RE: Edge 540T 50cc opinions?
Yes the tick marks are the small holes you are referring to.
You want the plane to balance in front of the first set, preferably about 1/4" or more.
Yes I made the "U" block myself out of hardwood, and then covered it with an epoxy mix.
I prefer this to longer standoffs as it distributes torsional loads over a much bigger area, preventing damage to the support structure.
I've seen guys put very long standoffs on their planes. They do not realize that these long standoffs act as levers with long arms, putting a good bit of strain on the area where they contact the wood. The U block provides a larger contact surface reducing the per-cubic inch loading.
Put a good bit of Expo on your TX with this plane, say about 50,50, 25% for ailerons, elevator & rudder respectively. ( Negative for Futaba, Positive for JR ).
You'll find that the plane flies almost level hands off inverted once it is trimmed out. It is a very sweet flyer.
BTW: I crashed my first one when the engine died just after takeoff one time. I held too much back elevator, and the tail pancaked in HARD, cracking the fuse off about 1/4 the way behind the canopy. While I don't expect to do this again, I threw in a few CF tubes running along the long the fuselage formers.
I just cut them to size and epoxied them in place.... cheap insurance.
Amazingly that and a completely demolished prop was the only damage.