Thanks for all the input.
I have put in just a small amount of expo. Just to assure I don't get too twitchy as my thumbs are out of practice. R/c flight sim has helped reacquaint my thumbs but think it's no substitute.
I am no beginner but am treating myself as one after the absence. (Perhaps that in itself qualifies me as "no newbie')
My mods to plane include ailerons, half the dihedral, tail-dragger, and bolt on wing with some structural mods to support said changes.
I just finished monokote and will be painting color scheme starting today. Yes paint as I am too much a perfectionist on certain things and tested then hated the look of mono over mono. Yes I tried the Windex routine but I could still see the small "warts" of leftover bubble. This can be addressed in a separate post. Decision made.
By now the decison is to just fly it and see what happens. Thank you all for your support.