ORIGINAL: 8178
Jason,
Congratulations and thanks for sharing your experience preparing and flying the Kaos. Most interesting is how successful you were with the Kaos and a very cost effective little two stroke. Your setup is certainly a perfect example of the vision Mickey had for SPA. As most RCers follow the example set by the winner, maybe your example will make people realize they don’t have to hack the heck out of their aircraft to cram an ill fitting $370 boat anchor in the nose.
Thanks Mike. Since this was Ryan's idea, I'm not taking credit for going with a Kaos/55 combo. I had my heart set on an Ugly Stick 40 with the 55...lol. The Kaos did have a 61, but we knew that the 55 could fly it if it was light enough and drink less fuel (less than a gallon the whole weekend total). Ryan believes (as do I) that a light plane (at 5lbs) can perform just as well with the 55 as the 7-8lb planes with a 91. We didn't have the speed of the 91's, but we were able to get through the Expert pattern just fine. One thing we never did do was mess with props so we're not sure if the 12x6 was the best choice, but that was what was on it. Neither of us wanted to drop much money on this attempt as we weren't sure if we'd enjoy it enough to go all out. For me, it was worth everything we did, but with my busy other pattern life, I don't see much SPA flying anytime soon... heck, I can't even get to a BPA contest. But we talked a bunch on the way home and we don't see why this can't be a standard set-up for the Novice and Sportsman pilots... and a few brave Expert pilots...