Will do, when I get some experience. Not likely this year - snow is coming and looks like sorting the prop adapter issue is going to take some time.

I've spoken with a Byron Originals employee and a RC warbird custom supplier (he builds finished aircraft for others and makes a living, I'm told - nice life) in San Diego. Both said the Hellcat was the best/easiest flying of the Byron kits - which also lines up with full-scale comparisons.

This was my first big, first glass fuse, first poly-resin glassing of wings/stab, first spraying with an airgun, first use of latex paint, kit. I wish I had not had so many 'firsts' with this build - its probably not a kit I should have taken on, yet. With better experience, I could have built it lighter, espcially in the all the areas of the CG!

But, it is certainly doable - I've had the plane out to the field and get alot of great comments and people taking pictures. The most often heard comment is "When are you going to fly it?" Everybody wants to be around with this happens.

With so many firsts on this plane, the flying of it will NOT be performed first by me. Have had many recommendations and will follow the full-scale process of letting someone skilled on this type fly it first and then train me.

If you do get the kit and have any questions, let me know. I have some 'lessons learned' and a few things I did which I think were kind of neat, like blind mounts for the cowling and canopy slide rails. For the most part, I can say that I enjoyed building this kit. There were a few kit quality issues, but if I had checked things out a bit farther before gluing/sheeting, I would have saved quite a bit of rework. Also, I originally used Super Coverite on the wings/stab and this turned into a disaster. If you've ever used this material in the past, you'll note the new stuff by the same name is quite different - the new stuff doesn't like a dark paint job and a hot sun!

My kit was a Byron Original, left in someone's basement for several years. I'm not familiar with Iron Bay's packing of the kit, so I can't say if they've made any improvements or not. If you can get the kit with the 4.6 Precision Eagle engine - go for it. I understand everything is a bit bigger on it, so I assume the weight will be a bit higher too (this may be a bad assumption, I know). The increased power may be enough to really turn the scale Byron prop. And, if there is a bit more weight with the bigger engine, you'll need less dead weight when balancing that tail that seem to stretch out there forever. I'm told that the 4.6 is more efficient and cleaner running - hope so as the 4.2 seems to spit alot of unburned fuel OUT of the carbuerator, even when running lean.