It's definitely short, but has no problem with longitudinal handling.

Let me 'splain what we were thinking:

Lateral stibility isn't what determines "spinability" - rather, it's directonal stability. Anyway, as a high-winger, it actually has a positive dihedral effect, and the directional stability has been addressed with the extended fin.

Trike gear don't have quite as positive a grip on the ground, and ground handling is implortant here. Plus, the taildragger configuration has *much* lower drag.

As to the flying wing, we considered it, but they can't acheive very high Clmaxes. That 120 foot takeoff is a killer!

Mike said that he liked the plane except for the weak yaw stability, so hopefully all will be well. We've more than doubled the tail area, and nearly tripled its AR, so it should be about 3 times more effective now. We fly again at 8:30 tomorrow. I'll let you know how it goes.