ORIGINAL: BillS
Well I am almost finished with the Bob Cat and the all up weight is going to be an ounce or so short of 7 pounds.
I moved the mains forward but it still takes over a pound on the stabilizer to rotate. The mains are still 3 1/4" behind the CG which seems wrong. It seems wrong headed for the ground incidence (wheel height) to control the speed of lift off.
On the first few flights I like to lift off late. When headed for the high grass I might want to lift off a bit early.
Bill
You should be fine with your gear location. I initially reworked the fixed gear blocks on mine to accommodate 3/16 wire that mounts side to side instead of the stock front to aft. My CG is at 10.3" and the gear sits 2 3/4" behind that. I actually think that mine should be slightly further back than where I have them. I fly off grass and if the nose wheel hits a bump on the takeoff roll it tends to put the plane airborne before it's really ready.