sigrun

Confirm it was Tony. Well documented in Aeromodeller Feb '58 which included the printed plan in the article -which wasn't a full size lift out BTW. You had to order it if from APS you wanted the full size plan. I'll never forget the first time as a youngster I saw one fly in the local park in the very early 1970s. It was .15 diesel powered, but not by anything special as I particularly recall. I recognised immediately that it was the design for me. Prevously I'd had built up airframes of Aeroflyte kit origin. Like most of us self starters without mentors in those days, I had to discover through trial and error the importance of building light and relevance of wing loading, which in the time pre-dating iron on plastic coverings, also included doping and painting skills as both weigh heavy.

I had bought a Gordon Burford Taipan TBR diesel, Series 13 I think, but the web lists that as '72 and I bought mine NIB in mid (?) '71. Mine was identical to the one pictured sans the black head colour. The head on mine was polished aluminum. Web isn't always accurate. I didn't appreciate it for what it was at the time. My first, and for a while only engine which I'd bought influenced by one of the Scott brothers an ex-Brit now resident in AU who co-owned the local hobby shop. Cost significantly more than any 2.5cc glow at the time.Those same TBR Taipans are highly collectable stuff of legend now although I didn't know how to compression tune a diesel optimally in those days, and some of the cheap home brewed fuel I bought from a source with no amyl or IPN that had had the ether bottle waved across the lid that I bought didn't help that situation either. Aeroflyte brand diesel fuel sold in tiny cans in the hobby store was excellent quality diesel fuel for sport flying, but expensive. I was too youthfully naive to realise cheap diesel fuel could only be cheap for a reason given the cost of the necessary ether constituent. The "Peacemaker" saved me.

Nelson motors. What more need be said. Yum. Rossi as well. I still have several Rossi .09s intended for ½ A pylon which found their way into my ½ A combat box. MVVS I like too, but they got chunky in the 80's and 90's.

Now long FAI uncompetitive "Tamerlane" and its later miniaturised .09in³ Aeromodeller free lift out plan sibling are both great fliers. I have flown both and have plans for both. Responsive to fly and tighter manoeuvreing than the earlier generation 'whale tails', they're worthy vintage combat design to fly in fun competitions or friendly jousting. I like flying both a lot, especially the .09 variant.

I'll take a pic and post tomorrow. Sans original box, guess what I have here, case exhaust port modified for the same purpose. Still runs hard. Single flick starts hot or cold and holds tune as any good diesel should. From the days when an Italian ST cost an arm and a leg and were thoroughbreds. That said, it doesn't quite run as hard as my '90's P.A.W. .15 TBRs I deploy for combat in those "Warlords" et al -kudos to the Eifflanders, and that weeny diameter crankshaft of the G15 RV isn't combat impact friendly. If I ever redeploy it, it'll likely be in that nostalgia inspired SIG "Shoestring" kit I bought.