I'm hoping to fly it on Saturday, Chris. But I did have a little set back today and the maiden will have to wait if I can't program the model tomorrow evening.
The problem I had was when I put everything inside to check the CG I found that it was nose heavy, even with everything as far back as possible. A bit of head-scratching later and I decided the best solution was to relocate the rudder and elevator servos a little further back. Not only did this mean re-doing the rudder and elevator pushrods, but while I was hammering away I managed to knock the canopy off. This did mean I could spend the rest of the day not worrying about knocking it again, but I have had to re-glue it and it feels a little like I'm back where I was last night.
However, everything else is secured in the right place. And the main flight battery now sits right on the CG. This is good news because I will be able to try heavier and lighter batteries without it affecting the CG. The weight, ready to fly, is 7lb exactly with the heavier 40C 4000mAh battery. I might maiden it with the 20C 3000mAh battery which means it will fly at 6lb 10oz.
And another bit of good news...when I was planning the build I thought long and hard about a top hatch to swap the flight battery without removing the wing. In the end I decided not to bother because I felt the strength of the fuselage would be compromised too much. What a good job I didn't bother, because I would have made the canopy area removable, because my motor and battery weigh about the same as a 60 and a tank of fuel. If I had made the canopy hatch I would have access to a big empty space and still have to take the wing off to swap the battery!!!