Well, I cant say much about the tail feathers, the ones on my LT-40 ARF have held up great so far. I just made sure I epoxied them really well, and have had no problems to date. As far as hinges go, if you want a really sweet control surface setup, with minimal gap, go with the Robarts. The CA hinges are adequate, but will eventually wear out. Might as well install good ones now, rather than have to cut them later. I dont think that lateral balancing on this aircraft will give any noticable improvement to flight characteristics, but I could be wrong. I havent laterally balanced mine, and it flies perfect. CG was right on the money when I finished building it.