Like Todd I, too, have flown the HotSpot, Kangaroo, and now the Rookie. Todd has hit the nail on the head with his suggestions. If you have a porpoising problem then you have a problem with either the reflex, thrust vector incidence, or both. My up reflex is only about the thickness of the trailing edge of the wing. Make sure that the thrust vectoring (T/V) exhaust nozzle is EXACTLY parallel with the engine and that the engine and T/V exhaust nozzle is dead center with each other. It seems that the Rookie was set up for a JetCat type engine. With a JetCat engine the engine mount is NOT symetrical (on the center line of the engine). I'm flying an AMT Mercury HP in my Rookie and found that I needed to mount the T/V exhaust tube a little lower than on the center of the ehaust opening on the fuselage. Since it would be a big pain to re-install the T/V bearings and rotating axles----Shim your engine to the center of the T/V exhaust tube.

I like to take my Rookie up high and cut the throttle back to idle, then let her dive down toward the center of the runway. The whistling sound on the way down reminds me of an airliner... After leveling out and gliding by, I then slam the throttle fully forward and climb back up for the next manuever. No pitch changes what so ever on the throttle up!!!! If you are having trouble slowing the Rookie down then you must be do something wrong...You can't just cut the engine and glide it in.....You must get the nose slighty up and fly the plane with the throttle. Also, make sure your speed brake is 90 degrees to the model. I've had no problems slowing my Rookie down...Even on a calm day that flew earlier this week. I start to slow the model down and then deploy the gear for a gear check pass. When I see "three greens" I pitch the model out and at the same time deploy the speed brake. As the model slows I add power to maintain whatever altitude I desire...Using the throttle to control altitude. Once you know you have made the runway I cut the engine to idle. the nose is slightly up. As speed bleeds off I add more elevator for the flare. Let this model settle in by itself!!!! When the mains touch you can add more elevator and ride the mains nose high for about as long as you care to!!!!

So far I have never bounced the plane and the plane flies better that my HotSpots I used to have. I hope this helps....

Kevin