the E3D went through 6 prototypes before it was the way I wanted it, and light enough to fly properly with the $25 car motor,..i.e. hover, knife edge loop,..etc. Yes, it is a fragile plane during construction, but it is more than strong enough for all flight stresses. I even mention this in a few spots in the instructions. I have close to 1000 flights now on the purple plane pictured in the instructions/website, and it is an original kit,.. the final prototype actually, and I've popped the landing gear off it twice,..both times doing harriers to landing from an angle much too close to vertical. I did some tests with weights and it too 9 lbs of weight to shear a landing gear off. With the simple addition of a couple 1/8" vertical grain gussets I upped that to 57 lbs. I really don't understand people breaking landing gear off on normal landings with the original design, but it's been beefed up now. Apparently,.. people want to be able to cartwheel a plane without breaking anything,.. which this plane will not survive, but I've also made some changes just behind the wing to eliminate a shear point.

As for a glow version,.. the fuse would have to be re-designed or you'd break it when flipping the prop to start the engine . the lack of vibration and lack of starting forces allow you to do a lot in the way of lightening an electric. The E3D's come out right at 16 ounces built and covered,.. 21 with electronics, then just over 2 lbs with motor/gearbox. The battery is the other pound and a half in the equation. With an OS32SX (what I would use), you'd end up with about a 34~36 ounce plane,..which would probably be very nice indeed,.. but due to the tiny little prop you have to swing with the 32, it's not gonna have the "1st gear" of an electric. If you geared the OS32 so it could turn a 12X8 or 14X7 (the two props I use,..brushed versus brushless), then you'd have more usable power. The 14X7 at 7000 rpms on my brushless powered E3D has roughly 400 watts of power going into it (1 horsepower is 750 watts, so this is just over 1/2 hp), yet makes more thrust than an OS32 with 10X5, mouse can pipe, and 30% fuel(about 1.5 horsepower). This shows you how much efficiency you lose with the little props. Now,.. if someone would only come out with geardrives for glow motors, you'd see 40% planes flying with 120's swinging 45 inch props