I have been flying my Pitts for about a year not - super fun!!!! Keep on it with the rubber on takeoff - unless you like
lifting off 90 degress to the initial heading!

I have powered mine with an OS FX 91. Yes, it has plenty of power. The secret to all Dave Patrick designs is to keep them
light. Keeping to this concept, I also used the pull-pull on all of the tail surfaces. Works fine.

The Bisson 70 degree pitts style muffler works great on this side mounted engine. All the pipes, cylinder head and muffler are
completely contained inside the cowl. Looks great without all that hardware growing out of the cowl. I used silicone extensionn
on the exhaust - they exit out the built-in air exit already existing in the cowl (no cutting required).

First thing I did was to dump the wheel pants. I know they are esthetic - but they have always been more trouble than they are
worth on a model. Catching grass, snagging wheels, breaking loose and twisting out of alignment are all a mess to keep up with.
On a tail dragger with a tendency to nose over - you need all the breaks that you can get. Get rid of the pants and oversize the
wheels. I upsize with Sullivan low bounce (light) wheels. To dress them up I use the old hub caps that they used to make. I looks
fine and most importantly, they keep the plane off it's back.

I did add some cross strut support for the main gear. Also added some plywood to the gear mount. This supports the
gear better and keeps the frame from bending when the gear is stressed. If you check out the real Pitts, it also had extra
support struts for the main gear.

One other alteration - I used two servos to power all four ailerons. This saves weight > and the real plane uses this method also.
One problem with the hardware provided with theisplane - there is a little slack in each connection - from the servo - to the
lower ailerons, to the upper ailerons. By the time you get to the upper ailerons, there is considerable slop in the control surface. Not good!! Control surface "flutter" is a real possibility. So - I replaced the alieron connecting arms with carbon fiber rods and capped them off with "ball" attachments. Took the flutter right out!!!

Please keep in mind that > with GP Christen Eagles and Pitts > the lighter you keep the airframe - the less problems you will have
with "bounce" on landings. These outstanding planes can be made less challenging to fly > by keeping the weight and power down!!!