My AUW was about 10.5 lbs. I had to add 8oz of lead to the tail to get the CG where the manual says. My first maiden was not a pleasant one. Right after take off it felt way tell heavy. The GMS 120 had plenty of power but it flew like it was pulling a brick and the elevator was very sensitive. My landing was almost tragic. It tip stalled right when i started to flare out for landing about 5' off the ground and came down pretty hard. I wasn’t going that slow. It only scuffed the wing tips and badly bent the gear. Luckily a friend was videoing. You can tell by the way it takes off it looks tail heavy. And coming in for landing what looks like bad piloting skills is just me fighting the very sensitive elevator. My rates were set very low so I know I wasn’t over correcting. I have been flying for 14 years and never had to fight an unbalanced plane like this. So now I am in the process of shedding some weight. I have cut allot of fiberglass off the cowl and under it and off the fuselage under the canopy, about 4-5 oz worth. It is still strong and still looks ok. I have also replaced the aluminum motor mount with the stock ones, that saved me 3 oz. I am cutting the muffler shorter on my gms. I’m running a pump so I don’t need it for pressure anyway. If i can lose the lead in the tail I should drop at least a pound or more. My CG was about 5’’ the manual says 4.6-4.9 I will balance it at about 4.5 before my next attempt. Here is a link to the video, watch closely how the tail drops right after take off and how the wing dropped right when i started to flare out for landing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZDN_tbUy_s