ORIGINAL: Spitpilot

Just finished up my Blue Nose - I have been following this thread for a while and like most have had similar issues so thought I would summarize my build;
1) Like everyone else I had to beef up the retract rails and attachment - used glass cloth and resin liberally to areas I could reach and added angle blocks to reinforce rib to spar and skin structure. 2) Replaced the cowl captive nuts with 'Well' nuts which have a rubber flange which helps damp out vibration and makes the cowl fit a little better. 3) I am using a Saito 125 with a Keleo Pitts muffler - cut back the tubes by about an inch to reduce the amount exposed below the cowl. 4) I also am using the Pacific Scaled Aircraft exhaust and thier flush air filter cover kit. 5) I checked the wing wash out and have 1-1 1/2 degrees of wash out on both wings. (unlike my H9 150 P51 which has about 1 1/2 degrees of wash out on one wing and about 1 degree of wash in, really bad on the other wing and as yet still have not flown it like this) 6) I ran the engine on a stand for 3 tank fulls before trying it in the airplane - the vibration levels are quite acceptable with the balance plastic spinner but as you can see in the photos I am using a 4'' Dave Brown aluminum spinner. 7) I intend to fly without the two canopy attachment screws and rely on the magnetic catches only - I think this will be ok but will see after the first flight. 8) I am using a 6v 1700 mAh RX battery and a 1.2 v 1900 mAh battery for the C-Tronics glow driver. 9) I have a 1/8'' gap between the wing leading edge and the fuse recess which no one else in the thread has mentioned but will leave this for now. 10) I have yet to address the wobbly tail wheel but will do this before first flight. 11) The CG came out at 4.7'' without adding weight to the nose or tail but the weight is at 11.5# driving the wing loading up to about 35oz/sq ft which does concern me a bit. I think the CG at 4.7'', 26% MAC is nose heavy although reports in FLY RC mag say it should be fine - we shall see.
In general I think the quality of this ARF is ok but more attention to detail in critical areas like the retract rail attachment, tail wheel support and wood quality would produce a really good model at no or little cost increase - better quality control and oversight of the Chinese manufacturer by the people at H9 would fix these issues we all have struggle with.