I have both the small Balsa Nova and the large one. They are both great flying planes and my favorite planes to fly. Naturally the large one flies better than the small one. For a high performance plane it is very forgiving and lands better than anything I have. Dead sticks are easy because it maintains good control at almost any speed. This plane never does any thing ugly or surprising even with extreme abuse of the sticks.
There are no foam or plastic parts in the construction. It is built up and completely sheeted with 3/32 balsa. The fuselage is a continues structure from the tail to the spinner. The cowl is built up but then glued to the fuselage. I didn't like that because it's a nuisance for engine installation so I made the cowl a bolt on unit. I use a Super Tigre 2300 (1.4) and it's a tight fit. With the Moki 1.6 I think the fiber glass cowl available as an extra may be a must. The Moki motor mount could be a problem also. Unless it's small in the back it might cause you to have to drop the thrust line a little.
The canopy and turtle deck are an integral part of the structure of the fuselage. As a matter of fact a curved lamented beam runs from the front of the canopy to the to the tail across the top. They did this, I'm sure, because the plane is a mid wing and the part of fuselage under the wing is cut out from the fuselage and glued to the wing. I'm sure the beam is to get the lost strength back and provide a good load path.
The wing has no main spar through the center section. The too panels are built and butt glued together. I didn't like this but went with it because the amount of redesign necessary to change it. I did glass the top and bottom with 2 layers of 4 once cloth and have had no problems even with extreme maneuvers and about 150 flights.
The gear installation is too weak. When you look at the plans you'll see what I mean. I added a piece of 5/32 ply running from the first bulkhead to the firewall and both sides, on top of the built up fuselage bottom plate and gear mount. I didn't like that the first and second bulkheads (front of wing/ back of wing) were only 3/32 balsa so I doubled both of them with 3/32 ply.
The horizontal and vertical and the control surfaces are all built up except the ailerons. They are huge pieces of construction lumber. I was going to throw them away and build up the ailerons but instead I cut 13, 1 7/8 inch holes in each one with a hole saw.
The wing is mounted with 4 bolts. The kit came with 4 nylon 3 1/2 inch bolts. They weren't quite long enough for the front. Only about 3 threads of engagement so I used 4 inch stove bolts in front.
The hardware that came with the kit is so so. I used some and some I didn't. The kit doesn't come with pull- pull for the rudder but recommends it. It's a must.
I considered replacing all the 3/32 sheeting with 1/16 to get the weight down but didn't do it because of the risk of getting a wavy sheeting job. I made liberal use of sandpaper and came out at 10lbs. 10oz. with 2 ounces of lead in the tail. I've heard reports of this thing at 12 to 12.5 lbs. Maybe I just do a lot more sanding.
The ST2300 will pull this thing out of a hover and reach flight control speed going straight up, but not like a rocket. The Moki should make rocket launch out of it. The ground clearance provides plenty of room for big props.
If you get one I'm sure you'll love it