OK, you've got a hotliner, which is supposed to go straight up under power. First, I'd find someone with a wattmeter and see what your current draw is with the 8 cell pack. You may need to go down in prop size to be able to use this pack.

As this is a hotliner, the weight will be greater than more typical sailplanes. I think you will fly OK at the weight you indicate, just don't expect to thermal well (if at all) [&o] .

Take the plane and do some hand launch glides (throw it straight out like a dart) and see what the flight characteristics are like. If you are a true novice, get with an experienced pilot to try this.

I don't know how you got this combination as a beginner. You may want to put it aside and get a lower wing loading sailplane to learn on and keep this one for the future []