RobT

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Since Dodgson no longer kits his amazing line of sailplanes, is there any way to get "taco Shells" for his kits anymore?

Would anyone be interested in them other than me?

Thanks

Rob

FLYBOY

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There is interest, but I don't know that you will find many. I have a friend with a kit yet. They were good airplanes. There was one that a couple guys built called the kamiak. It was the same plane, but the wing was a tad longer and the fuse had some chamber to it and it was a full glass fuse instead of the taco shell. It flew the same but the flaps were 100% more effective. They only built a few. There is a mold running around Spokane for it yet somewhere. I haven't seen it for 10 years. I have a mold, but haven't pulled one forever and am not able due to an accident. They are both good planes. I just bought a Norwester, which was produced with the same wing, but a different fuse. It flew well but I like it on the slope better than the winch. The fuse made a big diff.

I fly them mostly with an SD-7032 airfoil now. The old eppler was good, but the SD is better. The norwester on the slope is a blast. Fast and aerobatic. The Kamiak on the slope is fun too, but doesn't have the ability to climb out of a dive as well as the Norwester.

They were a fun old bird. You might try to contact the glider guys in Spokane and see if they know how to get a fuse from the mold there. Gary Brokaw and Sandy Kilpatrick were the two that were in the circut there when I flew on it. There is another guy, but he didn't like the Kamiak guys so I wouldn't waste time looking for him. The guys that built it originally were in Colfax. I think his name was Dan Carr. He was a good guy, if you could find him, he may be able to tell you more. He seemed to leave the hobby hard and fast so he may not be much help.

Bob Dodgson was an interesting charecter. I don't know what happened to him. Haven't seen him for years. I quit flying with them all when I started flying full scale. I didn't have time to fly the circut any more. You could look him up too. He was on camano island Washington. Randy Hoseapple is another who may know how to find one.

Don't know if Max will sell his, but you could throw him an offer and see. PM me if you are interested and I will see if he wants to sell it.

good luck, they are fun birds.

RobT

My Feedback: (17)

Thanks for the info.

I will look into it.

Rob

michpittsman

My Feedback: (11)

I called Bob the other night to touch base; flew his designs for many years. He had two hip replacements after he went to work for Boeing; doing pretty well now. He got called back to Boeing but is not doing any serious flying now. Must have been burnout (tell me about it). He now has a Bothell WA address. Email is [email protected] and I'm sure he would like to hear from old Dodgson flyers. JIM LSF796