I agree with you about the nose weight. I don't see how you could balance these planes using the stock setup unless you went to a gas engine. With two servos in the tail and an OS 1.60, my Staudacher needed 12 oz of lead in the nose to balance. And that was with the battery pack mounted to the top of the engine box. However, moving the servos just behind the wing tube, I was able to remove all of the nose weight. It seems that these planes vary greatly in quality and weight. I seem to have gotten a pretty good one. I don't think it's much over 11lbs, though I haven't weighed it. Still a great flying plane. Sounds like you got a dud.....