John,
I'll have to defer to your experience. I've never flown 3D, but seen it often. I've also witnessed two fairly dramatic crashes that were, in both cases, caused by an engine that skipped a beat. (Low fuel in one case, not sure about the other.)

The one caused by low fuel was during a hover, which obviously rules out lift being generated. The other was during a slow rolling circle about fifteen feet off the ground, but the aircraft was upright and flying at about a 30 to 40 degree AoA at the time. Plane dropped pretty much vertically to the ground. [:@]
Dennis-