ORIGINAL: ABELL
A Goldberg Hot Stik 40 also came with a push pull hard rod set up. Unlike the Magic Extra, the servo is in the tail with about 2" rods. It also has worked fine for a couple of years with no binding or other problems.
On my Hot Stik they're about 8" (funny how they don't SEEM to be so long). Here's an image from the manual that shows it well. I hooked a HiTec HD-655 servo on and don't notice any problem with the Ackerman effect. I think because I carefully made sure the connection points on the control arms were exactly as far apart as the points on the servo arms.
It's proved to be a rugged set-up and easier to install than a wire pull-pull (IMHO). SUPER rigid and responsive. And you need that on the Hot Stik. She's a handful!