Well as it turns out, now that Ive bought a new mustang PTS MkII, the seller responded to my questions. With several nice high resolution pics of the actual plane. And he said that all of the landings were smooth, and the batteries hold a like new charge. That was stupid. I should have gave him a few more days to respond. I could have had the mustang for $300 + $20 shipping, $80 less than what I paid for a brand new one. So that sucks, but oh well, Ill know better next time.

Anyway, a few more questions about the plane I just bought. I was reading a review of the E flite T34 mentor in which they briefly discuss the mustang PTS (the original, not the MkII like I got). They claim that with all the training wheels removed, and a two bladed prop installed, the mustang PTS is capable of speeds over 100 mph in level flight, full throttle (!). Is this true? If so, thats awesome! But it sounds a little unrealistic, especially with the drag from that fixed landing gear. If this is the case, I will probably be leaving the "training wheels" on for quite awhile. But its still awesome that once I get good I will be able to make low passes at 100mph! Oh here is a link to the review which makes this extraordinary claim:

http://www.masportaviator.com/ah.asp?CatID=1&ID=219

Also, I will probably be contacting some flying fields soon, looking for an instructor to help with the first flight. Do I need to supply a buddy cord for this? What brands of radios can Spektrum radios be buddy boxed with? Is spektrum a popular enough brand that I can expect them to have an instructor with one?

Thanks again guys!