Well -we went through almost the same thing the other day with a beautifully built House of Balsa Extra - -it was as light as any of them - and I think -under five lbs.
The problem tho -is that at our 4350 ft altitude - it simply has to keep scooting along to fly accurately - No really low speed stuff.
IF it was at say 15 oz to the foot - it would be easier to keep on line doing complex stuff and the speed could be reduced.
The problem -as you obviously know - is that these models are really tough to get that light .
They do fly very nicely -when power is availale to maintain speed.
As I mentioned - ther really aren't any kits done this way - -They would be considered too fragile by some kit makers.
I built some pattern planes way back when, at 600 squares and 4 lbs using the then new 46 RE OS- tho they flew well - if you slowed them down -they started to wander -
It is really a trick to get these littler ones to look as smooth as bigger ones - simply because the RN is so low that the weight has to really drop - to provide similar appearance in flight -that is slower and smoother.
I personally thing it is worth the effort-If you have the time to sort it out.