Well I flew my Tripe on the weekend!
At 9.6 lbs all I can say is it flew, not well but it flew. I now know how a brick with wings flies. In order to get it to balance on the recommended CG I had to add a 1300 Mah onboard glow a 2100 Mah Rx'er battery (all jammed as far forward as possible) along with the OS 70. This plane builds very Tail Heavy, probably due to the extensive use of plywood. My model came out 2.5 lbs heavier than what the Webpage states as the finished weight of 7.1 lbs. The box showed up 1.1 lbs heavier than stated and this was missing parts(see earlier posting). My only thought to this is MBP are referring to the Balsawood version that is shown in the pictures not the Plywood version which they are shipping. If I had of known this kit consisted of this much plywood I would not have bought it. If anyone is considering or in the process of building this model in the plywood version extensive use of your dremel or
forstner bits is required, the weight of this model needs to be reduced with extra attention behind the CG.

My overall ratings are as follows:
Kit Instruction 4
Materials and Packaging 2
Ease of build and finish 3
Design and Appearance 4
General Flight Character 3
Performance Capabilities 1
Maintenance and Repair 2

Where to now:
Once I get over the emotional let down, I will probably pull the covering off and reduce some of the plywood in the fuse, reduce the flap servos to one with linkage and possibly go a single servo and linkage on the ailerons. I'll toss the abs cover refferred to as a cowl
away (cracked on initial runup of engine) and finish my FG mold. If I can reduce this airframe by at least 2 lbs I will recover and fly it. The finish model is a beautiful speciman of the TriPacer with some very innovative ideas on design and construction which I will carry forward into some of my other builds and designs. If you are ordering this kit be aware the pictures and weight shown on the webpage is not what you will receive. Ask questions! The old saying kicks in Caveat Emptor.