Hello billd; I have been keeping up with your thread, and have decided to add my experiences to the stew. In '05 (I think) I took my Motorcycle to visit my daughter, about a thousand miles away. When I got there it turned out that I might be staying for a month, and having not brought any planes along, I went down to the local hobby shop and bought a Typhoon to fly and leave there when I left.

I flew it like i borrowed it and had a great time with it. I flew it in little parks, ball diamonds, soccor fields. Quite often local kids would pedal their bike over to see what was happening. I didn't have any trouble keeping the plane close, and could put it down fast if I had to. I warned the kids that I might not be able to keep the plane from hitting them and that they should be ready to duck or dodge if it gets close. They went back to their bikes and put their helmets on and sat and watched.

In '06 I drove the cruiser there, so I picked the Typhoon up and have been flying it, on and off, since then. AOne day when it was windy, I decided to try it anyway, as soon as I got above tree top level, it just got swept away. Full throttle against the wind would only slow it down and not get it back. I had to dive for the ground where the wind was less severe, but by the time I made the decision, the plane had drifted over some nearby woods. By this time I was thinking that I would like to get the servos back if I could, so I dived it for the ground.

When I found it, it was skewered on a dry limb, in a small clearing in the woods, at about eye level. AI bent the limb down and pulled it off. The damage was only covering material punctured through the left wing between teh ribs. I felt lucky just to find it let alone find it in such great shape. That has to be the toughest test I could imagine.

I'm not happy with the way the Typhoon flies either, but I can live with the snappy-ness. What I don't like is that it doesn't like to fly on the wing at all. I like to do close - to stall stuff with bigger planes, and the Typhoon just doesn't do that well. I guess I'm not a 3D guy, but I never could get it to hover without rolling, that's when the rudder gets confusing. I have a foamy GeeBee that hovers great, so I don't think it's me.

I would say that all you need is stick time. I have stuck with the goofy radio that came with it and it's still lots of fun to fly. I don't fly it when it's gusty, it's confusing enough on a calm day.