Cees

I read the Africa article last night in which he describes the organization of the Africa tour. He says in that article that there was "...an exchange of numerous letters and tapes..." sent back and forth prior to his Africa trip. The timing he says began in November 1961...before any plans had been drawn or published. The plans were dated 12-6-1961, but no doubt were not available to anyone for some time after that. This is consistant with what Dennis told me. The brown paper drawings, (to bring everyone up to speed), Dennis says were sent with the tapes showing Ed's specifications as his model was taking shape. That was how Dennis was able to construct his own Taurus...identical to Ed's in as many ways as possible. I have absolutely no reason to doubt what Dennis told me. It does not conflict with anything in the Africa article.

As Evan suggested, I'd be happy to provide you with Dennis's contact information in the U.S. I would think that anybody as interested in the early development of the Taurus as we are, (Evan and Ray as well as Cees), would want to talk to him personally to have questions answered or just to talk about the three week tour and the experience.

When I first got the Taurus 2 after the auction, Dennis was the first person I showed it to. After all those years, his recollection was not perfect, but he didn't recognize ANYTHING familiar when looking at the plane first hand. This would be expected even if it were the same fuselage that had been in the crate, since it has been changed so drastically as Cees says.

It is possible that Ed extensively modified one of the original Taurus(s) in the crate. Having said that however, even if that is the case, the end result....the Taurus 2 we have today is radically different from the original crate Taurus. As I said, only the firewall, fuse sides and formers would remain since everything else would have been modified or replaced including the top block, stab, fin, pilot and canopy.

One more thing to consider that should shine a light on exactly how Ed's "contest Taurus" looked. Consider that both the crate
Taurus(s), and Dennis's Taurus were constructed long before the kit was developed. Most telling to me would be Dennis's Taurus, which we have a very good close-up of, (remember, Dennis's Taurus was patterened exactly after Ed's original prototype, based solely on Ed's tapes and brown paper drawings). When you look carefully at Dennis's plane, it looks a lot more like the commonly known MAN Taurus than the thinner, sleeker Taurus 2. As a reminder, look at the differences in the fuselages; the Taurus 2 is thinner, sleeker, and more pointed.



Duane