Rustypep,

I built this excellent kit in 1998 and it was one of the best flying models I ever had. I started out with the O.S. 61 - I still have the header pipe and special muffler for it, if you are interested. While not a light builder she was indeed tail heavy, big time. I added at least 1-1/2lbs to the nose to get her to balance. The maiden flight was excellent, trims were good and she handled well. I lost her on landing, keep the speed up! Superficial damage, but knowing that I wanted to make it more scale sounding, I installed an O.S. 91 Surpass. This reduced the amount of weight to a little more than a pound! So, my all up weight as this ship became familiar and ran the circuit as an everyday flier was 11lbs, 8oz.

The trick was getting her off the ground. This was always the case. Noseovers were a common occurrence and you had to watch the wingtips on takeoffs. The gear tracks very narrow and rough ground will cost you. This is also true on landing. For many years I never had one landing that didn't end up on the nose. I found later in her life that setting the elevator to maximum throws - even more than the manual recommended was a heck of a good idea. You had way more elevator than you needed (watch out), but it got you off the ground. Once you left the ground, you had the radio programmed with dual rates or equivalent and you would flip them on and the elevator would return to normal throws. Add'l rates for smaller throws I never found necessary as long as you used significant exponential.

At any rate, she came to and end on a particularly hard landing and I decided to retire her. I've since moved to another area in Michigan and now fly giant scale - my .60 sized days are over and I only have the P-51 Top Flite Gold Edition left. But in summary:
1). Put the biggest (i.e. Heaviest) engine in that you can. The two stroke, with the scale muffler looked really scale and was hidden well. The four-stroke? Well, you are going to have to think about that one. Hello, www.keleocreations.com? It all depends on where you want to go.
2). The throws on the elevator will get you much, much better ground handling. All those nose overs were frustrating and were simply a result of the placement of the gear, which were, simply, a compromise. The CG was dead on. You might have a close look at using a pump and altering fuel tank placement too, but I doubt that can happen. Using S-48 (regular) sized servos, that was one of the tightest radio installs I've ever seen! So you're pretty much stuck following the manual. Don't forget to balance the model with the gear up!!!

Anything else you need, just drop me a line.

I looked for some pictures of my Spit, but I didn't have any handy.

Let me know if you choose the two stroke powerplant, I've got the muffler and the header for it!!!