GP extra330L...any thoughts?
The reason that you don't see this very often in IMAC is because there are so many other airplanes out there that are so much better. I had one, and the wing folded up on the seventh flight. D-tube wing construction is just not strong enough for a plane this size. The wing folded up in a wall, but the plane should have been able to take that. The plane would have experienced much more stress in a hamfisted pullout of a botched sequence. The hardwood spars actually split; the glue joints were solid. Totaled, of course.
Also, when in knife-edge, the enormous fuselage would sometimes blank out the rudder, thus making it a little unpredictable. I had a ZDZ 80 single in mine and it was plenty.
I now fly an AeroWorks 31% Extra 300L (kit built), and not only does the wing remain intact, the plane flies oh so much better. The kit is more expensive, but the better flight performance and stronger structure is worth it. It is incredibly smooth, with no rudder blanking in knife-edge. The ZDZ gives this airplane plenty of power. It flies so much better than the Great Planes Extra.
Ann Marie did offer to look over the remains of the airplane, but we waited too long before sending it to her and she left Great Planes. Besides, all she really could have given my father and I was another kit, and that was not something that we would have wanted. She was extremely supportive in her e-mail responses to me.
Bottom line, this plane might work for you if you strengthen it and don't plan on flying extreme 3D, but why bother? Just get a Carden or AeroWorks airplane and save all the trouble.