Hi Matt, and Will-- Thanks for ur input, and ur insight. The 2 Aeromasters I have were built by a local fellow, who knew all the little weak points in the design, and did compensate for that weak area. He was a master builder, and used to build 6-8 at a time. He had a fantastic workshop, and designed all his own jigs to build in multiples. He had a bunch of guys that would take their kits to him, and he would do all the frame up work for them, at a very nominal fee. He had fuselage jigs, and wing jigs, and would do all the wood construction assembly, rib and spar alignment, and then start gluing. He did the same thing with the fuselages. He built hundreds before he died last year. We were all very saddened by the loss of him.
Both of mine are at just 6#, and I have a HB61PDP in the red and silver one, and a Supertigre 75 in the red WW1 plane. Both fly very well, and I enjoy them both. I'm getting the Skybolt ready, and since it's a little larger and heavier, I have a new OS 75 AX that should work, or I may opt for the OS 1.20 4 stroke for it. I do remember the Pulsar, and I missed an opportunity to pick one up last year(got outbid on epay). Thanks for the info on the Shamrock, and the Fyg Leaf- I'll look those up. I had a Pitts, but wasn't too crazy about it, and I'll definitely try out the Ultimate that I have, after getting some real practice time in on the others. I have plans for the Great Lakes, and will start cutting wood for it in the fall. I did have a crazy idea about doing a sort of Great Lakes abortion- I have a really old Aeromaster that I have stripped the covering from, and wanted to redesign the tail with the rounded Great Lakes configuration, making a little larger rudder, and since it has the slim nose, instead of the round one, make it like the inline version. It would be easy to glass up a cowl that would look fairly scale. Just a passing idea. I think the larger rounded rudder looks great, and would help greatly with knife edge flight. I'll keep u guys posted on my progress. It is my sincere hope that this miserable, relentless winter will soon be over. I know Matt knows what I mean- They are getting it worse than me. Many Thanks again fellows-- Dean