Daz, I've been wrestling with the same question; what larger "beater" ship to get?

When you think about it, the Raptor 60 or Freya wins. Yeah, they're more expensive initially, and somewhat more expensive to fix. But if you're planning on using an OS 50, you'll be burning almost as much fuel in what is essentially a spruced-up 30.

AFAIK, the only TRUE 50 machines around are the Ergo 50 and the Robbe Conquest; neither of which (nor their parts) are easily obtainable here. Every other 50 I've seen is either a squashed 60 or a stretched 30; IOW, a compromise. And now that I think about it, the Conquest is a souped-up Moskito; which was/is a 30. A large one, true enough; but still a 30.

We know that the bigger they are, the "better" they fly. So why not just quit farting around and go ahead and bite the bullet, and go with a plastic 60?

So, which one? There are three that I know of: R-60, Freya, and Concept 60 SR II. The Empire is out of their mind asking the price they do for the C-60; and it ain't that great to begin with. I kept mine less than a year.

I haven't paid much attention to the other two until now, so I've got a lot of catching up to do.

But that's half of the fun; poring over specs, etc., and deciding what to lay the cash down on...<G>

Steve