Why pay for a box of sticks. wood and foam for 800.00 when you can get a FC for 1000.00 and not have to build it or a troybuilt with the bulk of the building done for 1195.00 and both are better airplanes than the Cardens.
I wasn't going to respond to this post, but after thinking about it for a while, I was having a hard time letting it go. What you are really paying for is the design. I think it has been proven, time and again, that the Carden planes fly as good as or better than any other planes out there. They are much easier to repair than a composite model, and they will hold up to an entire contest season--again and again. As for the weight--I'm not sure what you are getting at. Some of the best 3D pilots in the world fly Carden (Frank Noll and Mike McConville), and I have seen them do things with these planes that you just can't believe.
So who makes the best 35% out there? There certainly are lots of good options and the Carden Extra MIGHT be one of them (don't know, only 1 has flown as best I can tell). But to say that the FC and Troy Built are better planes? That is a matter of personal preference, but I can tell you that I'll take the Carden any day.
Ken