well I've had the aerobird challenger for about 3 weeks now flying in all sorts of conditions and into two trees. let my add this my very first RC plane. i figure if i get out there and experience the wind now id get that much better sooner. lots of controlled crashes and all out lawn darting the thing and making all the newbie mistakes, i have sustained very little damage. well today i folded the wing trying to do a loop into a 10-15mph wind(not really smart). not bad for 3 weeks of intense punishment!!
now on the other hand my brother just went and got the aerobird extreme. he too is a first time flier. he's had his plane for a short time now (2 days) first flight was a ground take off. i was very surprised for how big this plane is and how good it took off for this first timer! he did very good with it till it came to turning it around, to my surprise he brought it out of a nose dive to land it pretty gently. the next flight wasn't so good. well the flight was good the two hours getting it out of a tree wasn't. that is where the first modification would come in. the front nose of this plane is rubber like foam, it comes off after first nose dive(need to find a way too secure it better,some kind of epoxy?) next problem, like i said this plane is bigger which means bigger wing surfaces. so what i noticed after he went through two tails and a wing is that since the tail is bigger there is allot more stress at the brace (the black v-shape thing that holds the tail on) and the tail kept creasing there. cause of that happening the first time was, he was coming in on a good landing (little fast )and the nose grabbed the ground and did like a flip over to the tail.(not a uncommon landing for me) need to find a way to support that tail more before it gets a chance to crease there. the wing problem was more or less hes newbie mistake. he made a turn too low to the ground and the wing touched and got pulled back enough to where the prop took a nice bite out of it. i don't know if this is right but i told him if he fore see's a crash like that happening-- cut the throttle

i know mine the challenger is a zone 2 and my brothers is a zone 3 but that being the only difference besides size they both fly real similar. but when it comes to learning i can all ready see the aerobird was the right way to go. i just hate to tell my brother that. I'm sure he knows. he has seen the crashes i get away with he goes and ends up doing the same thing and walks away having to replace something. just hope what the hobby shop told me wasn't true...the aerobird extreme was brought out to discontinue the aerobird. if this is true, IMO get the aerobird before its gone cause the extreme will cost you more in the long run with its easy wing breakage. the bird really take a licking and keeps on ticking!
oh and just to make the post longer let me add the I'm just putting this in as a beginner to another beginner.beginners don't like problem after problem and want something to take the newbie abuse. anyone every check out those combat wings? i just ordered that as my second plane.i let you all know how that goes too.