Hi,
Like many have stated on here already. Nothing flies like an Extra if you want to have a clean flying precision flying, grooving plane. There are many good ones out there. Some of the ones I favor are the RadioCraft's, Comp-Arf's, and the Carden's. I have a RadioCraft 35% Extra, and they will be starting up production of these planes again. That plane has to be the best damn flying plane I have ever flown. It does every maneuver in the book with STYLE. Not just precise, but with a look to it like no other plane I have seen. My next choice would have to be the Comp-Arf's...that is also an outstanding plane, and it is a quality airplane. If you can swing a couple hundred extra go with the bigger airplanes, they really do fly better. That's not slamming smaller planes, it's just that aerodynamically they fly more like a real one, and go where you want them to, when you want them to. After flying these planes for awhile, I can't imagine anything that flies better than these 100 sized scale aerobatic Extras, except for a 40%.
When you are flying competition, you want something that won't work ya to death to get it to do what you want. These larger Extras do that. Built straight, they are predictable, they are easier to trim, and the larger gassers don't give as much trouble as far as maintenance. I was into pattern before, and those planes like to nickle and dimed me to death on parts, and constantly fixing stuff. I've done pretty well in competition with my Extra, and some of that has to do with the fact that the airplane does what I tell it. Now, that doesn't mean it will do it for me, but when I am flying the airplane and paying attention, and am having a good day, that airplane shows that in flight. It's just a great honest flying airplane that does all maneuvers very well. It stalls cleanly in snaps, and spins. It tracks well. It does looping maneuvers well, and also rolls beautifully in both point rolls and slow rolls. Nice axial rolls. It also does 3d pretty well too...it's not quite the hoverer that an edge is, but it stalls better in snaps and spins. Maybe some of this will help you.