UPDATE:

I installed the new landing gear and flew the Laser today. The new gear seemed to be a big improvement. I got in 3 or 4 flights (tankfulls).

I was just sort of fooling around doing slow inverted figure 8s when I was mid-aired by my buddy flying a 60 sized Four Star. The prop of the fourstar hit the fuse of the Laser just in front of the tail feathers and completely separated the tail from the rest of the Laser. There was a burst of fulttering pieces of balsa and monokote. The front part of the fuse came down like a rocket propelled lawn dart and the tail feather fluttered gracefully to the ground. I had to dig my Saito 72 out of the dirt. The engine mount (metal) had broken, and the fuse was in too many pieces to count. The fourstar wasn't damaged except for a broken prop.

This is the first mid-air that anyone at the field had ever seen. It was really quite spectacular, I have to admit. The Laser is history. It was a nice flying very capable plane, but seemed cursed from the start.