Hey,
The second R-54 flies great. There is a difference between the two. I think the shorter wing has increased the wing loading and it flies a wee bit faster, especially on landing. The first landing was made without flaps; the plane landed fast but didn't float down the runway. The second landing was done with about 45 degrees of flaps...again it didn't float much at all. The most significant difference was in the landing gear...the struts are awesome. The wire gear is stiff and doesn't give much. The struts smooth out the irregularities of the landing surface....much, much smoother. Another big surprised was the steering. Because the nose struct and wheel is on center line, steering is noticably better.

More to come,
Keith