Jeffie,
if you're not a contest scale type of builder there are two tricks I use on my WWI bipes. Lengthen the nose(often the cowl) about and inch and move the landing gear location forward about an inch. I've found that if the axle is even with the LE of the top wing (level the fuselage using the datum line and set a square on your building surface) these birds handle better on the ground and landing. Only the pickiest of scale guys will even notice. I know of a Camel that placed very high in a major scale event and not one judge noticed the l/g placement! Another cheat is to increase the rudder by about 25% (I had to do this on my sport scale Dr1). All this, of course, assumes the designer did not make these changes already.
I guess it'll sound like bragging, but the guys at my flying field always comment on how well my WWI birds handle (-:
Walt