The first day started very shocking. Our airplane had some trouble with its elevator control and went to a dive after the first turn during the test run. Luckily our pilot could prevent the worst and ended the flight without major damage. But since the landing was a little harsh we had to repair the landing gear. It also felt very discomforting not to know what exactly caused the error.
Recovery from the dive.
After the repairs and some improvements regarding tailboom stiffness the day took a great turn. The problems with elevator control were solved and we could score with two successful flights. We flew with 9,74 kg payload and only needed 1:13s to reach the necessary 10 legs (1km total) at the first flight. With the second flight we could even increase that to about 10 kg in 1:07s .
Sharp turn in the first valid flight
So we could end the day very happy and we are looking forward to two other great competition days now.