The Zero fly's well on 3 or 4 channels. I fly mine on 3. If you ditch the rudder, ground handling will be tougher, but light weight is always a good thing in a small model. If you can swing it, I would suggest a larger battery, say 950 mah and 8.4 volts. (Balance the C.G. at the bamboo spar!)"If you don't bad things will happen" Otherwise build as light as you can afford to.

Craig.