I've been reviewing this thread for quite some time (yeah, started at the beginning) and after seeing all these outstanding planes with their long sleek fuselages and thin wings I thought I'd just throw in two more cents' worth.

I'm no kind of pattern flyer - have never competed and the best I've ever done in practice is novice class, and even not great at that level - but I plans-built an old pattern plane from long ago, the 1966 SIG Stratus, and thought I'd just throw it in here for "historical" interest. By today's standards I doubt she'd last even a minute in competition but a guy named Maxey Hester designed & competed with it a long time ago. She's short-coupled, thick-winged and no kind of show plane but she IS an awful lot of fun to fly.

Sorry about the lousy flight shots. Cheapie camera only does so well.



STRATUS, SIG kit #RC4 from 1966
WS - 70", Length-51.5", wing area 720 sq. in., 7.8 lbs
Power is an OS.60SF and she's got a basic 72MHz Futaba 4-ch radio