RE: Help identifying old plastic pattern plane
Ahhh the old Jester. I currently have one NIB. I had a nostalgia attack and couldn’t resist buying it after our club president won it in a raffle. The price on the box is marked as $173 but I am sure that this isn’t correct. As well as I remember about $70 was the right price.
I think ‘roncoleman’ had it right on the dates. I had my last one in ’76. It came to an early demise when I let it get too slow when turning final and I did the ole snap spin right off the end of the runway.
Lanier did have some innovative ideas back in the ‘70s. They figured out a way to make the whole fuselage a crumple zone, thereby preserving the integrity of the wing and tail section.
I worked on it for a couple of days trying to repair it but it was not to be. Years later I ran across one of the fellows that worked in the Lanier production area and he indicated that repairing the plastic parts was a snap. He started the explanation with “all you got to do is”, and I quickly stopped listening. He obviously had many more resources at the plant than I did in my meager shop.
Right now it is sitting on the shelf with about a dozen of its un-built friends, waiting for his turn in line. With the price that old classics are bringing on eBay, maybe I will list it and see if there are any other old modelers that remember the Jester.