In this thread I have mentioned that Dennis Hunt, (see post 298 p 12), who made all the arrangements for Ed's South Africa tour in April of 1962 and I are both SPA members. He lives about two hours from me in Knoxville, Tennessee. Yesterday I drove to Knoxville to show him the Ed Kazmirski Taurus-2, (with both wings), and the unfinished fuselage discussed on this thread. We also test flew a new Daddy Rabbit Dennis built for me some time ago, so the trip had two purposes.

I am sure this will not change any minds, but for the record, I want to tell everyone that Dennis carefully examined the fuselage that some believe to be on the right side of the crate, and the oldest Taurus fuse. While it HAS been 46 years, (hard to believe), but Dennis said that, even allowing for the possible replacement of the stab, that because of the difference in shape of the fuse, he is sure that that particular fuselage was NOT in the crate and one of Ed's planes that were brought to South Africa in April.

We DO absolutely KNOW the Taurus-2 fuselage, with the thick wing known as the "carrer wing" WAS in the crate as Ed's back up plane for the 1963 World Championships a little over a year later. We know this because of the FAI stickers with a Bengian stamp on BOTH the fuselage and "Carrier wing".

If Dennis remembers correctly, the Taurus-2 was built in an attempt to improve the original Taurus sometime after the NATS in 1962 and Worlds in 1963. It all depends if whether or not what he says is believed as accurate or not.

This point has been argued extensively in this thread, and unless there is new evidence, there is no need for further debate, but I DID feel that Dennis's testimony is new evidence that needs to be reported.

Dennis is going to try to find additional pictures taken during the tour. They are with his son. It may be a month or two before the son visits, so we'll see if there is anything new to report later.

Duane