RE: Tiporare in SPA?
 

I spent a good bit of time in the 70s hanging out at WK Hobbies bench flying and watching Bill Keller making fiberglass props. I remember on one of my trips to Ohio, Bill was very excited about the new Tiporare kits he was producing. All the production was done in a small section in the back of his shop.

Anyone know the whereabouts of Bill?

RE: Tiporare in SPA?
 

If you're old enough to remember Ricky Nelson's song "Garden Party", you'll probably remember the line that says, "You can't please everyone, so you might as well please yourself".

That is what Mickey Walker did/has done with the SPA. If we don't like the rules, we can always start our own organization. (smile)


Ed Cregger

RE: Tiporare in SPA?
 

That is funny my dad and I talked to Mickey last year in Atlanta about this exact topic and he stated he was un-satisfied with the way things were going in SPA. I guess sometimes the monster you create gets bigger than you can control!

dp#3

RE: Tiporare in SPA?
 

As I said in post #35, Mickey opened the door, (or uncorked the genie's bottle) when he allowed some mods to be made. It seemed innocent enough at the time, but without specific, enforeable rules, some people took that as a license to make whatever mods they wanted, and for a lot of different reasons. Freedom to make modifications is part of the fun for many of our members; folks like to "play" with the models to personalize them, and possibly improve flight characteristics. Regarding legal models, Mickey still retains control of approving additions to the legal models list as we have been discussing.

I think the explanation I gave earlier about why 1-1-76 was chosen is the one that best explains why that particular year was chosen, (remember the year cut-off was originally 1-1-70 when SPA started). At some point the legal year was extended. I need to ask Mickey how that happened, and exactly why. My guess would be that limiting the cut off to 1970 excluded too many good planes from the era when pipes and retracts were still considered optional, (retracts started about 1970 to 1971). The line had to be drawn somewhere. Choosing 1975 allowed a lot more good models to choose from. Almost anything past 1975 includes models that were definitely designed for tuned pipes and retracts, plus, (more importantly), modelers everywhere were commonly using both at contests, and not just at the highest levels, NATS and other major contests was a major factor.

I don't know the exact reason why people feel the year needs to be extended further, and if it could be extended, what year it should be extended to and why? My guess is that they like a particular plane that was designed in the year they want the limit extended to.

Just my opinion...Duane

RE: Tiporare in SPA?
 

That is a good point. Don't forget the point of my original question was the fact that the Tiporare, according to the article I read, was a Curare. Obviously with some cosmetic enhancements. I hate that I started this thread, as I should have known how it would go.

RE: Tiporare in SPA?
 

Having a hard time visualizing my Tiporare rocket flying without retracts and a pipe. It would be a totally different experience and in my view not much fun!

RE: Tiporare in SPA?
 

well bring the Tipo to Cullman this weekend and join the fun...

RE: Tiporare in SPA?
 

I was over that way in Birmingham a couple of weeks ago and was very pleased that they are fixing the bad part of I20 around Oxford. The Governor still has the speed reduced to 55 at the border though.

RE: Tiporare in SPA?
 

speed limits... gear up and on the pipe...no speed lmits......

lol.. :)

RE: Tiporare in SPA?
 

I think there was some good points discussed, and some great input form some guys who were intensely involved. THANK YOU. Obviously you will never have complete agreement, but don't beat yourself up. It has been discussed before, but there are some new faces and new interest in the whole SPA/ CPA concept. That is a good thing!!!!

Keep those great designs flying,
turbo

RE: Tiporare in SPA?
 

I hope what I said didn't turn this thread in the wrong direction! I just think it is funny because my dad and I both have Tipo's that are ready to fly and the reason we were talking to Mickey
in Atl. was to try and change the cut-off date to make them legal.
Don't hate what you started be proud, Hell maybe this discussion will raise some attention..................Then our tipo's will have their day in the sunshine, again!!!!!

Duane you could get your point accross in twenty words or less. lol

DP#3

See yall in Cullman!!!!

