A couple years ago I lifted one of Mike Cross's Goldberg Utimates.... it didn't weigh anything! Probably the lightest plane for its size and type I've ever seen.
I asked him how he did it... "Don't add anything!" he said. We tend to "improve" the structure etc when it is already adequate.
This particular plane... on takeoff, just before rotation, he'd cut the power to idle, then rotate and it would go up about 50', then he'd add power and hover.
A .91 motor, if memory serves.
I have a Uravitch (from MAN plans) Fokker D-VII. Made it more scale, yet it's still very light. Dead sticks are of no concern, unlike my Dr-1 (scaled down Ziroli), which is a beast, taking off and landing! Deadstick, fugedaboudit! Lightness makes up for the additional drag on a bipe.