I cut the ventilation holes and used the method B.J. recommended. I had always disliked this in the past, but by following his directions it was pretty quick and easy and it came out great.
First, you tape the tape the template in place. Then, I used a dremel engraving bit to cut. I followed the outline and it cut very quickly and accurate.
I did the same thing on the chin intake holes and also on the belly. For the chin intake, I took his template which has two cutouts and I sliced off one. It was much easier to tape the single cutout in place.
After this, I did a quick CG check so I could place my battery tray. It goes pretty far back to be at the recommended 215mm location. I decided to make my own tray so I could have a little more room to slide the packs forward or aft as needed.
I'll take pics of that when I finish the installation of the tray and receiver mounting plate.
The good news is that my weight is looking great. My loaded check for CG location which included everything shows that the weight is 4845g. This was with the F3A Unlimited 5100mah packs. That gives me plenty of margin to run my 6000mah packs. The 5100 mah packs weigh 1220g with bullet connectors, heat shrink tubing and velcro added. The 6000mah packs weigh 1295g without any connectors or velcro. So, it will easily make the weight limit with those larger packs. I don't know if I'll need them, but this gives me the option to run unlimited power on the F17 sequence.
It was raining here today so I didn't need to rush through. I'll get it done this week and have the first flight next weekend (or maybe before if I decide to skip out of work one afternoon
)