Here is a copy a the last response I received from Ken Charron on which, after beating around the bush for several e-mails, finally addressed the weight issue. This is one of the most disreputable modeling companies I have ever dealt with.

"I only ask about the altitude because we are a 300ft ASL and our plane is off in 60 feet. There must have been some confusion at the time when you got the kit - as the kit was in the middle of a transition. We were debating weather or not we would continue to offer the balsa version. Why? - A lot was depending on if we could solve the fires that would start when we would run the laser in the winter. It's so dry here during the winter months that the balsa wood caught fire when being cut on the laser. So rather then strike it off all together, we tried testing methods of cutting with mist injectors in the laser cabinet. So it wasn't until we exhausted all options that we decided the light ply version would carry on and the balsa version would be dropped. The specs for the plane so far as weight still only reflected the balsa version. This was our error for not being on top of that (can't think of everything 100% of the time). But the new weight seems to provide a great plane for windy days. It's actually nice that the flaps are useful now with the heavier version. Before, it was too light to bother, the flaps would slow it down so quickly, that it would drop out of flying speed if you didn't catch it quickly with the throttle. The only drawback we found is that we can't put our video handy-cam inside (gets a bit too heavy for the 80).


So to answer your questions - Yes there was a balsa version for a little while. But we couldn't figure out a true price for it - mostly due to the unknown attrition rate of material when trying to cut it. The cost had to be factored in. If we released it again, it wouldn't be a great sell once the new price was set ($30 more). So to simplify, we dropped it. Again, specs for the ply version we not updated - our error.


I'm not sure about the cowl. I know we did test a FG cowl in the beginning, but the supplier we were dealing with along with the complexity of the nose shape (with the oil cooler) proved to be too nose heavy for the original design. Perhaps with the heavier fuse and maybe a new supplier, a FG cowl could be offered in the future. I think that I would speak for most modellers that if we added the $30 for the balsa version, and $35 for the cowl, the kit becomes way too pricey for anyone to consider. $280 for a kit would mean breaking the export cost barrier - and customs would slap on duty for the sale (Anything over $200 US gets duty). And so it would be completely out of range for those who budgeted for something more reasonable.


So there are the reasons you were looking for. Hope that clears it up a bit.


Man, there is so much work to do when developing a kit. It just goes on and on..."