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OK, after a year of slacking off I have jumped back into the building of my XLT. Here are a couple photos of my progress so far. As I mentioned previously, the finish of the parts in the kit is outstanding but the weight of some pieces is a little heavy. The thickness of the wood in the kit was determined by the original plans, so I'm replacing some of the wood with thinner stock or composites, and milling out where I can. I also bought a box of lightening holes that I am installing in several parts of the airplane. The firewall and bulkhead #2 weigh over 2.5 oz. combined and are made of 5/8" ply - don't drop it on your foot!! Bulkhead #3 is supplied as 1/4" balsa, replacing that with a piece of fiberglass honeycomb cut its weight in half. The canopy that was supplied in the kit weighs 4.7oz., so I'm going to have to learn how to make another or maybe Dremel out this one.
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This is the first airplane that I have kept a "weight budget". I keep my scale out right next to my building board with a notepad and pen. I know that saving a few grams here and a few grams there doesn't sound like its worth it, but when you start putting all of your parts in a spreadsheet and totalling it up you begin looking for other ways to save weight. Just like a household budget you have your fixed weights - engine, servos, battery, then you have your variable weights - everything else. . ..( Hmmmm, maybe I can run the servos thru the planer and shave a little off the casing).. . .
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BTW - I've heard that Bluejay company has dropped off the radar. . . does anybody have updated info?