Buttoned it up this evening. A few specs:

OS 70 Surpass, inverted. The supplied tank doesn't fit in the nose, where it needs to be for a non-pressurized/non-pumped engine. So I used a DuBro ten ouncer.

MPI on-board glow system. It, the 1300 mAh sub-C battery for it, and the rx all mounted on or behind the CG. 1200 mAh NiMh rx battery mounted behind the CG, just in front of the elevator servo.

Notice that I keep mentioning the CG? With the balancer set for 5.5", the most-forward location, and the battery removed from its spot and placed ON THE BOTTOM OF THE RUDDER (much farther back than it could be mounted in the fuselage), it still took THREE OUNCES of weight on the stab before it stopped dropping the nose.

This is totally unsat. I have no idea why it is so nose-heavy. Yeah, it was designed to have the tank on the CG. But the rudder servo is in the tail.

This airplane has been one large and significant rectal discomfort. Nothing major (until now), just a lot of little annoying things- MUCH more than is usual, even for a low-quality el cheapo pacific Rim ARF. This one is supposed to be a high-quality offering; it certainly is priced that way.

But this felony nose-heavy condition is just icing on the cake. My first inclination was to rip all my gear out, and take it to the LHS first thing Monday to hang up and sell. Hey, caveat emptor, right? Nah, wouldn't feel right about that.

Normally, I don't throw good time or money after bad. But I've got so much time invested in this one, solving little BS problems, that I might as well solve this one. I'm going to remove that odd-ball elevator system and put two servos back there. They will have to be offset, but I think there is enough room to vertically offset them. The battery will still have to go behind the wing somewhere, I'll bet large on that.

If you are contemplating buying this model, don't. If you already have the kit, sell or trade it. What we have here is a beggar in an Armani suit.

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