I have no problem putting on my cowl with very little cutting. I have a 4 1/2 inch ultimate spinner on. With everything that I did to the plane it is still tail heavy but not to the point of pitch unstable. The balance is about 1 1/2 inch behind the cg. In the air the plane is incredible I love where the balance is. I added no weight to the nose. While the other two guys added anywhere from 1 1/2 too 2 pounds in the nose. And one moved his wing back 1 1/2 inches. My all out weight is 24 1/2 pounds. The only problem I have with the plane is landing because it just floats so much. It flys incredible at slow speed.