Hey, fellas. I guess I opened up a can of tuna with the whole "light, straight, and strong" philosophy. To me, it's a no-brainer. There are any number of ways to avoid adding unnecessary weight to an airplane. The first thing I do with a new kit is to look through all of the wood and make sure none of it is heavier than it should be. Balsa can vary in density a LOT! If, say the wing sheeting is rock-hard (it can happen), I'll replace it with some nice medium grade. The same goes for models with all sheet tail surfaces. I replace any wood I determine to be too heavy. Sometimes I will even replace the sheet tail with a stick-built version. Any extra weight behind the C.G. will require more weight in the nose to balance properly. So, keep the tail light! Once the basic airframe is ready to sand, the real "fun" begins... sanding. Sand the airframe (carefully) until you get tired. Rest. Then sand some more. Equipment selection will play a big part in weight reduction. Servos, batteries, covering, engines, pushrods, clevises, control horns, etcetera all come into play here. As you gain experience, these ideas will become more instinctive. Even an ARF can be lighter with careful equipment selection. Right now, I'm putting the finishing touches on a Hanger 9 Christen Eagle. There's a thread for this plane somewhere in the ARF section of RCU. Some guys have stuffed DLE 20's in the nose, which require a separate ignition battery, kill switch, and who knows what else. All up weight was reported to be over 12 pounds (!) Mine, with a Supertigre G90 and the best hardware I could find (I tossed all of H9's stuff) comes in at 9.134 pounds. Which airplane would you rather fly?