Got mine all done except for CG adjustments.

Grabbed my trusty ol' Great Planes CG Machine. I've had this machine for many years and it has worked flawlessly on everything from 10 ounce foamies up to 30+ pound planes. Unfortunately, it won't work on this plane ![:@]

It shows a cute little picture of this same machine on page 37 of my manual, but apparently nobody actually took the time to try it out on an actual TopFlite Staggerwing. The horizontal rods used to support the two CG machine bases are just too short at about 12 inches.

Easy fix ! Went to local hobby shop and picked up a 48" length of 3/16" carbon-fiber tube. Chopped the tube in half. Machine bases will now span 24". Works great now.

Bad news is, I had to add 1 pound 6 ounces to the nose. Good news is, even with the addition of the nose weight, my total weight was cut from its original 23 pounds down to 19 pounds 11 ounces. My StaggerWing diet has worked ! Bad news is, now I've got to wait 'til spring to get her in the air.[:'(]

Joe M.