I put a drag on the nose wheel to help slow down the plane on landing. However, the abrupt takeoff issue was there long before that. We have a relatively-short paved runway and the drag helps keep the plane from rolling off the end. With the OS 46 and an 11 x 6 prop, the plane is up to flying speed in a few feet.

No question the nose strut needs to be extended (or a larger front tire). I took the front apart yesterday and extended the strut as far as it would go. It still is barely-perceptibly nose down but I'll try it like that and get a longer strut if needed. (I'll definitely need one when I replace the main wheels.) I did discover that one of the collars had slipped, letting the nose drop less than a 1/16 from the original setup.

A key question is whether the stab should be set parallel to the runway. We'll see how it goes on Monday.