While not a Slo-V I bought an Aerobird Challenger (also from Park/Hobbyzone). I have mixed feelings about it but in retrospect I would still have started out on this level of RTF airplane. I'm not displeased as this is my first bird and my learning curve has been pretty brutal on it I'm afraid.

Overall, and from my limited experience, it's been a decent little plane for a total of $150 (plus maybe another $30 invested in replacement parts) and if I was a little better at flying it seems fairly happy to do some pretty entertaining flying (I've accomplished loops and stalls and "fooling around aerobatics" twice before deciding I needed to concentrate on being able to control and land the thing properly)

I have had some successful days where I will do a ground takeoff and a big circle around and land 3 or 4 times quite well, then days where I can't seem to keep the #$%@& thing in the air to save myself. It doesn't want to fly really well in slow flight anymore which may be part of the problem as I am trying to learn control at this point.

I would equate it very much to the Slo-V only real difference I see being that it's a pusher instead of front driven (which has probably saved my prop and shaft quite a bit. My question is this, after a certain point of repairing & re-repairing does the plane's messed up dynamics just work against it and me and is that making it harder for me to fly properly?