I have to throw my vote with the Carden also. I just blew the entire centersection out of the fuselage on my old 35% 300. The wings, Cowl prop and landing gear were untouched but ride down through the tree took out the fuselage from the firewall to the wing tube.
I am rebuilding it at the moment and thus far have found no further damage so I expect it to weigh just what it did prior to the crash. It also reminded how good the original balsa was when I started looking for more at a local hobby shop.
ORIGINAL: rcpattern
I personally own a 40% Carden Extra, and love the way it flies. I have flown the Comp ARF and it also flies great. Earlier this summer I had the motor in my Carden hickup (very hot humid day, and I probably hovered a little too long), anyway it fell on its back. Being a Carden it was repairable. Yes, it is true to repair a composite ARF. I work in a Composite shop building UAV's for the military, but depending on the amount of damage a composite fuse can be MUCH harder to rebuild and keep the weight comparable. I've been very happy with my Carden and the service from Dennis and Carolyn,
thanks,
Arch