I totally get suggesting a safely nose heavy setup for the first flight. Any plane ever made (unless it's a lifting tail or some kind of radical tandem wing sort of thing) will fly just fine with a CG at 25% of the MAC or with a 15% static margin. There is no danger whatsoever with that. But the Intruder instructions and the landing gear placement call for it to be even forward of that by about an inch. Nobody is going to be happy with the CG that far forward, so why would they recommend it? The end user locates the battery, chooses the engine and exhaust, and maybe even adds weight based on the recommended CG on any new plane. But then on this one you find out on the first day that it's all wrong and you have to change it. It shows poor product testing and a lack of knowledge about pattern flying on the part of the manufacturer. But I'll get it there. I cast some lead weights to permanently mount on the back of the fuselage yesterday and bent the landing gear back so I could keep on moving the CG without it tipping backwards on the runway. The trimming process is tedious, but so worth it.

On the positive, lateral balance looks perfect, as does the thrustline. In testing the other day, I did 4 consecutive loops without touching the ailerons at all. I'd say that's about as good as it gets.