Aeajr, It has been slim pickn's so far with my post. I guess not many folks have experience with those particular planes. I have been doing a huge amount of research on this topic and have finally come to a conclusion. The potential NES customer service issue scares me. I have had one (very expensive) internet purchase go bad and I don't want to have that happen again. I feel the risk is too great. NES has nice planes, the $199 price is great, but.....
Anyway, I ended up mailing in a check for a Blaster from Kennedy Composites. I talked with the owner on the phone, Barry I think, and he was very informative and was willing to answer any question I had. I get a good feeling about his company (for what that is worth!)
For the type of flying I intend to do, I think the Blaster will suit me best. Having an all-out contest ship would be nice, but they are $100-150 more and I don't know how much better they will be. The Blaster's wing seems so smooth and efficient, and with the Drela (?) airfoils, I think it will offset some of the precieved weight penalty. Folks in the forum don't like the fact the Blaster weighs 1.5-2.5oz more than others, but I am not worried because most of my flying will be with wind. I live near the coast and on top of a hill and the air is NEVER still. Since slope will be part of the flying this plane will see, I think of it as having ballast built in! If weight concerns you (besides my spelling
) Barry has a "lite" version that he says is 1.5-2oz lighter than the standard one. The lead time for the lite verision is 3-4weeks from yesterday. It is not listed as an option on his site, but you can see how he is responsive to customer preference!
I got ready to suck it up and plunk down the near $450 for a Taboo, but Oleg's web site states he is not taking orders now do to backlog and it may a 8-10mo before I could get my hands on one. The XP-4, another good one. I traded emails with Ironworks.org, makers of the Epona, another XP-4/Taboo class of ship. The Epona is new and production is not there yet.
I'll take a chance with the Blaster and 'max it out'. If I need more, I'll get a Taboo when Oleg gets his new family taken care of and production picks up next year.
Sorry for my rambling....Best of luck in your DLG search. Drop me an email if you want so more details on knowledge learned from my DLG quest.
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