Sorry for the delay. I flew the F4U today. I've been procrastinating, anticipating a repeat performance. I took extra trash bags to the field with me. I know I spent too much time tuning the engine. Finally couldn't put it off any longer, summer is short. Took a last photo of the bird with the phone and said goodby.

Take off was cross wind and needed a little more elevator than I expected to keep the prop off the ground. That little bow before you catch it isn't pretty.

The balance of the flight was uneventful!!! The landing was graceful with plenty of float and nothing nasty.

The major change here was the removal of 5 1/2 ounces of lead from the tail. That moved the CG forward 1 1/2" to a position 3 1/2" back from the leading edge. The plane went from totally unflyable to quite docile.

I have a really old Royal Corsair kit that is identical in size, so just for comparison, I fought through the mildew and unearthed the 30+ year old plans. Specified CG is 3 1/2" back from the leading edge.

Someone had to know that at Horizon. Ignorance is expensive.

Thanks again for the support.