bruce,
been flying the bird of prey's brother, the devastator. been having trouble getting the zagi tape to stick to the epp.
there is a thread on e-zone that suggests a tension skin covering. basically it is using light spackling to fill the voids, then two VERY thin coats of poly glue. then a covering of fusable interfacing (thin fabric that stretches only one way, sold at wally world) with another coat of poly glue.
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=488247
this is a clever variation of our water based polyurethane covering. the poly glue should be a little easier to apply (i had no luck with the wbp) and more flexible than fiberglass resin. have tried a small patch with rip stop nylon with pretty good adhesion. am going to try the interfacing on the devastator when i get a chance.
drew and i have used our devastators with and without streamers. we used two sided carpet tape with the streamers and i was surprised at how well the streamers stuck, even with the sweep. i got 5 cuts and drew got 3 before we midaired each other and came down. had to call it quits because the wire came out of my speed controller.
have had several full contact runs with them also. they seem to be tough.
i don't know if these planes will work with the current direction 1/2a is going. although they have much more wing area, drew's regular 1/2a is much more manuverable. mine is still kinda heavy at 20oz which might be part of it.
great planes though,
can't wait for a flight report.
slam