ChiefK, sounds like your CG is a bit too far forward. You might try a bit of tail ballast, which will also remove the need for a lot of the negative stab incidence, and also dictate the use of lower elevator travel, to avoid the increase in pitch sensitivity that accompanies CG that is further aft. I like to set the CG so that the airplane requires virtually no "down" elevator while flying inverted, but this can sometimes make the airplane a bit hard to land smoothly in a gusty wind.