/diy/ - Do It Yourself

I'm thinking about building a FT Explorer and have some concerns.

1) including FPV gear, I suspect this will weigh 2.8lbs (1230g). I'm looking at motor/prop combos and see many motors such as the DYS 2830 1300kv motors putting about 900g of force. Will this be adequate for basic flying and a little bit of verticle flight?

2) I see that people make control rods out of piano wire. Any hints on this or alternatives? The control rods in this model are really long (18ish inches, 46cm) and I'm worried a straightened piano wire isn't going to be stiff enough.