Dan,
Good to see you posting. Good luck with the job hunt. Something has to give soon-Yes? By the way, even though it won’t fly, that deck looks good in the pictures.

Cliff,
What’s going on? Are you letting a little wind keep you grounded?

Steve,
Here is how you can determine the need for a change on engine up/down thrust:

Set your plane up to fly strait and level (elevator trim) at a desired cruise speed. Example - say you will cruise at about ¾ throttle, reserving the last bit of stick for loops and verticals. Then trim the plane to fly level at that speed, do a strait fly by as level as you can be. Once the plane is directly in front of you, immediately cut the throttle to idle. Take note of what the plane does. Particularly what it does in the first second or two. What it should do is gradually slow down and then start losing altitude slowly at first as the speed decreases.

If the plane suddenly darts up as soon as you cut the throttle (it will eventually start to lose altitude as it slows down) your plane is asking for more up incidence/thrust in the engine. This condition indicates that the engine/prop thrust is pulling the nose down while under power and once the prop force is gone the plane takes its natural course.

If the plane suddenly darts down before it even has a chance to lose any speed your plane is asking for more down incidence/thrust. Again, in this case the engine/prop thrust would be pulling the nose up and once the power is gone the plane takes its natural course.

After you do this test and adjust thrust if necessary - then do the test again, from the beginning trimmed flat and level flight……to confirm all is good. If you adjust up/down thrust of your engine, the elevator trim will most assuredly change. Again, pay close attention to what the plane does in the first second or two after cutting the throttle. After the first couple of seconds the plane has slowed enough that it should always start losing altitude. If it does not, you would be having a serious problem that is much bigger than engine thrust.[X(]

Will the balance point affect this test? Maybe a little bit but I would expect it to be minimal if you are in the balance point range to begin with. Keep in mind that tail heavy planes can fly pretty well under power. It is not until they slow down that the tail wants to drag (fall) enough to make a mess.