the staggerwing in the picture I posted flies great, all of the take offs have been straight with no tendency to ground loop. it has nosed over on landings on a couple of occasions resulting in a bent cowl. the wing is definitely too thin for retracts, and I didn't even install the gear doors because I knew that they would cause problems down the road. it flies great inverted, and will do a nice outside loop. roll is good and very little trim was needed. it will land fast but it will also slow down with full flap. windy days are ok but it did get tossed on landing last time I flew it, damaged one wing tip that required a 15 minute repair. caught a severe crosswind gust on landing at 3 feet and cartwheeled. it is covered in solartex leftovers that I had.
one of these days I plan to build a bigger one, I have a set of Vintage RC plans as well as the MAN 1/4 scale plans. it looks like the vintage plans will fit retracts