RE: Ed Kazmurski's Taurus
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 9pt">Duane,
Sorry for the delay (danged work). Picture 4 and 6 are what triggered my memories. 1965 was a memorable year for me as I became an amputee that year. My Dad had given me a Sterling Mini Mambo and took me to that field to introduce me to modeling. He was a "free-flight" modeler but always dreamed of getting into RC. Years later, he explained that this was his way of keeping me "occupied" (little did he know!) I instantly became nutso on anything that had wings and a prop (yeah. I like jets too). Long story short, my Dad would drop me off at Kickapoo Woods in Harvey, Illinois on Saturday morning and he would not return until dinner time. We actually lived only a half a mile away so it was rather convenient for him. How do I know that the pictures are Kickapoo Woods? Well, a good memory helps, but I did grow up there. In pic 4, in the background view is a large (5 or 6 story) apartment building, left of that was an auto body shop (Chuck's Body Shop). Across (north) from Chuck's was a gas station (perhaps a Standard Oil); to the south of the pic would be an A&W Root Beer Drive In. What confirmed this was pic 6, the younger fellow holding the big Taurus (Simla), in the background (his left) on the right side is the upper section of the old granary factory which was located in the Indiana Harbor Belt (?) railway yard at 138th and Halsted. As a dumb kid, we regularly explored that building. Now I don't recall Ed, my Dad, or their pals Art and Ken, ever calling anything Simla; however, Taurus andTauri were common as daylight. I believe that I saw the big Taurus, orSimla, fly on several occasions. I recalla really largered, white, and black trimmed model that I always thought was a Taurus, fly gracefully about the sky. I say it was large as I recall (Ken's) a Mighty Mambo resting next to it that was quite similar in wingspan. In fact, that same Mighty Mambo bought the tree one Saturday afternoon!I can say that when it flew, it was very smooth and stable, and Ed was very good at landing. In fact, I recall very few of the guys ever being able to land and hold the nose off the ground like Ed could. These are memories Duane, of which I've been accused of having an acute version of, but without doubt that is where those pics were taken. I would venture that Ed had many friends that went unnoticed, he was very friendly and invited youngsters (like me) to look and ask questions; and we did. It's too bad that we took it all in stride; who could have imagined that over four decades later many of us would be seeking the tidbits of Eddy Kaz's RC doings.Whatever pics that I can dig up I will, but most are tattered B&W that are in very poor condition; but a few depict Kickapoo Woods. This probably doesn't help much Duane, but at least you'll know <u>where</u> as well as when those particular pics were taken. Thanks.
hook57
Mark
AMA 63845
SPA 384
N641RM</span></div>