I have always been totally jealous of Dick's many airplanes. It's not fair that he didn't send them to me when he was through with them. It is true that with lower wing loadings that the downwash effects on the horizontal tail become less pronounced. To me the ideal airplane is one that doesn't require all of the small corrections that the good pilots give them. The CAP can make identical inside and outside loops for example but if we measured the actual elevator deflection to do them it would be different. It just proves what a good machine the human eye/brain setup is.

I do believe that the perfect airplanes aerodynamically are the big FAI ships although I have never understood the little T that one of them has just behind the canopy area. All he needed to do was make the vertical tail just a smidgeon bigger. I guess once the mold is made he didn't want to change it. But with the FAI ships you don't get any inertial coupling effects during any of the maneuvers which keeps things awfully nice for the pilot - he has a lot less to do to keep them pointed straight. Otherwise we would see CAPs and the like being flown in FAI pattern.

Now Dick, do you really want me to believe you designed the airplanes - or - perhaps you designed the structure inside of the exterior shape? All you have done is put a skeleton inside of a great looking shape......

One last comment about the Vapor which Dick and I do agree on. It is challenging enough to keep your interest up. Some day we'll have a full house aerobat that will be nice in a living room but until then the Vapor is great. Pylon races would be great with 3 or 5 in a large living room. When I was in High School I kept trying to get a single channel airplane to work with a ground based transmitter so when I was presented with the science in the Vapor I was amazed. Something that weighs just 15 grams that flies under perfect control surely must get any die hard modelers heart to beating just a little.

Ben