My wife now knows that when I buy a $39 plane, that I'll really spend another $250 and week or two working on it to get it to fly.

I've got the HG, with the metal gearbox, in a Formosa. It comes with three different gear sets. I use the 5.1 ratio. I also have the same motor in a GWS 350C gearbox with the GWS 5.3 ratio in the EStarter. That is the orginal gearbox that came with the Estarter. The Himax motor is a drop-in replacment for the GWS motor. I haven't done it, but you can also put it in a GWS 400 gearbox if that's what you have with your EStarter. The improvement over the GWS motors is almost unbelievable. For me the GWS planes are a good value, but really far underpowered with the GWS motors. The last two that I've bought have been the slope glider versions (no motor, lower price) for use with my brushless motors.

One more thing, if you managed to get all of the foam out of the tree, you can glue it back together pretty quickly. I've turned my Formosa into packing foam twice and glued it back together each time. It's ugly now, but it still flies very well.

Don't give up on the Estarter, it's a good plane and is a good way to get your 'thumbs back'. Good luck. No airplanes for me this weekend; looks like I might have to deal with another hurricane (4th in a month).