Chemie,

You will love the SSE! I bought mine last Fall at the $79 price. Ouch! Talk about over compensation for transportation. I wonder if Tower will lower their price after the Holidays , now that the cost of fuel has significantly dropped? Sure.
My plane came out real tail heavy. I installed the tail bracing and I added a Dubro tail wheel assembly. I had to add 10oz of lead into the nose. this with the battery and reciever up front under the fuel tank. I had a Magnum XLS.46 on it. It flew ok. But with a final weight of 6.10 LBS it wasn't as nimble as I would have liked. Landing was like landing a brick. I recently changed as much as I could. I took off the tail bracing. This was an ounce of weight that I don't think is necessary for my flying style. I also changed engines. I now mounted a Magnum XL.52 and I am running an APC 11 x 5 prop. I moved the engine as far forward as possible on the mount. I used the Great Planes adjustable fiber glass mount. For a tail wheel I changed the Dubro to just a 4-40 wire I bent and epoxied it in. I got the total weight down to 6.2 LBS. I still had to add 2oz of lead to the nose again with the battery ( 2500MAh 4.8v NIMH rcvr btry) and the receiver pushed as far forward as I could under the fuel tank.
It flies alot better! Lands like it should. This plane can float. With the 11x5 prop I have a terrific vertical and plenty of speed.
Good luck.

Frank