I have been working on a Don Smith Hellcat "on and off" for a while now. (I have taken a slow pace with this one as I am waiting for Darrell, of Sierra Precision, to finish developing me a set of Hellcat gear.)

I have been having an absolute ball with Don's design. You do have to be prepared however to work from a set of planes that do not have much more than an outline with the major structural elements defined and some minor construction notes. Don leaves most of the details to the builder (which can be a plus or minus depending on your preferences).

If you have built a Giant Scale airplane before I would heartily recommend Don's design.

I also have Jerry Bate's plans for his Hellcat and they are absolutely gorgeous plans. They are CAD designed with lots of details regarding construction notes, equipment installation, etc. Jerry's designs are absolutely beautiful.

I think with either Jerry or Don's plans you will wind up with a great Hellcat.

If you are looking for more of a composite based construction, it is probably worth looking at the Don Lien design which offers a fiberglass fuselage and foam wings (I believe).

Thanks!

Paul