Keith, that's a really nice job on the Shuttle canopy. Sean, yours looks good too.

Reading your story brought a smile to my face. I learned planks the same way; myself and a buddy, in a soy bean field, helping each other and learning the hard way. My hat is off to you guys who are basically self-taught on helicopters. There weren't any simulators back when I learned, and I waited for years before running across a fellow who knew what he was doing and was willing to teach me.

After twelve years and over two dozen different machines, I've settled on a Sceadu 50 with OS 46, and my old X-Cell 60. That Sceadu is, IMO, simply the best overall value in a model heli today. With 600mm blades, it flies like a 60; yet it is still a plastic helicopter; i.e., it won't break your wallet and/or take forever to repair if you dork it. Hirobo really got it right with this one; my only gripe is that the control geometry on the push-pull bellbranks is a bit bizarre, and tedious to assemble, but just follow the manual precisely and it works great.

I guess what I'm saying is that you might want to try one of these before jumping into a big-buck 60 or larger machine.