I had the same problem with the wing saddle. I just filled it with microballons. As far as the gear with a 13" prop on that Saito you need every bit of ground clearance you can get. The rest of what you are dealing with is typical ARF. Anyway below is their recomended throws and such.
AILE 5/8"up&down on low with 35% expo 2" on high with 45% expo.
ELEV 1.5" on low with 30% expo 2.5" on high with 70% expo
Rudder 2.35" low with 25% expo 3.25" high with 40% expo.
I have mine as follows. My radio dosn't have expo or duel rates on the rudder.
AILE low 5/8"-20% expo high 1" 35% expo.
ELEV low 7/8"-10% expo high 1.5"-25% expo.
Rudder 2.5" no expo.
The settings they give are for 3-D flying. It's not much fun to just fly around with their recomended throws. I like to do a little of both so my low rates are more tame. Be carfull using a lot of expo on ELEV.It can be tricky to land
with 30% like they recomend. Dont get discouraged, this is a great plane to fly. Slide that Saito back as far as you can on the mount.My tank hatch is nothed to clear the intake tube.Put the battery and rec on top of the wing and run the gear backwards. I got mine to balance with no lead.I also used Dave Brown fiberglass pushrods instead of the supplied dowel rods. Sorry to ramble on. Hope this helps. later daveo