No question that the booms on the original run of kits was the Achilles Heel.....the rest of the bird is very stout, IMO.....the vacuum sandwich, semi-monocoque boom construction seems quite solid vertically, but prone to damage with any side load.....

The photos show what happened to my bird after I got a Kangaroo Hop going after touching down a bit too fast......the actual boom contact was not all that violent....no other damage to the boom or rest of the bird....all flex plates remained intact, but the side load snapped the boom clean.....I didn't even notice it until I taxied back and went to pick it up......there were no prior incidents that would have led to an unrecognized stress crack......the model was always transported on foam in my trailers, with the booms well supported.....it happend on flight #25...

While the Barry/Buck fix may be overkill, it really addresses the issue of side load on a long boom moment arm, with the fulcrum at or near the aft end of the center section-boom intersection, where mine snapped....

Tom