Many thanks for all of the help and suggestions I have received. What a great resource!

I DID HAVE THE PROP ON BACKWARDS. That was amazing to me. I checked the instructions
once, twice, three times, but still can not find the section stating to change the hub. Why doesn't ZAGI do this I wonder?

I did get the APC props and that made all the difference in the world. Next I purchased
a brushless from MAX and again the performance gain was substantial. In the afternoon I can actually soar in thermals.

For launching I created a small grip hole about 4 inches from the leading edge and epoxied a cola twist cap for a anchor point. Since all the changes I have only had successful launches.
Well once I pancaked into the ground - but I had the wrong model dialed up on my Futaba TX.

Many thanks, Mark S