I can't tell you about the new monocogs, but I have the '06 aluminum monocog Flight and it's awesome (fair warning health and weather mean that I've only taken it on trails twice since I got it, but it was great both times). I also put a suspension fork on it right away. It's pretty light, and handles nicely, and can take both disc and rim brakes (I think the new cro-mo flights are disc only). If you plan to be rough on the bike or jump off of things, you should get 26" wheels since they're stronger.

the most recent pic here is of the redline, the fork is a rock shox tora set for 80mm of travel.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kaptainhustle/