ORIGINAL: Ben Lanterman
I say this having a background as a practicing aero engineer for 43 years at McDonnell Douglas and in retirement, and as a modeler for over 58 years. I'll attach a photo of me as a young modeler. I practically memorized everything that Ed wrote in the magazines as they were my only way of getting any information about models when I was young.
Yes everyone thought the Taurus was a hot airplane at the time - but it isn't by today's standards. It flies OK but has things that prevent it from being a perfect pattern airplane - it's evolution at work.
Ben
Ben
Sorry for the delay between this post and my question, but I'm just reading this for the first time.
I'm interested in knowing your reasons why the Taurus isn't the "...perfect pattern plane..." I think I know a few, but I'd like someone with your credentials to comment. The problems I see are:
1) The semi-symmetrical wing, and the effects of that on inverted flight
2) The vertical fin, small rudder, and diagonal rudder hinge line and its effects on Knife Edge
3) Limited side area
Maybe a better question to ask would be "...was the Taurus the "perfect" pattern plane for ITS TIME, meaning an age of reeds, and the maneuvers it was expected to perform at the time, (which didn't include Knife-edge)??
Hope you're still following this thread.
Duane