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The kit wasn't very good by today's standards. The die cutting is poor, the wood is heavy, and the instructions are terrible. The plans themselves are very good, however, making it an ideal scratch build candidate. Fortunately, the kit includes a very nice fiberglass cowl, somewhat offsetting the high $90 price tag. My dad built this plane for me, and I did the covering job.
Since that time, its had a very starcrossed life. When I first flew it, I had enough planes under my belt to get it up and down without damage, but it is by no means an easy flier. A small twist in the bottom wing combined with high wing loading make it squirrely and snappy in the air. Landings are fast, and usually don't stop by the end of the runway. Because of its poor flight characteristics, I've only put about 4 flights on it. My dad intends to fix the lower wing someday, possibly making it into a plane we can actually take to the field, but until then, it sits on a shelf in the basement.
This kit is actually a Marutaka kit, and used to be distributed in the US by Royal. Royal has since gone under, and finding the kits has become more difficult. Now, Hobby Barn carries some of the old Marutaka line, though I have not seen this Mini Pitts on their website. If you're real interested, you might want to give them a call. If you do, let me know and I'll post an update here for others to see.
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