RE: New pattern ship recomendation
The guy with the Vanquish is actually up near Buffalo, he isn't local. The normal ratio here in the states is probably 75-25 at least in favor of electrics. Some districts it varies slightly, but for the most part electrics are prominent. There is very little size difference in the MythoS 125 and the 2m Mythos. It is only a couple of inches. I wouldn't say it is necessarily easy to make weight, as you have to be smart and think things through. If you use the stuff people recommend you can make weight, but you see guys changing things up and buying everything heavy and then you have to be careful.
On an average electric flight, we are only using about 40mah per flight for servos and receivers. With no vibration the servos aren't constantly trying to find center. You can easily fly 6-8 flights on a 500mah pack. On a typical glow setup, it is easily over 200mah per flight. Equipment also last significantly longer because of the lack of vibration.
There are a couple of Hackers that are close. The A60 series has a couple, but I don't know specifically which ones they are. There are a lot of different options out there and they all seem to work. Some have a little more power, such as the Hacker Q80, Pletty Advance, and the Neu/Hacker inrunners, but you will pay more for those. The HiMax, and the Hacker A60 seem to be very good alternatives at much more reasonable prices. The Torque motor seems to be the cheapest, but having flown it compared to the others, it also has the least power, but it still has more than enough for most the AMA patterns and with good batteries and speed management, it will fly the Masters sequence relatively well. I guess what I'm getting at it is there are currently a LOT of viable options out there. At contests you will see quite a few combinations and they all work very well. The key is figure out what you plane you like, then put good servos (this is KEY), and then find a cost effective, but proven power setup, and then go fly.
The Monolog is a little bit newer design and as such is a little larger plane. It definitely presents slightly larger in the air. They both fly very well though, and it is more of a which one do you prefer thing as opposed to which is better. They are both well made and both will make weight. The Monolog seems to be a little lighter overall, but not by a great deal. You really can't go wrong with either. Right now, the Monolog's seem easier to get, and Chris is not too far from you. Several of us get together in Northern, VA regularly, and you are welcome to come down then and fly as well.
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