G - the Video was Short, Entertaining, and saddening. I have had many a maiden flight go that way.
Were your motors TA pointing up-ish. you could always use a string to determine CoM and then put the thrust through it.
Best of luck
Yeah my mom was a bit slow hitting the record button. (She was also a bit too amused by the crash for my taste lol)
This wasn't entirely unexpected, I had no illusions of a flawless maiden on an unproven design and my limited flying experience.
As far as thrust angle, there's really no good way to confirm it on the bench, like you mention it can be aligned to the CG with a simple hang test but the problem is that in flight, it's not the CG you want it to be aligned to, it's the center of drag (aka: center of pressure) which is much harder to find. But yeah aligning it to the CG is better than nothing at all so I'll plan on that for the next attempt.
I hope your maiden last a bit longer than mine though.
That video was heartbreaking. You don't sound like your giving up, though. I am very happy for that. I just experienced what it feels like when something you designed actually flies, and it is an absolutely amazing feeling. It's worth every single bit of heartbreak. A glide test is a great thought. Keep at it, GMalatrasi, You've come so far with this bird, I know you can make it fly!
Nah... No reason to give up, I'm an engineer, failure when venturing into the unknown is part of the process. You just have to make sure you analyse said failure, learn from it, and apply it to improve the next iteration. ^_^
There's a reason I printed multiple copies of the plans originally. Just needs a new nose. (and longer servo arms)