Honestly I never tried it upright.and yes you have to be on high or 3d rate(40or45 deg)on elev. I think thats why it get so flat is because theres really no stab to stop the back of the plane.when it does it the fuse is allmost flat.thats what really slows it down.another move is to put it in a hover(you can do it high about 200ft)as soon as it sits still even for a second give it full power and full down(dont even try if you dont have 40deg on elev)the plane will do a real tight loop(waterfall)when it comes back around punch it and go up.the last 1/4 is the hardest part if it doesnt go just hit low rate feed in some up and fly out.like I said start high.my plane only loset maybe 2 feet so when you get use to it you can do it at 20ft and listen to all the holysh** that come from the pits.