Well, the first flight was today. It is perfect weather here so the flying field was packed. The plane tracked nice and straight, smoothly lifted the tail and was airborned in no time. I needed a little up elevator and left aileron trim; it flew straight and stable after that. I brought it directly over the runway at about 3/4 throttle for a nice pass then turned 180 degrees and climed. Right at that point the muffler came apart. I was able to cut the throttle and bring it in for a decent dead stick landing. We never found the muffler pieces. Over all I was happy with the flight characteristics. It seemed more stable than my previous 4*'s. It settled in for a gentle landing but didn't float for a 1/2 mile either. Of course the flight was cut short. I'll order up a muffler tonight and be back in the air soon.