To clear the EDF exhaust the batteries had to be mounted low down in 'pods' on either side of the fuselage.
The ESC was 'wrapped around the EDF on the LH side.
At least the pods ensured stability when sitting on the ground!
The radio was placed above the wing.
Without the complex ducting it is actually slightly lighter at 11.7oz and the EDF now generates very near its 18oz 'free air' thrust giving a thrust to weight ratio of 1.5:1!
The maiden flight was no problem except when approaching a fast(ish) pass the whole nose broke off just ahead of the fan. The remained of the plane continued to fly well enough to complete a circuit and achieve a safe landing with no further damage.
This gave me a clear pointer to what was actually happening.
I had assumed on all the previous crashes that apart from the obvious nose crushing the bend in the fuselage was the result of the ground impact. Clearly it wasn't. The whole nose was obviously being deformed in flight so acting like a huge forward rudder. No wonder it spun in.
To make matter worse moving the CofG further forward increased the flying speed and probably made matters worse!
Appropriate reinforcing of the fuselage around the fan greatly increased the bending stiffness.
It now flies very well with a blistering performance. Small, white and very fast it is now even harder to see - let alone in a video!
As it is still only a 'test bed' of limited strength full power is only ever used when in a vertical climb and then only for a couple of seconds. Any longer and it is out of sight!
So far it shows no sign of entering a spin so I have started to move the CofG back again!
Testing will continue whilst I build another set of cascade ducts but this time for a bigger 70mm fan.