My first was the China Model Products 40 size 3D Giles 202 from Giant Scale Planes. I got mine for $100. I think you can get one for about $90 right now.

It's all built up balsa and weighs in at about 4.5 pounds. I added a steerable tailwheel and an aluminum LG to mine and my weight topped out at 5 pounds RTF.

I used a TH .75 engine on mine and also used dual elevator servos.

Second flight- I tried a hover and it felt like the plane was just made to hover. It held a hover for about 20 seconds on my first attempt. It was almost effortless. I was about 1/2 throttle with 15% fuel and a 13X5 APC.

It would KE loop easily with minimal coupling. I could enter a KE at about 1/3 throttle and then add power when vertical. I was about 3/4 throttle on uplines and it would accelerate like a rocket. Then back off on the throttle to complete the top of the loop and back off to idle on the down leg.

I was a TINY bit rocky in hariers, and you had to be "ahead" of the plane and anticipate the wing-rock. It was easily correctable-- even with my sluggish thumbs.

It would flat spin either upright or inverted. I took it up about 300' one time and counted 37 inverted revolutions before I got scared and pulled it out about 50' above the ground.

I'm after another one. It's just not in the budget right now.

Use a POWERFUL servo on the rudder. There is no vertical stab. It's all rudder and the whole thing moves. You need a good stout servo to keep it from fluttering. I used a JR 9411 digital on mine.

I had JR 4721 servos on the ailerons and JR 911 servos on the elevators. HS-81 on the throttle. Hitec 555RX with a 1650mah niMH battery.

Sweet plane and it makes it EASY to learn. Oh, and it looks kinda scale too.

I only got about 75 flights out of it before I ripped the FW out. Should have pinned and glassed it.