I had about 20 hours in mine before rolling it into a ball during a forced landing in a rough field. Great flying plane, good handling, heavy ailerons. Better have sharp tailwheel skills, especially if it's an early one with the shorter / more forward landing gear. That said, it's not nearly as twitchy as a Pitts (so I'm told, I've never flown a Pitts). Mine had an 0-290 and climbed 1800 fpm. Join the biplane forum, there's an active Starduster section and Dave Baxter, the Starduster guru, hangs out there.