Originally posted by basmntdweller
MHawker,
I've read reviews of the Magic but most weren't very favorable. What engine are you running on yours and how is the planes durability? I have an OS 32sx that would work on a lighter plane such as this one but it's on one of my other planes and I hate swapping stuff around. I'm leaning towards using a new, old K&B 40 I've had since the 80's for whatever plane I end up getting.
later,,,basmntdweller
I flew a buddy's Magic with an OS 32SX last Sunday and it was an absolute riot. The plane will literally loop within a length of itself, rolls are amazingly quick and the responsiveness of the huge rudder is amazing (can you say knife loop?). The 32 is a good setup, but he's getting another Magic and sticking a mid-sized 4 stroke (I think he's considering a Saito 56 or Enya 53) in it for some extra thrust. The plane hovers nicely with the 32 (at about 1/2-3/4 throttle), but just can't seem to pull out of it vertically, so I think the 4 stroke will help out quite a bit. It's definitely his favorite plane.
As for my hanger, I just finished building an Uproar (the kit equivalent of a GP Dazzler) to have as a beat around plane. It too is extremely light. Unlike the Magic, the Uproar and Dazzler has a much thicker, almost symmetrical airfoil which should aid in low speed aerobatics, but allow it to be flown with a little more authority. Unlike the Magic, the tail control surfaces are not quite as large, so it may not be the 3D trainer that I wanted to build (although I did end up enlarging the rudder some), but it should still be a good fun-fly type plane. The Dazzler does come with sticky backed covering (bad) and costs a bit more. I'd probably pick the Magic if I was limited to ARFs...