Some thoughts:

- I wanted to make sure that..
a) The plane would still fly
b) The plane would stiff take off (with an OS 40 power plant)
c) Again, this was my first kit, and I have no idea if that extra weight is normal or not

- Do you really think that the 4-40 pushrods made that big of a difference?
a) I still have the smaller gauge pushrods and balsa sticks that came with the kit,
I will probably build those and go back to them if everyone thinks it'll make that big
of a difference. I'd rather do that than add 3/4 lb. of nose weight to a 5 lb. plane.

- I have the battery as far forward in the cabin as I can get it. It would be difficult to get it
up into the fuel tank area. I wonder if it would really help that much.

- I have some steel stock I can use, or even some lead tire weights I can put up there, and just pack
in really tight with the foam for the fuel tank.

Thanks for the comments.
Doug