Sorry to hear about the bad experience. I have a Kyosho T33. It has stock motor. The only mod was making the exhaust duct slightly more restricted. Use a 2000MAh battery. I even painted mine in Gray latex (sprayed) with orange, after a full scale I have pics of. I opted to bungee lauch, which works flawlessly and I can fly alone. Only a 10ft piece of bungee pulled back only about 5 feet and off she goes. I fly with the tip tanks installed. Get only about 5 minutes top speed but it flies well. Loops/rolls/inverted. No its not a 150MPH, but its great fun. A fellow modeler has the lear and launches the same way. It flies great. Much longer run time than mine. He has no gear and this baby flies well.