a couple thoughts that aren't necessarily in the build thread.

the os gt 33 vs G38 + 10 ounces of weight is a difference of over 2lbs right there.. so if you were able to find a way to balance yours with a GT33 + no lead, you'd be under 16lbs already...that part though was a pretty big challenge, as the tail on this plane isn't exactly small...
I balanced the plane prior to covering, installing servos, battery etc so that I wouldn't have to add weight later. This put the servos up where a pilot would normally be, and the batteries where the gas tank would be.....because of this I also have no cockpit detailing which is a bit of a bummer... but I'll live with it.

the build thread wasn't very popular, I had a couple followers, so for the rest of the people that want to know how I got down to 12lbs..., I redesigned the tail section and cut out all of the 1/4" x 1" spars that were used aft of the CG and replaced with either 1/4" x 1/2" or 1/4" square. The reasoning here was my Dad's Ace Extra 230 ( 30% ) used 1/4" square stringers for the tail.... if that is good enough for an unlimited aerobatic aircraft... its probably more than adequate for an aerobatic trainer like the decathlon...my other thought was while I've built many planes that have had wing failures.. I've yet to snap a body in half... so I should be able to build it lighter....I made the flying wires functional as well which allowed for lighter/thinner wood.... it mainly made the tail light enough so that again, no extra weight was needed to balance...

the rest of it was just wood selection. I have a box of wood from the kit that I could almost build another decathlon out of that I chose not to use for the main reason it was just very dense and heavy, I ended up going to my local hobby shop and swapping out pieces and trying to really keep the body as light as I could.


I'm by no means an expert here, this whole build was a first for me and entirely a learning experience... just had fun with the whole build and decided to try something new