Steve Helms' CHECKMATE??
 

I recently acquired a Checkmate kit. The kit is in excellent condition, but the box was held together with about a roll of duct tape (so much you wouldn't know what was in the box except for a small area where 'Checkmate' appeared.
Anybody have any experience with this airplane? Does it fly well if built stock or are there any modifications that make it better?

THANKS!!

RE: Steve Helms' CHECKMATE??
 

If you look in my Gallery, you will see a photo of the one I flew for years. During that time it placed or won many contests, saw several engines, and survived two midairs and a major ground accident. I slapped it together in six weeks in 1986 when I was in an extreme airplane drought. Sometime in the early nineties I passed the plane on to Tony Arnaoutis and then to Joe Walker and Ryan McGlaughlin and it's oil-soaked carcass still resides somewhere....
You have to speak good about any plane that can take the rigors of several years of contest flying like that. I recall that it was a very neutral airplane that would keep up with the best of them until 4-strokes and 2-meter planes took over. The design was based on Matt's Joker and will make a good pattern trainer today. By all means, build it.

RE: Steve Helms' CHECKMATE??
 

Thanks for the info/memories ;)
I've built several Jokers (5) and loved them all. I'll have this one done this summer (I hope). I love flying the older .60 sized designs - they still fly well and are lot lower maintenance than the 2 meter pattern ships!