I have been into CL flying for a few months and have built a Baby and JR. lightning streak. I am hesitant to fly the Jr. with out any seat....handle time, I am not too sure how much pounding the Baby can take with out coming apart. I saw the new Cox Hyper Viper and it looks like it could take a bit more pounding than a my balsa baby. Yet all the info I see about it says that it is not for beginners. Yet it is powered by a .049 and it is the size of the Baby. Why is it not for greenhorns???? It has a .049 it is the same size as the baby...does anyone have any ideas or info on this plane? Thanks

Go to the next topic down (currently "Other C/L forums" ) and follow the link to clstunt. There's been quite a lot of discussion about this model on there.

Well it would seem the the general consenceous on the Hyper Viper is that it is not bad. Does have fuel tank problems and the .049 that comes wiht it is some what lacking in the power department due to a restrictive air intake. The plane seems to be a good size 1/2A and for $50.00 it would seem you can't go wrong. Sounds like I will pick one up if my baby lightning suffers from a leathal case of gravity poisening. I would rather spend the money for the Viper and bang it up than put my OS .15 and JR. lightning in and have to pick up the pieces. Even though it is not painted up it is still my first real plane.

The Hyper Viper is a very smooth flying model, and with the controls set to the least sensitive position, should be an excellent trainer. With one caveat. It is rather fragile in the nose. I expect the PT-19 would be a better choice for first-timers, simply because it is really rugged.

The Viper will fly more smoothly and positively than the PT-19, especially in the wind. But it won't survive a straight-in crash, as has already been proven. (Again, do a search on Hyper Viper in the Stuka Stunt forum for photos).

If you already fly, and want to learn stunts, then it is an excellent choice. And if you do spaltter it, you should be able to epoxy the wing back together and hack out a simple profile fuselage. You can even use the original tank rubber-banded to the side, and the RTF engine (remove the choke tube from the backplate) screwed to 1/8" ply on the nose.