I had the VQ Shangri Li, it was a great plane...
Ditto on the answers, no need for the tube, that just helps to prevent the antanae touching any meatl and tidy's things up...Regardimng the batt, simply blace it where you must to make the CG come out correctly, avoid adding any more weight than you must in this plane, stalls can be abrupt, start out with low rates and use expo if you must.
becareful trimming the wing ribs when installing the retract pushrods, they can weaken if you trim too much.
lastly, don't overtighten the screws for the supplied spinner, mine was evidently overtightened and the spinned exploded on me when I was running the engine on a table, a flying piece gave me a bloodly nose.