Hey Mark, sounds heavy to me, however, when I maidened mine I moved all weight to the front as well . I was running 3 -6v nmh 2000ma + 1 - 4.8 (as dead weight) just to balance at the middle of the measurments provided in the manual. That was fine for the maiden This was also my first 50cc plane and was a bit nervous. After the first five or so flights I realized that is was to nose heavy. 3d performance was not up to par. I spoke with Quique and he told me that the CG measurements in the manual are concervative. After that conversaton I had the confidence to start moving things back. Got rid of the dead weight and moved one of my rx bateries behind the fuel tank. What a difference hovers were locking in and flat spins were easier as well. Next was landing (thats what I was worried about) No problem still very stable trainer like
I now have both RX batteries behind the fuel tank, the ignition batt is still up in the nose there is no spinner and I am running a stock DA50 muffler. it may be to tail heavy for some, but, for me its perfect. Good Luck.
EMVIN