Hello Everyone,

The Talon Extreme, a most current design built by Randy Hicks is near completion! For those in D6 or other frequent K-factor readers around the US, you may have already heard about this design. For those who don't know Randy Hicks or myself (Brandon Landry), I will TRY to catch you up with a brief summary of the events that have led us to this...

I first met Randy in 2007 while flying at local contests in D6. After the 2010 flying season, Randy brought his first pattern design, the Talon, to our local flying club where we first began talks about he building a Talon for me to fly in FAI for the 2011 season. Since the original Talon was not designed for the p/f11 schedules, I had my initial concerns; however, it seemed like a smart move for myself at the time. Though Randy was knew to the Pattern circuits, it was plainly obvious the guy had tremendous craftsmanship talents and a great "cajun-easy-going" personality to suit. We both could benefit by joining forces.

After receiving my original Talon in early May of 2011, I knew I already had a short time-frame to prepare myself for the NATS. With only 12 flights on the Talon, Randy and I rode to Texas for the Jetero contest. In my first Saturday morning practice flight (#13 on the plance coincidently) my radio "locked-out" and the plane unfortunately crashed. With only the tail-section left in re-usable condition, Randy was able to COMPLETELY rebuild the whole front end and wings within the month for me to take up to Muncie for the NATS. And as is that feat wasn't enough, he rebuilt the plane and managed to only add an additional 2oz to the flying weight (4961g was the repared weight). It even looked better rebuilt!

For my first year in FAI and first contest in the class, I was able to place in the top 20 at the NATS. Two weeks after the contest, Randy and I realized I had flown the Talon in the NATS with 1.5deg NEGATIVE in the wing. Thats right, negative to the zero datum. No wonder my 1.5 snaps were sluggish and KE tucking and pulling! Apparently when re-attatching the "old" tail-section to the "newer" front end during the speedy re-build, Randy made a slight error It was still a great experience!

Riding home from the 2011 NATS and having witnessed the World Championships just prior to, Randy and I began talks about nexts years design. Inspired by the things we had seen, we came up with some new ideas we would like to incorporate for the next airplane. These ideas we came up with from our 14 hour long drive home we infused into the Talon Extreme- a 9 month long build which Randy fully tackled himself head-on.

Now that you know the whole backstory, enjoy the photos below! [8D] Feel free to comment with any questions. I hope to maiden her in the next week or so! I will do my best to keep this thread current even past the maiden. I have a little more than a month until the 2012 NATS and plan to track my trimming and flying progess through the main event!

Lastly, I can't help myself but take the time to re-thank Randy Hicks for his efforts and time. Can't say that enough. The guy is a true gentleman and proffessional craftsman of the highest caliber. I can't wait to see what this years 14 hour ride home from the NATS might generate for future designs to come. I have a feeling that in the thread for the next latest design, I wont have to prologue Randy Hick's repuation and work

Enjoy!