I have been slowly making my way through this thread for a while and was surprised to see in the last page or so the much more current post dates.

I've been building mine now since early Sept 2011 and wish I would have noticed the bits about the tail tubes earlier. I did pull the lower skins due to water damage, (the previous owner(s) had not stored it in the best location). I Gorilla Glued in the large scale pin style elevator hinges and glass clothed the entire tails with EZCote.

This is not my first build by a long shot and even before reading of the control failures had tossed the stock hardware in favor of stuff that fit my comfort and reliability scale a lot better. I have a penchant for modding and have to say this plane is custom made for that.

Working back to front, basically the same as the build, here is a list of some of the changes. Many were made before I found this thread, so I feel I was at least partially on the right track.

1) Elevator servo moved to a new plate aft of the rear bulkhead with dual 4/40 ball links and rods. There is virtually no play in the elevators, but I plan to seal the hinge gap before flying.

2) Made an entirely new rudder Pull/Pull system with the adjusters up front near the servo wheel. The setup has a ball link tension setup to relieve the servo output bearings. I threw out the brass lower rudder pivot and installed one from composite. I try to avoid any metal/metal contact if it can be avoided.

3) Completely custom receiver and power distribution mount with isolators to help dampen the vibrations. Need to run the plane to check to see if the solid engine mount will cause problems, (more on that in a bit)

4) Custom power distribution center with a separate switch and charge port for the 2S LiFE system supply and the 4 cell NiMH pack stuffed above the engine is exclusive to the Rx.

5) I never did go with the mechanical retracts as the mere thought of connecting and disconnecting linkages every session was ridiculous. I originally had RCLANDER electrics mounted, but am waiting for a pair of EFlite 60-120's and will rebuild the mounts again once I have dimensions. The R/L could not tuck the wheels far enough into the wells.

With no central servo I was able to fit the 2S LiFE pack in the tank location and lift the tank in line with the carb. I had the option of adding a pump. Hate the idea of more connections, etc. unless the advantage outweighs the complexity. It was easier to keep it simple. I dropped the tank capacity to 12oz. I run this size in the Skybolt and at the end of my normal 9-10 minutes of honking I still have 1/2 tank or more on landing. I will start conservatively in any event to check battery capacity so will be able to gauge fuel consumption as well.

6) On that note I have a pair of modded Robart struts and since I predominantly fly off grass opted to go away from scale and move the scissors to the trailing edge.

7) The cockpit and canopy are self contained and quick release to allow access to the switches, battery status indicators and remote glow. It was a ***** to build and work through the rather small cockpit and firewall openings. The leading edge of the canopy frame are fitted with 3 C/F rods and the back locks down with a pair of homemade spring latches. I wish I could take credit for the idea itself, but I use whatever I can and my friends turbine jets use a similar setup. I hope that works just as well on my Nitro Planes Seawind as the canopy on that one is very thin plastic and held down with a plethora of screws.

8) I originally tried to fit the Saito 125a into the stock isolator mount, but it just would not work very well. I opted for a composite mount that I hope has enough damping. I have a Graupner 14/8 3-blade. Unfortunately it did not fit the spinner at all and after some hacking I though it looked a bit ugly. For now I have a 2 blade wood prop for first run and break in to be replaced with a composite prop for first flights.

9) The cowl is fit with a sim radial with my stock custom ducting to direct cooling air over the motor. Learned the hard way on my Saito powered Skybolt that I need to follow the exact same rules and methods we do with full size aircraft. After a dozen or so setup and test flights the 'Bolt did not finish the first run with the cowl on before the motor seized from overheating. The ducting has worked perfectly now for close to 250 flights on that one and worked just as well on my OS FS91S powered Harvard.

I will post some pics shortly, but for now I will agree with many in that this plane fell well short in design, materials and construction, to the point nearly ALL my kits required less effort to get to where I could feel I trust them. The first sign of trouble was when I removed the wing servo pods. The wood simply fell to pieces in my hands, none of the glue joints holding at all. At least they use UltraCote White. That is one of my standards, so have lots in stock.

I had quite a bit of trouble with Slimline. Getting the rather unique adapter for the 125a proved to be a ***** with 4 tries and 4 months timespan to finally arrive. The muffler is finally mounted and cowl cut to fit. Oh yeah, I don't know if they had a different supplier for the fuselage and canopy, but the paint simply pulls off the cowl even removing high grade masking tape.