RE: Flatout replacement
It took me less than an hour to get the airframe together. Everything's already done for you. Carbons on the wings, ailerons hinged, fuse together, elevators halfway done, all you do is slide it in, glue the stab in place, and hinge the other side (with tape!). Rudders easy too, it uses CA hinges that are already in the rudder with slots cut in the fuse for you. Electronics installation is tougher, due to the pull-pull elevator and rudder setup and the fuse thats hard to run wires through, but not bad. Took me only about 3 hours to get done. The hardware for servo linkages is top notch. Oh, and the removable LG that slides between two bulky chuncks of lite ply is nice and strong too.
Wait till you get it airborne though. Hands off KE, KE loops with no coupling, rolling harriers are straight forward, no turning, and can be done aileron only. Rolling loops are as easy as rolling circles on most planes. Harriers are rock solid, no rocking to speak of, especially inverted. Inverted tail drags are way too easy with this plane. Roll rates good for a foamy, and best of all there is no flutter at high speeds like most foamies. Full throttle dives don't do anything to shake the plane. Hovers are also pretty solid. I've flown a couple that were easier, but many are worse. The big wing helps counteract torque; antitorque rolls are as easy as regular torquers.
I love this plane, in case you can't tell. My suggestion though is to run a couple strips of packing tape down the side of the fuse. It's strong, but if it does break it will be the fuse right behind the wings.