The method paladin described is commonly used to check thrust; however, I’d substitute “cruise speed” for “full bore.” Thrust, like everything else, is not a linear function, and the amount of down/right thrust will vary on airspeed. Ideally you want to set neutral flight for your cruise speed, not full bore. I realize for many, cruise speed is full bore, but I just thought I’d point out the potential issue.

As others have posted, reaction in a hover is not enough information to determine if thrust is set “properly” in the traditional sense, and what is proper is subjective. Dang near everything is dependent, from CG to incidence to thrust which only complicates everything.

You need to distinguish between a zero airspeed hover and a forward hover. A forward hover can be stationary with respect to ground if pointed into the wind. With a positive forward airspeed right side up hover, needing up elevator to maintain is probably normal. However, in a zero airspeed hover, needing some up elevator may also be normal. Often, pilots get into a forward moving hover and don’t realize it. If the plane is truly in a zero air speed “hover”, the plane should start to torque roll unless gobs of aileron are input to prevent.

Since everything a plane does reacts about the center of mass, if the thrust line is above the CM, you will have a natural down pitch when hovering due to thrust, i.e. you will need up elevator. Consider most planes have down thrust built in, either by having the engines angled down or by having the engine above the center of lift (high mounted engine.) Think about a typical plane, high mounted engine and heavy landing gear. If you try to balance the plane straight up on the tail, it will fall to belly… same thing happens in the air. There are a bunch of other factors I won’t get into, such as downwash from wings, incidence, drag, etc. But one thing that may help a lot, esp. if it is way out, is moving the center of mass up such that the plane balances close to vertically on the thrust line. You can check this by hooking a string on the prop/spinner, suspend the plane from the nose, and note the attitude it takes compared to engine thrust. Ideally, you want the plane’s center of mass directly in line with the thrust vector.

Cheers.