So, there I was, wondering if the hundreds of rabid fans were just dead wrong about the SHP being an awesome airplane. I saw a little of it, with the big 3700mah pack in there; it balanced with that. But that pack is 330g, vs. 184g of the ~2220mah packs. And the plane is designed for the smaller, around 2200mah battery packs. And I have a lot of packs in that size. I want to use them!

So I figure... The plane flies fine with the heavier pack. How much weight would I need to add to get it to balance with the lighter packs? Turns out, 28g (1 ounce!). That's it. 4 7g pieces of lead in the nose, and she balances perfectly with the lighter packs!

As far as flying, wow, yeah... I'm in love! It lives up to everything I'd hoped, and more! Inverted? No problem, only a tap of elevator needed. I did my first (albeit sloppy) knife-edge flight, and some really, really sloppy harriers. Very happy now!

The next plane to enter my hangar will be another 3D Hobby Shop plane -- the 51" AJ Slick. I flew one, briefly, as my friend Chad owns one. He flies with full 3D-style control throws and zero expo (lunatic!), so it was "interesting" but I see with some expo and slightly lower rates I'm going to love that plane too. It should arrive early next week. This will also be my first 4s-powered plane. It seems such a little difference, only 3.7 more volts, but everyone says 4s vs. 3s is a night and day power difference. I can wait to see how it goes. I have 4 3000 mah packs coming from China.