etibedossa:
Sorry for my slow response, but I was away from the office for 4 days at a jet event.
Anyway i think all your questions have been taken care off. But here is my views.
Yes the F-18c is always going to be a hard model to balance without nose weight. I think my first prototype model had 2kg to get the balance where we thought it would be. Slowly we removed weight until the balance point was set at 10-15 mm behind the front spar bolt holes. this I found best for me as it gave a nice solid feel in the air. You can move back even more if you want. i think the max I went was 1.5 inches but found it not so stable on the pitch response.
The model feels especially nose heavy when on it's wheels, but dont worry when the wing starts to work it Will lift off great. I use quite a lot of take of flap. Maybe 20-25 mm as I find it reduces the leap off the ground.
If you have any further questions please feel free to email me direct on
[email protected]