I just started flying RC back in July. I learned on an Apprentice 15e and flew it for about two months. Then I bought an E-flite S.E. 5a biplane. I set it up and had a friend give it its maiden. He took off, flew it through some basic maneuvers, and handed the box to me saying that it was easy to fly. He was correct. At just above half throttle it buzzed along in a fairly slow scale manner. The long nose means that it isn't as sensitive in handling as shorter WW-I bipes. The lack of rigging means it is less "draggy". The wings have some dihedral making it pretty stable. Both top and bottom wings have ailerons giving it plenty of roll authority. It has a 44" wingspan and fits easily into the back of my pickup. I'll note a couple of things to keep in mind. I used to fly full scale including tail draggers so I instinctively use the rudder when flying models. The S.E. turns best when a little rudder is fed in just before ailerons. It will "bank and yank" but tends to wallow through the turn if not given the rudder input. My other caution involves take off and landing. I fly from a grass field and in spite of having fairly large wheels the S.E. will nose over on take off if power is applied too quickly and if the elevator isn't held full "up" to nail the tail down. Ease the throttle on slowly. It's a matter of learning when to ease up on the elevator and allow the tail to fly so the plane doesn't jump off the ground in a nose high attitude. The plane will also tend to nose over on landing. The plane glides well so I set up my final approach and let her float down. About a foot off the ground I start back on the stick and nurse it into a three point landing. It still tips over occasionally but most of the time I look like I know what I'm doing. If you want a bipe that flies well and is capable of stalls, spins, loops, etc, you could do worse than the S.E. Just my two cents.

John