Well, I "flew my Hellcat Sat. It wasn't pretty at all. Most unstable aircraft I've ever tried to control. Managed to land without much damage. Don't know what I'm gonna do about it. I'm going to move the CG way forward, maybe try a different prop (a 15 x 8 versus the 16 x 6 I was using?).

My dry weight was only 11 lbs. My CG was set about exactly in the center of the recommended range. The plane was so squirrly when I took off, and it took so much effort to fly, that I forgot to raise gear and flaps until after 1/2 way through the flight. Cleaning up the flight controls helped only minimally. I recommend do NOT take off with flaps. Let it build up lot of speed before lifting off. Lift off gently. Hold slight right rudder.

As for flying heavy... I don't think it was all that heavy really. Maybe mine should be heavier! Mine flew as though it were tailess. Unstable in all 3 axis. And slow. Maybe mine is too slow? I think I'll recommend a higher pitch prop. I used a 16 x 6. I'm moving to at least a 15 x 8. I read a lot of people using the graupner 3-blade 15 x 8 and being pretty happy with that setup. I need to use some 2-bladed props for now.

So.. more weight... faster prop... CG futher forward... take off no flaps. Hope that helps. Anyone have any other ideas?