Good job getting the weight down. I like to do that too. If you had built it stock and it weighed more I would say your NV 40 gasser would be a bit marginal, but at 5 lbs 9 ozs it should be a good flyer. I like the way my smaller one flies very much, and yes, someone went to a lot of trouble to make a nice "birdcage" canopy.
Nice to know it can be balanced with such a light engine; I'm sure lightening the tail helped a lot.
Jim