i have a 4 star 40, great plane. i would suggest buddy box first flight just for confidence reasons. the plane lands very smooth,i mean very smooth. mine has a .46tt on and it is fast. we did 2 caculations 2 get the speed. radar gun showed up at 152mph, my calculation showed at 157 fairly close. just distance time formual to find velocity. ok but i would say it is fairly aerobatic. i mean i can hover, loops, rolls, performs a blender, avalanche, snap roll, flat spin i have not mastered it yet but i belive i will get it eventually, upside down flight, etc.... in my opinion u will not be unhappy with the 4 star. i did get it as an arf, however i have heard that it is a very easy and nice plane to build so.... i have not personally flown the sse but i have seen movies of it an it seems fairly aerobatic. i think u will be happy with either. it did seem that the SSE was more aerobatic though. u can just tell if u know wht i mean.