I had no problem with clearance and did drop it in once from a decnt height (2 feet), although i do land engine off. I shortened the tailwheel as much as possible to let the nose come up just a tad.

BACK to the first flight. throttle, speed, litle elevator.. clean climb out. 2 clicks down elevator.
Landings need to be flown to the runway. by this i put the nose down left idle up a little when i crossd the thresold of the runway i killed the motor and the plane slowed nicely. i would recommend not trying to flare this plane in too soon as it slows well and lkes to be just slightly nose high and sink into the runway.

A note on the tail. found my elevator to be quite "loose". so i squeezed the stabs together and had a friend mark he tube. drilled and attached screws. we buried alf moon wood dowels in the stab tube to add strength to screw into. then i used thin light ply to shim the stabs tight. drop of ca to hold in place.. now it is a semi removable.

I will post my cg on sunday after i get to it been very busy.

i ran a 16.5 prop witno probs.. i measured 10 inches clearnace

flyj, what motor are you running and what mount did you use?

i am curious how you got to balance so nicely.

i am flying a hyde aria mount 9 little heavy) and a mintor 170

i can move the battery to the tail and remove the tail weight i think. bat= 5.5 oz