Guy,

all good things do come together in the end. Your dad certainly has had a very influential role in the design of pattern planes over the decades. I'm sure we are all indebted to him for his fine work and for bringing us beautiful models to enjoy building and flying.

I'm glad to hear that all the various rumors on how the name came about do actually hold water. Mike mentioned that using the "Tipo" part on ST boxes was a spark of your imagination and that grabbed my attention because as a kid, my first "real" engine was a ST S40 blue head and I remember thinking that that box and its contents would some day grace something I was not yet fit to build as a 13-14 year old with much ambition but no mentor. I also remember buying that engine in Milan, Italy with my savings which were scarce and so it was a big deal. Strangely, my S40 came in a box which was sized for the smaller 25's and later I bought a 23 which came in a box for the 40's and 60's so the boxes and engines ended up visiting one another... I still have that engine...

Glad you like the little Pico! It was a fun project. Someone from Horizon has expressed interest in building one with trike pneumatic retracts!

This thread seems like a fitting place to post a couple of snaps of the in progress older sibling. Kit vintage is GP 1983 bought by yours truly back then (also as a teenager). It was a slowish build... I'm hoping to finish her up next month and let her adjust to her reality until the coming Spring. The winds of change are upon us at these latitudes.

David.