ORIGINAL: RFJ
RB51,
As you can see from the plan the original Eyeball did not use retracts although wheel pants are suggested.
Jim Martin flew an Eyeball for a while and developed the Banshee from it which certainly used retracts.
Retracts generally improve the appearance of any aerobatic model and the Eyeball would be no exception. However, due to the mid wing design the legs would be rather long.
Ray
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And spindly - and heavy. But that wouldn't stop me, if I had a hankering for one.
Many, many years ago, the wife and I (she was my building and flying partner in those days) were at a Lakehurst, NJ pattern meet. There was a father and son team competing that day with a chrome Super Monokote covered Eyeball. Can't remember if they had retracts or not.
Anyhoo, if the model had any trim on it, you sure couldn't see it in the bright daylight. I could barely keep track of its orientation, but you always knew when it was flying by the bright reflections being scattered all around. Unfortunately, later on that day, whoever was flying it became disoriented and the model flew back behind the flight line, over our heads and into the parked cars behind us. It made a sickening thud. Didn't sound like it hit anyone's car though. Funny, the things you remember thirty some years later.
I was under the impression that the father and son were doing pretty well score-wise, until that happened. It moved along at a fairly good clip too. I was rooting for them, but it just wasn't meant to be.
Ed Cregger