If you ask me, out of the names you mentioned, DA and Comp ARF, I dont think you could go wrong with any of them. Heck I bet you could put a DA-50 in a 2.6 and it would have the powre to fly. I have seen the 2.3 and DA-50 w/ pipe combo. I has plenty of power, but you want to keep it as light as possible to maximize the thrust:weight. That probably means no smoke or any other fancy stuff. Now the power isnt just incredibly awesome, but it is unlimited. Now the DA 100 on nearly anything has superb performance. If you ask my opinion, the bigger one is the way to go. Now I have also seen a DR hobbies 2.6 Extra with a 3W 75. It is basically the same as the Comp ARF except it has a aluminum wing tube instead of the floating spar and it has less dihedral. It had quite a bit of power and also had unlimited vertical. I think they said the got one 23.5 pounds with a 3W 75 and smoke. Plus it is alot cheaper than a DA-100. Check out www.DRhobbies.com.