Very interesting Cees

My father and I were members of the RCCD. I flew my first plane there at the Mound Road/18 Mile Rd site. We first started visiting the field in the summer of 1963 when we moved to the area. The picture of Ed sitting next to the Taurus 2 was taken at one of the later Detroit Invitationals. That particular Invitational was won by Don Lowe and his ORIGINAL Phoenix 1, (see below).

BTW.....if anyone has old model mags from 1961 to the mid to late 60s, I would be interested in any mention of the Detroit Invitational, the winner for those years, and what plane was flown.

Everything you say about the Detroit Invitational is true, but I still have some questions:

-Did the article say what airplane Ed flew at the Detroit Invitational in 1961? It could have been anything...(even a borrowed plane)you are assuming it is the "Wester Taurus". Even if it says he flew a "Taurus", we have seen that Ed flew a plane at the 1961 NATS called a Taurus that may very well have been the plane pictured on Ray's post in Ed Kaz.Taurus post 131.

-The biggest question I have has to do with the Taurus prototype plans that were drawn in Dec of 1961, that specifically say the first flight of the prototype took plane Thanksgiving, (end of November) 1961. How do you get around that...it is an honest question to ask? You would have to take the position that the "contest prototype" first flight as described on the plan itself being in November is mistaken, and I can't accept that. The person drawing that plan was in a better position to know the date of the first flight than we are 46+ years later. I could accept that the prototype could have been built and flown in September 1961 and the plan drawn in December, if the person who drew the plan had not given a specific date.

That prototype had a span of 68", (as does the NATS 1962 and Jan 1963 MAN Taurus). The prototype HAS TO BE the original Taurus AS WE KNOW IT, (as opposed to the strange looking Orion/Taurus hybrid he flew at the 61 NATS as described by Ray and pictured again below). There was a report that said the plane crashed during the NATS due to equipment failure, but it could have been repaired for the Detroit Invitational or he could have flown the Orion...we just don't know for sure...not yet.

We have to be open to all the evidence to see how it all fits. The dates on the plan are critical, and can't be ignored.