I am reading this thread with much personal interest. I too have been looking for
"quarter scale nirvana". It probably does not exist, but searching for it is half the fun.
I've had the
DP Extra , powered by a BME 44.
It weighed 15 1/2 lbs. It flew fantastic; smooth and precise. But it did not 3D too great.
I sold it several weeks ago.
I've had the
SIG 300XS . Really really good flyer on a MOKI 1.8. It weighed in around 13.5 lbs. It had alot smaller surfaces than the Patrick Extra. It flew the sequence beautifully,
but it couldn't 3D its' way out of paper bag . I crashed a week and a half ago pushing it too hard.
The Dave Patrick (lowest wing loading of the three) with a Brison 3.2 had the most vertical (shot up like a bottle rocket) and the least 3D ability. The chart doesn't show it but it was too heavy.
I am now assembling the
Dave Patrick Edge . It will be MOKI powered and I'm targeting 14lbs flying weight. It has the super light construction that flynbrian asks about. The plane has GIANT almost 1/3 scale looking control surfaces on it. And it has 1200 squares of wing area.
If I can get it off the bench at 14lbs wing loading will be 26oz /square foot.
BTW, wgeffon, I LIKE what I am reading about the YAK
-Cheech