I asked Richard Verano about the reports of excessive vibration in the 1.15 and he said it is not true. He did say that with more power, you will get more stress on the airframe. Richard runs a Hyde mount with the nose ring but he says it is so he can build his plane lighter.

The Tempest looks draggy but it didn't seem to be in the air. I bet a 1.10 would be fine for Silver. The Tempest comes out very light for it's size. That big cowl looks draggy but it is wide open in the back so I don't think that was an issue either. I would recommend not hooking up the flaps. I did, and I think that gave me a lot of grief the last time I flew it. I had the plane all dialed in for a full pull on the elevator. I had flown it at least 50 flights without a problem. Then I get to Utah and the first heat against Marty, it is snapping in the turns. Freaked me out. After that heat I dialed out a bunch of elevator in hopes of fixing it. Then just before the next heat I noticed that I had inadvertently bumped the flap switch and the flaps had dropped to the mid setting and I hadn't noticed it until then. I'm sure that is what caused the tendency to snap but it was too late to change the elevator setting back because the countdown was already started. Trying to horse the plane around the pylons with too little elevator was a contributing factor in my dumb-thumbing the plane into the hillside.

As for the hinges, I didn't do anything extra to mine and they held up just fine. I would strengthen the firewall. Mine held but it just looks like a place that could use some attention. If I build another one I will glass the box before installing the mount.

I sure loved the way it flew. Especially the way it would crank around the pylons. Yee-haw!!