I have both an Aircore and an Avistar. The Aircore is not a "floater" and must be flown in somewhat. As long as you run a .46 on it and give it plenty of throw on the control surfaces, it will do most anything a balsa trainer will. I was buddy-cording a friend with it and started daydreaming. He managed to plant it square in the drylake at full throttle. I had to glue some seams back together (not many), install a new prop, and do minor repairs to the landing gear. Less than an hour, and it was ready to go again.
It is ugly, and not quite as nimble as a balsa trainer, but great for the first two dozen flights or so.