resolution it was easier to deal with. Landing was a pain; it wanted to balloon like mad every time I dropped throttle below about 1/4, which makes landing a pain. But I got it down and fled the oncoming flood. :D

Later that day I took it out to the club's South field, which doesn't flood, and gave it another shot. The plane had been flying as if it were very tail heavy, and according to the recommended balance point, it was. Even sliding the battery all the way forward it still was. So, I tried a heavier battery. The batteries recommended for this plane are 3-cell (3s) lipo packs, in the 2200 mah range. These packs weigh around 180-190 grams. I have a 3s 3700 mah pack that weighs 330 grams so I tried that. With this pack, the plane balances where it should. And it flies like it balances properly!

Now, all the guys in the RCGroups thread for this plane say basically "as long as the battery is on the tray the plane will fly fine"... I don't know what these guys are used to flying, but, umm, yeah, it doesn't fly right with the balance point an inch back of where it's supposed to be. It flies very tail heavy and it's a pain. It flies 1000% better with the balance point where it's supposed to be.

I did some work on the balance situation and have it balancing more or less where it's supposed to, with the smaller, lighter packs. They need pushed way forward, but it should be manageable. Flight testing of this setup should come today or tomorrow.

I'm also going to be getting up one more plane for this season, and I'm not sure which one yet. I have the Hyperion Extra 260, 40e size that I traded a friend for, and I can't wait to fly that. It's a big plane, 54" wingspan, and flies on 4s packs. I've flown it before, when my friend owned it. It flies very well. But, I've got one more plane I can do, and I'm not sure what it will be.

I could go with the Precision Aerobatics Addiction. It would be an awesome plane, probably the best, for learning 3D-type maneuvers on, but 3D is kind of all it can do. I've got sport planes sort of covered with the Hyperion 260 and the SHP (and my MUS as well), but I do like versatility...

There's also any number of 3D Hobby Shop planes I could get going... An Extra SR, 51" AJ Slick, 47" Edge or Velox, or even the 49" Sukhoi. They're all good planes, and have some versatility.

Or I could go with a Hyperion plane. They make a lot of very nice airplanes in a wide range of sizes. Warbirds and aerobatic models. I've been looking at their 70e size Chipmunk for a long time. It's a big 64" bird, for flying airshow-style aerobatics with.

So, I've got decisions to make... But I can't do it until an annoying non-paying-bidder situation is worked out with eBay that's tying up some funds.

Ah well.