Two birds down in 3 days of flying; this one wasn't even mine.

Was having elevator problems right off the bat. Had to move the push rod one hole closer to the servo to stop the binding that was happening. Took her up and she started looping like crazy! Brought it in immediately (for a nice smooth, safe landing WITH the wind.) Apparently the throttle push rod was hitting the metal motor mount and causing noise. Got that fixed and took her up again. Seemed to be flying great. Did the circuit inverted a couple of times, did some Immelman turns, 1/2 Cuban 8's, hammerheads, etc. Well, it was overcast and gloomy, and coming out of some aerobatic maneuver (can't remember the name, but you fly in to the turn, do an outside loop and a roll and come back the other way) I got disoriented, and by the time I figured out the attitude of the plane I was out of rudder to correct it. THUD!!! Engine COMPLETELY buried in the soft farm dirt. Wing destroyed, fuse fixable if you had WAY too much time on your hands and lots of spare parts (club guys said you COULD fix it, but none of them said they WOULD fix it if it were their plane).

I feel lousy because it wasn't my plane. I feel a little discouraged after spending so much $$$ and getting bored in 3 weeks. I really hope this Dolphin is A LOT more fun than the Avistar.
The plane was over 10 years old, flew well but had obviously been through heck and back. My buddy (new friend as of 2 weeks ago, he's from my club) let me borrow it after I wrecked my trainer on Saturday (he was there, saw the whole thing). He told me today that he didn't want me giving it back to him in a plastic bag...do I replace it, or just buy him dinner or a bunch of beer?

Any advice on this one is much appreciated. BTW I miss the old Brittany. I really hope the Paparazzi leaves her alone soon...poor girl...