Hello Bennie,
Thank you for your ideas and comments. Thanks also for the South African greetings too!
I like your thought that the front canard may have stalled in the final dives. It makes sense to put more nose weight in, but I am already carrying over a pound of lead in the canard already! I wonder if the forward struts will carry more. Maybe I need to beef them up.
When I look at the original prototype of 1909, I doubt whether it's CG was more forward than perhaps 50% - on the grounds that the Engine weighed about 75kg, which must be nearly the same as the pilot - and the canard looks no heavier than the stabilizers.
But then, the 1909 pilot had the advantage of being able to feel things developing before they happened, whereas we RC guys have to wait until we see the problem, which may be too late, so maybe I have no choice in the matter, but to make it more intrinsically stable than the original, by shifting that CG.
I need to read your reply a few more times because it contains a lot of thought and then I need to experiment again, but this time with perhaps a bit more understanding.
Thanks for writing in, I'll let you know when I have tried.
With kind regards, Robin