[BenR]

To fill you in, I dont have my bronze wings yet so when I fly solo it must be under 100g by CASA regulations.

I recall you've mentioned this before, and I don't believe this is correct. What drove you to that conclusion?

Last I recall of CASR Part 101, as long as you obey a few sensible conditions (like stay below 400ft AGL, not within 3nm of an aerodrome, within line of sight etc), anyone can fly model aircraft up to 25kg and CASA doesn't care less what accreditation they might have or whether they do it with a club or not.

(MAAA/insurance is a different story, but that's distinct from the CASA regs)

Yes, you're right Claudio - Ben is thinking about MAAA/Insurance issues, I'm sure.
As far as both CASA and MAAA are concerned, model aircraft with an all-up-weight of less than 100g don't count at all, so he can fly them solo without bronze wings and not draw the ire of either.
Naturally, however, someone flying a model of less than 100g weight in a public space might still attract unwelcome legal attention from another user of the same area if the model managed to gouge somone's eye out for example - but these things are always a matter of managing risks within what's considered reasonable scope.

What drove me to that conclusion is my first reading of MOP014 (3.3a) and CASA CAR 101 (5.4a). Reading them again though, its harder to clarify what the difference is by exemption. Having said that, I still think I would rather stay with UM while I am practicing away from the field - bringing much bigger and especially more powerful planes runs the risk of getting unwelcome attention from the people managing the area, whereas for now I am working on a kind of tacit approval.

Back to the stryker question - the answers seem to suggest its fine but pricy, especially compared to its full size partner. While they are $180 and $230 I agree however the prices for the UM version have come down and I can get one for about $110. And at that price Im tempted.