ORIGINAL: speedracerntrixie
Check the engine weights carefully. That airplane with a gasser will be closer to 12 lbs then 10. I have had airplanes with the same wing area and IMO the cutoff weight for good performance is 10.5 lbs. It's really difficult to get a gasser under 50cc to be lightly loaded enough to have really good performance.
Some of the newer 30 sized planes come pretty close to 50 and larger performance but I certainly agree regarding the airplane choice.
Unless you already own the airplane, I would recommend one of the new airplanes designed around the 30 sized gassers rather than the older design that were more suited to glo power. You'll probably end up with a lighter structure with more wing area / lighter wing loading and in general, a more pleasant flight experience. If Aero Works is your choice, they have several kits including a new Extra and Edge. All the popular companies have similar designs.
As far as engines, I'd probably stay away from Mentor until they get their company back on track and have taken care of the people who are having problems with their current engines. No, I'm not bad mouthing them as they appear to have some excellent products ... they just had some quality control problems then a management / reorganization of the company. The DLE would be a good choice and there are several others that would appear to be a good such as OS, EME, etc.