Dave, in my opinion, this plane is (was?) a good buy, I have one of the originals and I believe that even with the web problem, the short wing tube, and the cheap covering, at $200 it was still a good buy. Now, except for the covering, all other problems have been taken care of (unless you see the underside hatch as a problem, which I don't). Ironically, according to some people, the latest production runs with fixed webbing and larger wing tube are also heavier and not as good flyers as the originals. I believe that keeping this plane light is what makes it an exceptionally good flyer, but since my plane is from an early run, I can't really make a comparison. As for the covering, it may be too thin, but I don't really care. Once the plane is airborne, who can tell the difference? Hope this helps. [8D]