i'd have to wonder if you know what you're doing if you're tossing it from the hip. you probably did it underhand and had it pointed up like someone that's flying a 3D plane going into a harrier or hover. please do not try to fly like those videos on hobby-lobby straight from the crib. i'm shocked you think you could've pulled it off like that. i've flown several years and i've yet to be so ostentatious as to think i could launch it hip level and underhand. i still try to have it as high as it's comfortable and with some models even jog a little to get it going. it's no wonder you planted it. (i have 6 glow and 4 electrics, WM EP rambler, clipped wing cub, easystar, and wattage F4U so i know what i'm talking about)

how much did you learn from the "judge"? call me crazy but i thought if anything, you learned that you couldn't learn on the "judge". but here you go trying to go back to the "judge". lol.

and truth be told... you didn't get the aerobird because you don't much like the way it looks. no elevator my arse... it (aerobird challenger) has a v-tail that functions like the rudder and elevator... but i, too, think that it's not so pleasing to the eye... but if it's better to learn on something less pretty, shouldn't you consider it? if you think that any of us would recommend that you buy another aerobatic plane, you will be disappointed. we all started somewhere. look at this lovely CC LEE toy my friend soloed on with my help. not a pretty plane... but as pretty as it needed it to be.

by the way, should you decide you want to get another 3D machine, don't try to catch it