I'd noticed the half-ribs, but I also saw the coupled wing flaps. I flew a couple of Midwest Magicians as a relatively young pilot, one with coupled flaps, and one without. With the kit's short-coupled tail, the one with fixed flaps flew better, same way a Super Clown flies better with its flaps fixed in place. I have been told that one or the other of the two I'd flown was later modified with a different fuselage rear end treatment, with the flaps working, that gave it an entire new lease on maneuverability.