Thanks. I love this plane and the way it flys. It was the first "2-meter pattern plane", designed around 1965, at the same time his friend Ed Kazmirski was building his Simla.

Now for the part you probably won't like--it's had a few modifications. The airfoil is the same, the fuse is the same. The fin has the same rough dimensions as the original, but has a near vertical rudder line, (the original didn't).

The King Alair kit can be built two ways--the original stock version with the 80" wingspan, diagonal rudder and inverted engine, or the "Competition version", with the clipped wing, (80-70 inches), barn-door ailerons, (or not), and the modified fin. One of my scratch-built Altairs was built nearly stock with the inverted engine and 80" wing--it is the "sister ship" to the one, (orange/red/white) in the second Model Aviation article in the July 2007 issue; (which is now literally lost somewhere in the heavy brush around my Asheville field after a dead stick--no pun intended--it was too far out to glide back). The sister ship has not been flown yet.

You can also get a look at what the original looked like along with Vic Husak, its designer in the same issue.

BTW--I had a back-and-forth correspondence by e-mail and phone with Vic Husak, (in his 80s), during the last year of his life while the original Altairs were being built, and I shared all the construction photos with him for comment. I am gratified that he approved of the modifications I made based on the need to perform Knife Edge etc, (which was not a consideration in the mid-60s). He said he wanted to inspect one of the first kits, but unfortunately didn't get the chance. He did live long enough to know that his plane was still being flown and appreciated by vintage pattern enthusiasts. Until I contacted him, he had basically forgotten about R/C, (which he left in the mid-80s).

I was glad I had the chance to "meet" him.

Duane