slopemeno, thanks for your reply - yeah i was surprised how crude it was. especially as the aformentioned "West Wings Orion" (an english kit) has the best die cutting I've yet seen. And is really cheap.....

Anyway, I do have a couple of slope aerobats (http://www.phoenixmp.com/models/bedlam.htm) but i just fancy a bit of a project. I wouldn't go to the carbon extreme like that. Keeping the weight down would not be top priority anyway, as more often than not there is a strong wind at the site. Good idea about the speed 400, but where i fly from only pure sailplanes are allowed (http://www.smsa.co.uk/).

I guess it's a bit of a waste of time. however, i'd like to put the kit to some use. On the subject of the orion, it's an amazing kit - really strong, i crashed it i don't know how many times. Nose first into the ground. flipping over, spinning. I did once manage to snap the wing, but even that took about 1 hour to repair....

Where do you fly from?