Derek:

Sorry to hear about your mishaps. I just purchased my first gas plane. It's a Wild Hare 300 Extra, powered by a 50cc DA with the JR X9303 2.4. I have the JR 921 RX and five JR 8611A and two 821 digital servos. I use an A123 for the ignition and dual A123 battrey packs for the flight pack. It's been an awesome combination. I now have 45 flights on it in the last month and not a single glitch. I find the A123 batteries to be great. They perform just like everything that has been written about them. I charge them as I'm driving to the field and get a least 5 flights out of them and, then, for safety re-charge them in five minutes. The plane itself is a beauty. Flies like a charm. I went for my first JR radio system because of all the problems I have been reading on the Futaba web site regarding over heating RX's and Futaba's evasive way of dealing with this and other problems. The JR is great but pricey. My DA has been running great with a Pitts muffler. You probably got a bad engine that they never resolved for you. Regarding building tips, just follow Tom's instruction with the plane. This was my first build/assembly of a plane like this and Tom's instruction were right on point and easy to follow. The tricky part was getting the engine aligned and mounted but I followed Tom's direction and hit it the first shot in very little time. After that, everything went together as stated in the instructions. I'm now planning to order a 50cc Edge for my next project. Good luck!