RE: Tiporare in SPA?
 

I really enjoy threads that meander a bit, but which still go back to the main question. It makes me feel good to have started a thread (not this one, obviously) that draws lots of participation.


Ed Cregger

RE: Tiporare in SPA?
 

I for one enjoyed this thread and, in the absence of Dick Hanson's input, I believe some "facts" might have been sorted out regarding the Tipo. Thanks to Mike and Tony who both flew these models competitively back in the day and were able to shed light on some facts regarding the evolution of the Tipo during the mid to late 70's.

I hope those who are lucky to own Tipo's today will enjoy flying them in CPA events as they should - gear up and on the pipe! [8D]

David.

RE: Tiporare in SPA?
 

Well, this makes me feel better. I was not intending to make waves...

Cheers,

RE: Tiporare in SPA?
 

Blake,

a few waves are needed in life - they turn stagnant ponds into vigorous oceans! The rest is just ripples...:)

David

RE: Tiporare in SPA?
 

Blake, it was a good, legitimate question that provided some fascinating thoughts and history of the Tiporare. I love flying SPA, but every good organization needs to be questioned and "put to the test" periodically, it's what keeps the organization relevant and growing instead of stagnant. So from a big fan of the SPA, great job!
Lindy

RE: Tiporare in SPA?
 

I don't think so, but maybe you're right. Maybe that's why I have to work to edit my articles down. I'll work on it. lol

Duane

RE: Tiporare in SPA?
 

Wow! It sure is something to see all this discussion about Dad and the Tipo! I havent been involved in this end of the hobby for many years so I started poking around forums to see whats new. Lo and behold!! Threads about the old Tipo. I would say Mike and Tony have it pretty much right.. AND the name was as Tony said, from a song "Its a long long way from T...." AND we were building a minimum of three planes a week after we moved to SLC for quite a few years, with many turn key, ready to go planes sprinkled in there too. Thinking back to those days really puts a lump in my throat. Tony was a great dude, we used to fly at the sod farm where he had an apartment. Mike was a little bitty guy, he and his dad were SO into it! Really inspiring. I ended up going into music quite heavily, touring and doing session work. All along I've been building Peanut Scale stuff and foamies.
I guess Dad still posts on these forums, giving people grief and chuckles. He even used my name for awhile posting when he couldnt get his account working. It wasnt me!!! This is my first post in years.

Hope to see/ talk to you folks more as I get back involved. Dad is flying the F3P indoor stuff, his eyes wont see the planes that are a ways out. I want to fly the electric pattern stuff in 2012, so I guess I'll have to start building.

RE: Tiporare in SPA?
 

Hi Guy, good to hear from you! Say hello to Dick for me.

It's kind of glad to see that my memory hasn't gone completely!

RE: Tiporare in SPA?
 

Guy,

Welcome back to pattern and the classic forum.

It's great to have someone so close to Dick participate on the subject.

So I guess your dad was not kidding around when Tony mentioned the second world war tune! Does that mean that there is little credit to the idea of the name being coined as "rare type" from the Italian-English combination or anything to do with SuperTigre boxes and/or the Curare name? Not that it is that important in the end but it has been raised over the years so many times that it would be good to get any "non-thruths" sorted out.

Three models a week is mighty impressive! At that rate, one could get ~150 models built in a year or so. I'm sure your dad was a master craftsman.

A couple more questions, if I may: Someone on the forum was just asking about what has been referred to (among other names) as the Tipo 750. I was curious whether there were 4 or 5 (or more) different 60 size Tipo variations. The last I'm aware of is the Tipo Surpass (686) for which your dad scribed 1990 on the plans. Were there any others after this? Was your dad involved in the scaling down of the original classic Tipo to a 40 size version? I'm aware that Bill Keller was kitting glass/foam Tiporare 40's for a while but not clear on the time frame nor how it came about.

These have been posted elsewhere on the forum but thought you (and your dad) might enjoy seeing the fruits of our love for his design - a Picorare (40" span Tipo 720)...:)

David.

