Chuck I also have the WM spit. VERY NICE flying plane, looks good in the air but it's not much to look at on the ground... I call it stand WAY off and squint scale Mine has a .91 FS up front , flys fairly fast and smooth WFO and only needs 1/2 throttle to cruise... a bit less if you drop flaps and be gentle on the controls. The retracts are fine on the dry lake I fly from... I have never flown off grass but it THINK they would be fine as long as it's not to ruff, our dry lake is far from smooth The Flaps really don't do much when deployed, no mixing in ele to keep the plane stable, they do one thing very well... keep the NASTY tip stall from happening. Mine will tip stall unless landed at Mach II without flaps, with them it comes in at a very nice pace for an"on the mains" landing, DO NOT 3 POINT THIS ONE!!!!! once on the mains the tail flys for 50 ft or so and sets onto the tail wheel.The plane goes together well and fly's well... not much more to say for an ARF scale plane, If I ever stuff this one I'm almost positive I'll buy another. for power I think your .61 would be fine, the review in one of the RC rags that sold me used a .61 2 stroke... webra I think. If you do decide to get a new engine consider the magnum 91fs... it's what I use and it's every bit as good as my saitos, you can catch them on sale for $150 at hobbypeople.

John