Hi. Yes I enjoy my Waco a lot. I got it on sale for $119. It is small and fits easily in my Honda Civic without removing the wings. I put a Saito 30 in it. It flies very scale like with it, and the sound is perfect for the scale effect. By that I mean not over powered. I used all HiTec HS-81 micro servos. I'm not an expert pilot, having flown for only about a year. The Waco was my 3rd plane. I have flown it for about 6 months now, and it is still going strong.

CG was spot on without the addition of any weight.

I have to be careful to get enough speed up on take off, or it will flip over on it's back instantly. Flight is nice and smooth, but loops tend to be a little tight. It rolls phenomenally, and tumbles with the best. Snaps are beautiful, and any maneuver involving them is very pleasing. My Hirobo p-47 scale warbird is much easier to take-off, fly and land. That isn't to say the Waco is not a fun plane. It is just very challenging, especially for me. That challenge ensures it is one plane I always want to take up. My knees still get weak before every flight though.

Flight time tends to be around 15 minutes with this combo. That is good, because this is the kind of plane you really don't want to dead stick. Power off, it drops like a rock. I would think a bigger engine would shorten the flight time and play hell with the CG. Dead stick landing would be unbelievable then. For 2-strokes, a 25 might be a sweet combo. Probably excellent vertical and light weight to boot.

It stalls predictably. I do get a wing drop once in a while, but stalls are usually easy to recover from, excepting the flat spin all the way to the ground.

It is a tough tough plane. I have put a lot of not so pretty landings, and even worse take-offs on this plane, and it still looks and flies great. The version I had, gray on black, was hard to see on cloudy days. I recovered the whole plane in a more easily viewable pattern, and was pleased to see the quality of workmanship throughout.

I've read of several people having their landing gear block fail. Well, I didn't think it would happen to me. Of course it did. I re-did the whole section before re-covering. strengthened it up, and fiberglassed it. You will end up doing the same sooner or later if you get the plane. It isn't a very big deal though.

The hardware seems cheap, but I used it all. I've actually grow quite fond of the adjustable clevises used on it. Drop some screw lock on them, and they are plenty tough for the plane.

So, my advice; if you enjoy a challenge, go for it. It doesn't fly like it is on rails, but with a little Saito putting away up front, the scale effect is terrific. Low passes bring a smile to my lips every time.

Ivarb