C_Watkins,

I've built 3 Craft-Air Golden Eagles since about 1980. Very good floater and you can lunch it with a heavy duty hi-start. I've always had an Airtronics releasable tow hook on mine and have consistantly gotten 500 ft starts with the hi-start still stretched when it released. The wing in this plane is built like a tank and since it's not completely flat bottomed, it will actually do an inverted loop. It penetrated pretty well and does allow you to build a ballast box. I'd say that it's a great all around Sundy flyer but still thermals with the best of them. Think of it kind of as a over grown 2 meter that penetrates the wind. If you need a copy of the original instructions, I have them because I located a new kit a few years back but haven't gotten around to building it.