The Box
This plane came in a decent shipping box as usual and a nice gift box inside. They used the typical foam core to protect the foam. Mine had a couple holes in the side for room for the wing tips this caused no issues in any way. UPS or USPS would really have to bang this around to kill it
The build
I use a Spectrum DX9
an admiral 2200 and a 2600 3's lipo
The manual is actually quite nicely done and not much to it all. The necessary radio inputs are included like expo and servo travel rate also what switches to use. The receiver has an auto bind feature so it does not use a bind plug which is cool .
So the first thing I did was to bind the radio which is a little different you have to wait for the motors go strait up then you can bind the radio. You can not have the transmitter close to it at all it has to be about 3-4 steps away from the plane. If you fail to do so it will not bind or at least mine would not. After that you do the same thing as normal when binding a spectrum radio to the receiver. Then you want to go into wing type and make sure it on Normal type. Then go to Channel assign scroll down till you are on the next button click that . Now your in channel input config their you want to select A switch for the gear and H switch for the aux1. Gear switch is for the safe mode and H switch is for the vtol position. Know go into your dual rates and EXPO only for elevator ,ailerons are to be set at 25% and the rudder is set at 0. You want to take the servo travel to 100% that should all ready be done, After that the radio is done.
The plane goes together just like any flying wings the fins are held on buy 2 screws on the bottom going up 2 per side. When putting on the prop collets I suggest to roughen up the motor shaft this will give the collet extra to grab on too. I did not and my left prop almost came off ouch.
The Flight
Well flying the Convergence was not actually bad at all just some tips to remember when flying this.
1: Just because this can do the VTOL you still need flying room do not ASSUME this will fly in small areas!!! This plane once activated for forward flight is fast and eats up allot of room quickly. With the gyro on turns are graceful but very wide and predictable.
2: DO NOT DO NOT go to fast when engaging from vtol to traditional mode. If you do the gyro will go berserk and will start to porpoise violently up and down and it does not sound good either. Once it achieves the motors in the down position it will go away and full speed will be ok.
3: So when do you transition for the first time I would get about 20-30 feet be stationary power at 1/2. as the motors pivot down the plane will start going forward on its own. Some people believe that you have to go forward first then pivot. This is not correct and this will over speed the gyro causing the porpoise. Once you get use to it then you can be at a lower height and you will make out just fine.
4: turning the gyro off in flight make sure you have some height it will drop the nose and get ready to throttle up. Flying this way is very snappy and do not get to far out she gets small very quick. Also the snap roll rate is much faster if you have ever flown a wing you will have no trouble with it. But note this plane does not float at all it will drop right now I think a round rock floats better,this flies on power.
5: When your ready to land this do not go full power then flip the switch instead slow down to about 1/4 throttle then flip the switch. But be ready to give about 1/2 throttle during the transition. This plane will drop at 1/4 throttle. Once your back into quad mode it very stable and land it and that's it.
The Good
This plane has the cool factor all over it looks , flight and even the sound of the motors. Flying in quad then transition will get you grinning ear to ear. This plane is very easy to setup easier then what I had heard. I
The Bad
You really want to watch out for the ball links and servo arms. They are made of a solid brittle piece of plastic than can break off. Also roughen up the motor shaft before putting the collet adapters on it. You could put a little blue lock tight inside the collet or some beacon foam tack.
Summery
With me knowing how to fly quad and planes this is very cool indeed anyone can have a great time with it. Please note this is not for beginners in anyway yes it has a gyro but not safe. Now that their supply is starting to become available I would recommend this plane to an intermediate to expert.
Hope this helps and good luck!!!!