RE: Tiporare in SPA?
 

Hey! That's a cute little plane! No, Dad didnt have anything to do with the 40 sized Tipo. I recall Dad using the "Type Rare" term but I don't know if he coined that or it was just picked up somewhere. Certainly the Curare name had a bunch to do with it. I remember seeing Prettner fly in Dayton, Ohio (I think i was Dayton!) in the 70's. It certainly tipped everyone on their ears. It was obvious that this plane and this flier were the cats ass. Dad built some Curares, along with some of his designs,, I ended up straining them through various trees and fences. His description in the first article about the Tiporare was exactly how he always felt about it. It was a Curare with a tummy tuck, boob job, whatever. He never proposed that it was his own thing or that he made a "better" plane. It is just ASTOUNDING how much of an impact on Pattern that one plane had on people. It was just a damn cool airplane. I would venture to say that the planes he designed later had a bigger, long term impact. Look at a Runaround, Excess, EMC2 and see how much the latest F3A planes have in common. I was kitting the Elan, Ariel and Elite at the time he started building the wide, large fuselage airplanes with relatively smalller wings (fuse to wing volume ratio) and so many folks were saying it wouldnt work. He REALLY gave it ALOT of thought at the time and said " I dont care, this makes sense to me" He was right.

Guy
Edit: Now I remember the Supertiger box TIPO thing. It all runs together!!

RE: Tiporare in SPA?
 

Guy,

all good things do come together in the end. Your dad certainly has had a very influential role in the design of pattern planes over the decades. I'm sure we are all indebted to him for his fine work and for bringing us beautiful models to enjoy building and flying.

I'm glad to hear that all the various rumors on how the name came about do actually hold water. Mike mentioned that using the "Tipo" part on ST boxes was a spark of your imagination and that grabbed my attention because as a kid, my first "real" engine was a ST S40 blue head and I remember thinking that that box and its contents would some day grace something I was not yet fit to build as a 13-14 year old with much ambition but no mentor. I also remember buying that engine in Milan, Italy with my savings which were scarce and so it was a big deal. Strangely, my S40 came in a box which was sized for the smaller 25's and later I bought a 23 which came in a box for the 40's and 60's so the boxes and engines ended up visiting one another...:) I still have that engine...

Glad you like the little Pico! It was a fun project. Someone from Horizon has expressed interest in building one with trike pneumatic retracts!

This thread seems like a fitting place to post a couple of snaps of the in progress older sibling. Kit vintage is GP 1983 bought by yours truly back then (also as a teenager). It was a slowish build...:D I'm hoping to finish her up next month and let her adjust to her reality until the coming Spring. The winds of change are upon us at these latitudes.

David.

RE: Tiporare in SPA?
 

Beautiful work! You should be proud. I just called my dad to tell him about this thread. He kept saying "Really?" "Wow" "I'll be damned" He honestly thought nobody gave two cents of thought about that plane! I think it made him feel good. That's important to me.

Tony! Are you still kicking butt and taking names? I never knew anyone who focused so well on practicing pattern. He used to run through gallons of fuel nailing down the tiniest details of every manuever. It always paid off at the contests. I hope to see you this next summer in California if we can get out there to fly.

Guy

RE: Tiporare in SPA?
 

Guy,

thanks for the kind words. The finish took a tad longer than the little one did...:)

I'm glad to hear that you were able to please your dad. You can tell him that we talk about the Tipo and his other designs all the time!

I hope to build another "Hanno/Hanson" project that I know your dad was also rather involved with - the Dalotel. Won't be for a while yet though.

David.

RE: Tiporare in SPA?
 

Absolutely gorgeous finish David! Looking forward to the maiden report. I have a GP Tipo sitting at the brother's house in Florida that will join me for the ride backhomethis comingFebruary. Probably going to finish itlike that of a friend, which flew in expert at the 80s Nats (red, white, and blue too!).
Mark