I built three back in teh 80's. The first toatally stock, pretty heavy. The next two working on weight savings lost about a pound on each one. No need for 3/32 wing sheeting. 1/16 is fine. Replace most or all of the balsa blocks with contest balsa. The balsa block for the front fop of the fuse was a brick painted to look like balsa on all of mine. Just don't drop it on your foot. I think my last one was about 8 1/2 or 8 3/4 pounds. I used an OPS Super 60 with spring air retracts on mine. (May have switched to mechanicals for the last one)

Good luck, a good flying airplane, although a bit large for the time.

Stuart C.