Just a few more comments about Nimbus. Nimbus was designed to compete with Ed Kazmirski's Orion, and the later versions...that was the target aircraft to beat, (little did he know that Taurus was on the drawing board shortly thereafter, and would be the REAL competition).

The way I understand it, Nimbus I flew at the 1961 NATS, then was replaced by Nimbus II for the rest of the season. When you figure the timeline, Nimbus II had a very short flying life, (only part of the 1961 season), yet an article was written about it in the June '62 edition of American Modeler. In that article Tom basically refers to the Nimbus project as a single entity, then describes the difference between them. The only difference mentioned by Tom in his article were the wings...Nimbus 1 was double-tapered, and had an open, non-sheeted area. Nimbus II was single-tapered, (like Perigee), and had a fully sheeted wing. There were small differences in structure and aileron area that effected the roll rate. Tom says Kazmirski flew Nimbus 1, and considered the roll rate too fast. Tom had trouble adjusting to the slower roll rate on the new wing "...after 500 flights..." on the original wing. In the end however, Tom said he eventually came to prefer the Nimbus II wing which helped the plane fly "...a little faster and a little smoother, though the roll rate is substantially reduced." When you look at Nimbus II, the overall look is a little more modern and advanced, (at least to me).

Here is a comment from Helen about the Nimbus I and II. I had asked her if the pink silk on Nimbus I was the real color:

Yes, it really was. I guess you didn't see Nimbus at the field in 1961. You couldn't have missed it if you'd been there. Too bad Nimbus II only got to fly from August to November, what with the season ending and getting A(pogee)&P(erigee) going and in the air.

Duane