Chuck - At first I thought it was me. Now I know that it was, but it's also the airplane[8D]. The short fuse on the Pitts or the Eagle, combined with the P- factor of a larger gas engine with a big yanking prop on the nose, and you have a formula for trouble, if you aren't prepared for it.

On my Pitts, when I start the take-off roll I never got to WOT until well into the roll. Well I should say I did go to WOT once........Won't do that gain. Conversely, you don't want to try and horse this thing off the ground under-powered. I immediately have to add R-rudder or it will veer hard left and then you can forget trying to correct. Once it's veered hard left it's better to abort and then set up to try again. Buzz is right about advancing the throttle slowly to get her rolling and then adding just enough so the tail comes up. By now you should have good rudder control, which is just so critical to offset the torque effect, and to keep the airplane going straight. All too often guys at this point still don't have control and they just let it rip. I've done it myself and it's very alarming. The plane veers hard left and hopefully you get airborne before going off the runway. This is an out of control take-off - been there done that. The problem occurs when guys try to over correct and then they get the plane going hard left and then hard right with a hot throttle. If you have done this then you know what the wild thing is.

Abort and keep trying over and over until you can control a straight roll down the runway. Try it on a day with no crosswind as this makes it much easier. I have worked on it enough now to be able take mine off in a crosswind as long as it's not too bad. It's also better to practice on a day that isn't real crowded so you can have the runway to yourself as much as possible. Don't get in a hurry by getting all tensed up and really focus on getting the feel for the rudder as you advance the throttle.

I know Pittsdriver has much experience with the Pitts/Eagle in full scale and RC scale This is just a different opinion on rudder throw. For me, I like my throws set a bit higher to know I have as much rudder as needed when it's needed. I use exponential to take the heavy thumb out and then try not to get to twitchy on the rudder. This has saved me a few times in a crosswind that attempts to push the tail around. I have used all the rudder I have to avoid going into the fence and was glad I had it.