I appreciate the insites guys. Most of what you've pointed out has been echoed in my mirror threads on the other forums. So you're not alone in your observations. Before I get into what I've done to fix things, here's a few thoughts...
I agree there's other materials but I have lots of scrap carbon fiber laying around my workshop from other projects. So when it comes to reinforcing high stress areas, CF is what I reach for. Its not as expensive as many think, its crazy strong & fairly easy to work with. I like it.
Yes she's heavier than I'd have liked but a lot of that is due to the Cub's stock parts. Not sure what kind of foam its made of but the wings especially were heavy from the get-go. There's not much I can do about that, it is what it is. If I had this to do again & I was serious about making a "nice flying" sailplane I'd probably start with a lightweight built-up wing & work from there.
I totally agree, the hand-launches weren't much use. Poor Roger didn't have enough "umph" to get her moving fast enough for a real test flight. That was one of the reasons why I chose to move on after just two tosses. A hill would have been better but the nearest slope soaring site is hours away.
Anyway here's what I've done...
After Further Analysis...
Well I goofed up. I've no clue why I chose to just eye-ball the location for the high-start hook, especially as I'm well aware of the 30° ahead of the CG rule for tow-hooks. Look how far back I had my tow-hook positioned!..
Its no wonder she behaved like she did, I had the tow-hook WAY TO FAR BACK...
Aerotowing
So lets simplify things. I lobbed off the nose-skid & "tundra sized" wheel & now we have a nice smooth fuselage to work with. The wing struts are history too...
After re-balancing here's how she sits...
Unfortunately due to the Guppy shaped fuselage the tail is still up in the air & it looks like she'll probably rock forward on her nose again during aerotow. Still though I think its an improvement. At the very least she looks cleaner...
I'm going to concentrate on aerotowing for now. I'll worry about adding a new high-start hook later on.
So anyway, weather permitting, we'll give her another try tomorrow.