<<I guess you can't have it both ways.>>

Well said, Tommy. The CG Matrix is a wonderful plane in calm air, but rather squirrelly in any sort of wind.

rcpimpin101(??), sounds like you didn't seal the hinge lines, and made yours heavy. While mine doesn't exactly float in like a trainer, it is very predictable and easy to land. And I haven't had the first hint of flutter. BTW, I have a 1900 mAH extra cell to power my on-board glow unit for the inverted 70 Surpass engine. Even with all of that, my model is still rather light.

That said, I don't like the model either. Much of that dislike is due to the major headaches I had assembling mine. I won't drag that out again; there is a Matrix thread in the ARF Forum that details all the hassles I faced. Like Tommy said, the bellcrank arrangement for the elevators is garbage. I removed the entire unit and installed two elevator servos, a'la UCD.

Tommy, the Asian workers who build these things apparently use the lowest heat they can get away with when covering with UltraCote. My Matrix finish wrinkles too, as does my Lanier/Goldberg Ultimate. I have to tighten them up every couple of months. I cannot decide whether to hit the finish with high heat and try to stick it down for good, or just use 300 degrees to get the wrinkles out. The latter is what I've been doing, but I have to wonder if one day the stuff just isn't going to snug up any more???

All my kit-builts are covered with U-Cote, applied at 375 degrees final shrink, and they stay nice & tight.

Anyway, I digress. The Matrix is an okay ARF, but too pricey for what you get IMO. The UCD definitely has a wider flight envelope. Actually, my intention was to buy a UCD 46 that day, but the last one had walked out the LHS door ten minutes before I walked in. The Matrix had just been unloaded by the UPS guy, and the Xmas $$ was burning a hole in my pocket, so what the heck? Bad decision. There is no way the Matrix is worth $50 more than a UCD.

I have 30 or so flights on mine, and will continue to fly it until I get to the point on my Sig Skybolt kit where I need the engine/radio from the Matrix. It flies okay, and scratches the plank itch, but I just cannot get excitied about the model. I don't do 3D either, although the Matrix is incredibly agile; especially with elevons.

So, my advice to anyone looking at this airplane; look elsewhere.

.