Hi David and anybody else who is interested,
After extricating my Hobby Barn Magic from my workshop and comparing it to the MK plans I made some very interesting 'discoveries'. First, after looking at the fuselage and the plans, I decided to align the Hobby Barn Magic (henceforth referred to as the 'Tragic') in the following manner: the front of the fuselage aligned with the MK plans; the trailing edge of the wing then matched the MK plans. Here is where the Tragic differs from the Magic:
1) Tragic fuse 3/8" shorter
2) Tragic wing root at fuselage side is 1/4" longer
3) Tragic stab root at fuselage is 3/8" longer
4) Tragic stab LE is 3/4" ahead of the Magic location - the result of #1 and #3
5) MK calls for the wing and stab to be set at + 0.75 degrees
6) The Tragic stab incidence matches the Magic
7) The Tragic wing LE is 3/16" higher (more positive incidence) than the MK Magic. This computes to an additional 0.75 degrees meaning the Tragic wing is actually +1.5 degrees.
I did not bother to compare wing/stab size and planform or control surface size.
It seems a rather remarkable coincidence that the wing incidence on the Tragic is exactly double the recommended amount. My guess is that somebody screwed up when making the original plug. The other inconsistencies are ... inconsistencies[&o].
I'd love to hear thoughts about 'fixing' the Tragic from Dean and Tony. My feeling is that correcting the wing incidence should help significantly.
I hope Chip reads this before churning out a bunch of 'Tragic' kits. Unfortunately, a new plug would probably be the best solution, though fixing the wing incidence may prove adequate.
-Will