Almost every reference I have heard in regards to this planes handling qualities, point to the fact thats its actually quite scale in its handling. I flew one for about 120 flights before I planted it firmly in the ground goofing off. It can be a bit slow recovering from unusual attitudes and that is consistant with the handling of the real plane which I also used to fly about 20 years ago. When recovering from a stall it was imperative to not use too much elevator control after the initial recovery. Doing so often resulted in the plane wanting to again quickly restall or go into what in full scale flying is referred to as a secondary stall. Killed many an aspiring aerobatic pilot. Problem is if you stall, most pilots want to immediately get it flying again and this hasty attempt is what often leads to the fatal secondary.
I was flying my Decathalon with a Magnum 52 four stroker. It handled very nice, was not overpowered but pleasent. I enjoyed snapping it deliberately at low altitude and predictably it met its demise in such an episode. Crap. LOL I will agree with most everyone on here that its one heck of a value for the buck. I replaced it with the Phoenix Models 300 extra and its just as much fun and even $10 less. Same engine but this thing rockets along on the same power. I'm getting the feeling that pretty much all these Phoenix models are good value.