JC,

if I may chime in, if you like the setup for the RE engine and pipe under the hood, build an Escape or a Great Escape (the latter were Cunningham mods to the design nothing to do with Joe). I think the XLT was notorious for coming in a bit heavy (~10 lbs) and it wasn't one of Bridi's best designs - hence the Escape where one can see the rethinking to bring it in lighter. Actually, even the Deception is an option with the latter probably being the easiest fuse to build. While I like all of Bridi's designs, I don't find that his design approach was necessarily the easiest to build. Awkward things like laying up tristock atop fuse sides were done and the infamous trilaminate of balsa sheet up front is always something to contend with too. The shallow height up front is also something that is always tricky when it comes to fitting fuel tank and nose gear as well. Naturally all this can be changed to suit to make things easier to frame up but it does require a little thinking to sort it out.

As far as the surfaces go, producing foam cores for any of Bridi's designs is not project stopping. It does require setting up some airfoils (root and tip) for cutting but otherwise some of these cores can be sourced from Eureka or simply custom cut to your airfoil specs. Brian even has a set of perfectly symmetric CAD plans I drew up for the Escape wing and stab (airfoils included) and he's welcome to share them with anyone he likes.

I think a foam core wing/stab combination with a wood fuse is a very nice way to go as it is light and true assuming your fuse is well setup when you build it. One can even use 1/8" or 3/16" fuse sides for lighter construction. The wood fuse also gives you easier options for gear installation as you don't have to custom cut special contour plates to span the round fuse on the inside. Just take a look at Ralph's (R_G) UFO scratch build for any incentive and frame up niceties.

Last but not least, Escape glass canopies can be had from Scott who kindly laid up a mold (thanks to Brian providing the original). Scratch it and it can come in nice and light with your own wood selection.

If I were on a mission to build all of Bridi's designs, the XLT might be the last one I'd build but like Brian says, this is also just my personal view.

David