Quest Stiletto Build Part 10, Stability Issues and a Larger Rudder

Before starting a kit build I'll got to www.rocketreviews.com and look up the kit build review.
It's great way to find out if there are any "kinks" or "gotchas" along the way.
There wasn't any reviews for the Quest Stiletto. I started my build figuring I'd make any corrections as I went.

Halfway through the build I did a search on The Rocketry Forum and found a few build threads about the Stiletto.
There were some flight stability issues!

John (Rocket 86) may have found a solution HERE.
Scroll down to Post #27.
John extended out the span of the underside rudder and had great stable flights.
After reading about some other flight results, I'll be cutting out a new rudder as shown here!

John Bergsmith (Boosterdude on TRF) posted this, My responses are in italic:

"Just wanted to some up the issues I found with the kit. All are really minor and wouldn't prevent me from building another one. They could easily trip up a beginner, but for experienced builders it's no problem. I hear that Quest is addressing the issues in the new release. The finished product is really awesome, great design Shrox!"

1. The laser cut balsa pieces for the wings are not the same size. Meaning the left wing doesn't match the right. So you have to trim the larger wing to match the smaller.

My kit wings were the same size - correction made!

2. The template for cutting the intake is a little small so it doesn't wrap around the BT. However, it still gets the job done.

The intake cut template was the right size - correction made!

3. The fuselage marking guide that is supplied is way to small to wrap around the BT. You need to blow it up to 140%, I think that's what I did.

My kit had the revision sheet with the larger marking guide.

4. The supplied nose cone is the Quest Nike cone. It takes some work to get it to fit together to close the seam gaps.

While you do have to sand down the plastic "flash" the seams won't be noticeable. 

You paint one half silver, the other side black.

5. The supplied decals only provide two star and bars when the supplied artwork shows four.

My kit only had two "Stars and Bars" decals!

6. The two USAF decals that go on each side of the inlet are not supplied. I used two from an Estes kit.

In the end I printed up two USAF decals for the sides.

7. The two red arrow decals that say "rocket blast" that go on each side are not printed correctly. One of the the words will be upside down if placed according to the artwork.

One "Rocket Blast" decals was wrong and will read upside down. 

8. The centering rings although adequate are very thin and flimsy. I put some thin CA on both sides and that seemed to help.

I beefed up the engine mount with balsa gussets between the centering rings.

It looks like Quest made some changes in the laser cut balsa but the decal sheet didn't change.

It's an impressive design. I'll make the needed adjustments for stable D engine flights.

Some report it's under powered with 18mm engines. I saw that coming before finding the TRF reviews. It's just too large a model for a B6 or C6 engine.