Rod,

The Long-EZ that Nitroplanes and Raidentech sell are made by the Fly-Model factory. The ones that Alex at AK-Models has are the Richmodel version. Supposedly the Richmodel version was the "original" of the current Long-EZ ARFs, and also supposedly copied by the Fly-Model version.

I think you'll find the differences between the two are:

1) The shape of the engine cowling
2) The shape and fit of the canopy
3) The shape of the leading edge of the wing, which I think you will find that the Richmodel version has a slightly longer leading edge with 2 angle points vs. the Fly-Model version which has only the one angle point.

As I've flown the yellow version of the Fly-Models plane and the small electric version of the Richmodel plane it wouldn't be fair to compare the flying habits between the two.

The good, the bad, the ugly:

Richmodel seems to use much better material in their canopys and slightly better material in their cowlings. If the canopy mounting on the Richmodel is similar to the small electric one, then that is a plus---as it actually glues to a balsa frame structure that fits the top of the model. The Fly-Model version you wind up using screws in the corners of the plastic to secure it to the plane. It's very flexible stuff and works well like that, but the frame on the other one is just a better design IMHO.
Covering---personally I prefer the Fly-Models covering over the Richmodel stuff. My experience with the Richmodel stuff on a Quickie-40 is that it has a clear film on top of the color coat that tends to seperate and peel off. Tends to wrinkle up much more than the Fly-Models stuff as well. As for matching color in a repair situation, the closest thing I could find for the yellow was black/yellow checkerboard Ultracote---the LHS didn't have a roll of solid yellow Ultracote on hand, so that might be a pretty close match. The white Richmodel stuff is a different shade than anything I have found---doesn't match well with Ultracote, Monokote or Econokote. Of course white is the hardest color to match anyway. Apparently you can get the Richmodel covering from Richmodelusa.com which is in Oregon. You might check them out---I've never dealt with them.

As for vendors, hands down Alex at AK-Models is who I would suggest. I've bought a few planes and several electric motors/speed controls from Alex and he gets the stuff to you pronto without inflated shipping costs. Good guy to deal with.

Hope that helps.

Rube