Guys,

Thanks for all of your input. It really means a lot to us to get such feedback. It's easy to put "blinders" on and lose sight of our other options. Thanks for giving us other ideas that we probably have not thought about.

After the numerous replies encouraging us to look at different trainers, I looked at the ARF's that are out there, and I was going to try to talk my wife into spending yet even more money for us to get one, 'cause I didn't want to damage these airplanes on their maiden flights. I was then fortunate to learn that the club that we just joined had a couple of trainers in the hangar that we could use as members. That's nice to know. Now maybe we'll have a milder case of the "jitters" when we put the Black Barons into the air.

Not that we've had to worry much about that lately, though. It's been raining cats and dogs up here for the past two weeks, and now that the good flying weather has finally arrived, I'm out on a trip! [:@] Hopefully, the first bird will be completed by the end of June!

I think that we'll be building the second one throughout the fall/winter and it probably won't see the flight line until next spring. Good thing is, it will give us plenty of time to build it right. Game plan is to do a bunch of flying with the club birds and then move on to flying the first BBS this summer.

When we get back to work on the Black Baron in a week or so, I'll post the finishing pics.

Do you guys have any ideas on how I can cover the main gear struts (kind of like what you see on a cub) without stiffening it to the point it doesn't absorb the shock of landing?

Thanks for your help!