I seemed to be going 'round in circles trying to get this pig to fly; trying to get as much info as I could while avoiding throwing (more) large piles of money at this thing.
Made the trip to the BIG hobby shop in Dallas and spent the afternoon buggin' those guys. We talked over every combo that didn't involve more than two hundred dollars and came up with this plan:

Buy the ten cell 1300SCR pack ($60) and try it with the astro with the gearbox removed and using a Graupner "Cam" 9X5 Folder. I picked up an 8X4 as well. If that isn't enough, add more cells. then change the ESC to one with a BEC to save weight. Then LIPolys, then mabye brushless....

Then we looked at this setup in MotoCalc. It said it wouldn't fly! Not convinced, the guy set up the G2 flight sim and picked this setup from the options. The Sim said it would fly and in fact, indicated a LOT of vertical. Hoping the Sim had it right, I bought the pack and props and then I swore to my self (many times during the loooong drive home) that I wasn't gonna spend another dime on brushed equipment. If this setup won't fly it, I'm bustin the piggy bank and going brushless.
Fortunately for me and the plaster pig, this thing has PLENTY of thrust. Hand launching is just a matter of not getting in the way; no need to actually throw the thing! I had a problem with an aileron torgue rod that prevented me from fully checking out the set up, but the gist of it is that the 'streak now is one![8D] Looks like flight time is about four minutes, but that may improve as I have added some cooling vents to the fuse. The pack got so hot in that unvented cabin that the shrink now has a buncha holes!
Hoping to get another shot at it on Sunday as I now have the aileron issue repaired.

BTW: I re-timed the Astro for direct drive. It pulls 4.00 amps no load.
Loaded with the 9X5, the Astro pulls 26 amps and the original 550 pulled 36 with an 8X5.
My cheap-ass Hobbico tach is refusing to see the prop, so, no info on RPMs yet.


Ricky