ORIGINAL: Bill Diedrich
........ I find I have an overwhelming appetite for vintage
and classic pattern ships, the Orion, Taurus, Daddy Rabbit,
& King Altair in particular....... just love the sleek lines and gracefulness that
they fly with, so I guess with great zest I'll start letting the
balsa chips fly so to speak and get these birds ''flying off'' the
building board.
Bill D.
Bill;
You are obviously a man of good taste. I'm a little younger, but I am increasingly finding a great deal of interest in researching these fine pattern ships, and the interesting people behind them. "Ed Kazmirski's Taurus" is a tremendous thread if you have the fortitude to "plow through" everything to separate the "wheat from the chaff", (ech person has their own definition of "wheat and chaff"). The latest subject I'm interested in is the "Tom Brett's Designs" thread. If the designs mean somethjing to you personally, it is even more fun and interesting.
As my RCU "handle" implies, I am a big fan of the King Altair. It is a very majestic ship, and flys like a dream...kind of like an advanced Taurus, but very easy to fly. Jeff Petroski of Home and Hobby Solutions kits the plane in lazer form as well as the Kwik Fly and Taurus. He is planning to offer a "Taurus-2" as discussed at length in the Kazmirski Taurus thread.
The Daddy Rabbit 1 and 5 are both nice flying ships. I have a friend who has a completed brand new DR1 for sale. He is a good builder. I fly a DR 5 in SPA competition.
..........Don't think I will ever enter them in competition.....
Don't be too sure about that, and don't be intimidated by the word "competition". I'd highly recommend SPA competition which a great blend of competing and fun. I have always felt that precision aerobatics mades you a better pilot faster, and it gives you a REASON, a CHALLENGE, and a PURPOSE to fly. Each time you go up you can be working on something. Almost everyone starts in Novice, and where there is a desire to practice, you WILL get better over time and have a "blast" doing it. I've had SPA friends that I almost had to "hold a gun to their heads" to get them to compete, and NOW, their personal SPA experience, and the friends that are made have become a large part of their lives. SPA pilots are a great bunch of guys.
Give us a try if their is an event withing driving distance. We have several boys from Mississippi who drive to the Georgia and Alabama events, and there is a Discussion List you can belong to where you can share ideas, and read what others are saying. There are more SPA Chapters and events every year.
Duane