Dan, thanks for the nice comments!
Overall quality and owner satisfaction? So far, in a word:
AWESOME!!
I've looked at quite a few ARF's, but they all pale in comparison. Wood quality is at least as good as any KIT I've seen, and better than most. Extremely well thought out and well engineered (not always the same thing), superbly constructed (built in China!?!?), and expertly covered. In my mind, it has redefined what I considered to be top-quality ARF design and construction. I wish they were all this good.
I think I'd agree with 95% complete and 15 hours actual assembly time is possibly obtainable without being superman (if you install a glow engine and follow the instructions to the letter). There are just so many things that are already done for you. Hinges are installed, but not glued (and the biggest best CA hinges I've ever seen). Fin is a keyed affair that makes alignment a snap, and most of the covering is already cut in the places it needs to be. The tank is already plumbed for glow. There is a ton of space inside the fuse (but somewhat limited access to it). All the servo rails are installed and just need to be drilled for your size servos. Most every other hole you usually have to drill is pre-drilled for you. For instance, there was a pre-drilled 3mm hole at the correct positions on every control surface... just like it was made for the hardware I picked. These are but a few examples.
The GBY is not "perfect". There are some minor issues. I mentioned some of them in my earlier posts. I will amend that the cowl is gel-coated in a very close matching red, but still a bit thin. A person could have even used the included hardware. None of the control pushrods are longer than 5" and they are quite stiff at that length.
There are a few things they could have been done to make it better (and/or more scale). Scale wheelpant-fairings may have solved most of the wheelpant installation and possible durability problems (they aren't supposed to connect directly to the wing at all, and the back halves are open). If the front of the fuse, just behind the cowl, was rounded to facilitate cooling like the full-scale... a radial engine could have been used. The elevators aren't a scale shape.
As a side note, I personally like the white color way better than the cream. At least one rebuilt full-scale was painted white and red (with dark-blue pinstripe on the color-breaks). A link to them is below. I'm also glad PAM didn't do the fullscale's tailwheel with its funky little wheelpant (though I think it needs a bigger tailwheel than 1").
Did anybody notice the extra hard-points in the fin and stab? Looks like they intended to have flying wires back there! Not in the scale location, but it would look cool anyway. I may do that later.
My main concern so far is that my RCS140 may not be enough motor for the way I like flying (a very tall stall-turn/hammerhead is my favorite maneuver). We'll have to see about that. I won't be too mad if it's not enough power. This specific engine will be going back into my P-47 if it proves to be reliable... and I'll get something else (gas) for the GBY. If not another RCS140, maybe an RCS180, MVVS2.15, or Brison2.4. If even more power is needed... then maybe a BME44, ZDZ40, or Taurus42. Hate to chew the cowl up too much, but a spark-plug cap hanging out of the bottom wouldn't be too bad. Anyway... way too soon to think about that!
Here are links to a couple 3-views, an image of a fullscale, and site about the rebuild of a fullscale... if anyone is interested:
http://astro.umsystem.edu/andy/rc/gby/3view_top.gif
http://astro.umsystem.edu/andy/rc/gb..._frontside.gif
http://astro.umsystem.edu/andy/rc/gby/fullscale1.jpg
http://www.goldenaviation.com/