diff --git a/solanaceae/ngc_ft1/cubic.cpp b/solanaceae/ngc_ft1/cubic.cpp
index d1c12e3..aa02725 100644
--- a/solanaceae/ngc_ft1/cubic.cpp
+++ b/solanaceae/ngc_ft1/cubic.cpp
@@ -7,7 +7,9 @@ void CUBIC::updateReductionTimer(float time_delta) {
 	const auto now {getTimeNow()};
 
 	// only keep updating while the cca interaction is not too long ago
-	if (now - _time_point_last_update <= getCurrentDelay()*4.f) {
+	// or simply when there are packets in flight
+	// (you need space to resend timedout, which still use up pipe space)
+	if (!_in_flight.empty() || now - _time_point_last_update <= getCurrentDelay()*4.f) {
 		_time_since_reduction += time_delta;
 	}
 }
@@ -86,12 +88,14 @@ int64_t CUBIC::canSend(float time_delta) {
 	updateReductionTimer(time_delta);
 
 	if (fspace_pkgs == 0u) {
+		std::cerr << "CUBIC: flow said 0\n";
 		return 0u;
 	}
 
 	const auto window = getCWnD();
 	int64_t cspace_bytes = window - _in_flight_bytes;
 	if (cspace_bytes < MAXIMUM_SEGMENT_DATA_SIZE) {
+		//std::cerr << "CUBIC: cspace < seg size\n";
 		return 0u;
 	}
 
diff --git a/solanaceae/ngc_ft1/flow_only.cpp b/solanaceae/ngc_ft1/flow_only.cpp
index 7f4a5bf..c7247b8 100644
--- a/solanaceae/ngc_ft1/flow_only.cpp
+++ b/solanaceae/ngc_ft1/flow_only.cpp
@@ -65,7 +65,8 @@ float FlowOnly::getWindow(void) const {
 int64_t FlowOnly::canSend(float time_delta) {
 	if (_in_flight.empty()) {
 		assert(_in_flight_bytes == 0);
-		return MAXIMUM_SEGMENT_DATA_SIZE;
+		// TODO: should we really exit early here??
+		return 2*MAXIMUM_SEGMENT_DATA_SIZE;
 	}
 
 	updateWindow();
diff --git a/solanaceae/ngc_ft1/ngcft1.cpp b/solanaceae/ngc_ft1/ngcft1.cpp
index 0da3c77..f691cfd 100644
--- a/solanaceae/ngc_ft1/ngcft1.cpp
+++ b/solanaceae/ngc_ft1/ngcft1.cpp
@@ -40,22 +40,24 @@ void NGCFT1::updateSendTransfer(float time_delta, uint32_t group_number, uint32_
 				} else {
 					// timed out, resend
 					std::cerr << "NGCFT1 warning: ft init timed out, resending\n";
-					//sendPKG_FT1_INIT(group_number, peer_number, tf.file_kind, tf.file_size, idx, tf.file_id.data(), tf.file_id.size());
 					_neep.send_ft1_init(group_number, peer_number, tf.file_kind, tf.file_size, idx, tf.file_id.data(), tf.file_id.size());
 					tf.inits_sent++;
 					tf.time_since_activity = 0.f;
 				}
 			}
-			//break;
-			return;
+			break;
 		case State::FINISHING: // we still have unacked packets
 			tf.ssb.for_each(time_delta, [&](uint16_t id, const std::vector<uint8_t>& data, float& time_since_activity) {
-				if (can_packet_size >= data.size() && timeouts_set.count({idx, id})) {
-					_neep.send_ft1_data(group_number, peer_number, idx, id, data.data(), data.size());
-					peer.cca->onLoss({idx, id}, false);
-					time_since_activity = 0.f;
-					timeouts_set.erase({idx, id});
-					can_packet_size -= data.size();
+				if (timeouts_set.count({idx, id})) {
+					if (can_packet_size >= data.size()) {
+						_neep.send_ft1_data(group_number, peer_number, idx, id, data.data(), data.size());
+						peer.cca->onLoss({idx, id}, false);
+						time_since_activity = 0.f;
+						timeouts_set.erase({idx, id});
+						can_packet_size -= data.size();
+					} else {
+						std::cerr << "NGCFT1 warning: no space to resend timedout\n";
+					}
 				}
 			});
 			if (tf.time_since_activity >= sending_give_up_after) {
@@ -198,7 +200,6 @@ void NGCFT1::iteratePeer(float time_delta, uint32_t group_number, uint32_t peer_
 		}
 	}
 
-	//for (auto& transfer_opt : peer.recv_transfers) {
 	for (size_t idx = 0; idx < peer.recv_transfers.size(); idx++) {
 		if (!peer.recv_transfers.at(idx).has_value()) {
 			continue;
diff --git a/solanaceae/ngc_ft1/ngcft1.hpp b/solanaceae/ngc_ft1/ngcft1.hpp
index f098923..44d9dda 100644
--- a/solanaceae/ngc_ft1/ngcft1.hpp
+++ b/solanaceae/ngc_ft1/ngcft1.hpp
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@ class NGCFT1 : public ToxEventI, public NGCEXTEventI, public NGCFT1EventProvider
 	// TODO: config
 	size_t acks_per_packet {3u}; // 3
 	float init_retry_timeout_after {4.f};
-	float sending_give_up_after {15.f}; // 30sec (per active transfer)
+	float sending_give_up_after {10.f}; // sec (per active transfer)
 
 	struct Group {
 		struct Peer {