Hey Jim I have never heard of a single person having to add nose weight to a UCD. It's almost always the other way around. Most people have to shift their battery back just to get the CG where it should be. That is why I believe the Saito 100 makes such a good choice for this plane. Not only is it light, it has loads of power.

I also agree that without the cowl, the UCD is pretty darn ugly. I'll leave my cowl off until I have the engine broke in and tuned properly. After that the cowl is definately going back on. Just makes the plane look so much better.