Hi Joe B,

clipped wings:

I think Chris was referring to the non-scale low aspect ratio of the wings on the Extra. This actually is a quite common design practice on R/C aerobatic planes. Carden is one example of a company that is well known for doing this. It actually provides better flight characteristics in our models than a scale wing would. As an example, the Carden 40% planes are actually around 42% scale, then the wings are shortened to meet the rules for various contest rules. This is typically considered a positive design feature and not a negative one.

Tip stall tendency:
If you get this plane flying and it has a tendency to tip stall then you need to find out what is causing it. This is not a normal characteristic of this plane. Mine is almost impossible to tip stall unless you are way uncoordinated at the point of stall, such as a snap entry. If you aren't uncoordinated with the controls, the nose just mushes straight ahead.

>>I thought that the DP330 was more of a "floater" with the more generous wing area and lighter wing loading.

They are. You will find it will float and will land at a crawl....assuming there isn't a specific problem with the airframe causing it to tip stall.

>>which engine would you prefer at say 15-16lbs?

FPE 2.4, Taurus 2.6, or Taurus 3.2?

The engine choice really depends on the type of flying you intend to do. If you mostly fly 3D, go with the most power within this size range....in this case for me there's no contest, I'd use the Taurus 3.2. If you fly mainly normal aerobatics, with some 3D, then any of the small light gassers would work...some better than others. The FPE will save you about 1/2 lb over the other small gassers, but from the numbers I've seen recently you will be down a significant amount of power over the Taurus 2.6....but I also think it would fly the plane very well if the weight is kept down. (We'll find out when Mike G. and KingAirJockey get their planes in the air)

I don't think you'll run into any problems using Coleman fuel with any of these motors except for the slight drop in power...but if you do plan to run this fuel, I would also chose one of the more powerful engines....and then there's the smoothness issue, and I will back Michael Glavin up that the Taurus is a very smooth motor, but as we've discussed many times before this is a very subjective opinion, though I am basing mine on owning many gas motors from 40's to 150's and of the ones I've had, the Taurus is the smoothest single by a significant margin.

I hope that helps.