Steve,
John may be out of town this weekend. I sent him an e-mail yesterday with some stuff he asked me for and I haven't heard back from him yet either. I understand that he is very busy but as Bill said earlier he is one of the "good guys" and I'm positive that he will contact you very soon.
You can switch to the Duellist- but from what I understand it is a much tougher (and longer) build. In the end I am sure you will be flying sooner if you hang on and wait for John!
Bill- I am neither lazy nor impatient, its just a "time-management" thing
(OK, well maybe a little impatient sometimes...)
Walt