Hi,
I would like to know the name of this plane if anyone can help. I really like the shape of the wing. It resembles a Spitfire, but the aspect ratio is higher.
Thanks in advance.
CAsniffer

Seems I remember that being a "Jupiter". No other info though.

Could it be an "Elipse"..."Eliptical"...?
When "turnaround" pattern was just beginning in 1984 no one knew what type of plane it was going to take.
A lot of folks thought a scale like plane similar to a Laser or a control line stunt derived plane or...
So there were a lot of new and sometimes unusual designs being introduced.
The "Elipse" was one of these that year.
I don't remember it exactly but this could be it.
Maybe not...
[]

What ever it is, it's cool looking!


Todd

Hey you old CA sniffer!
Nope it's definitely not a Jupiter. I think it's a L' Oiseau de Paradis, designed by Charles Perry back in the early 70s. (Bird of Paradise)
I'll bet that either Model Airplane News or RCM still sell the plan from the construction article that sticks in a back corner of my brain.

Hope that's it, when you do find the plans, you might compare wingspan and length for confirmation.

Enjoy it, whatever it is,
Dean

Looks like a .60 sized "Don Juan" pattern ship to me.
Plans were available from RCM . Designed by Don Curtis from San Antonio
Texas, great flying airplane.

tommy s

Tommy,
That was what I thinking "Don Juan"

To me it looks like a Spitfire with civilian painting.

Todd,
You may have been too young to remember Don Curtis flying the prototype
Don Juan at one of the Hot Mac pattern contests in the early 70's but he won
D Novice class with almost perfect scores and repeated that feat a couple of
weeks later at the Thunderbirds meet in Fort Worth. Max may remember him.
Don was flying D Novice and out scored all the guys in D Expert including Steve
Helms. The airplane was just super smooth and so was Don's flying. He designed
the airplane when he was in college at Texas A&M and only built a couple of them.
The last version had 4 inches clipped from the wing span and the
fuse was stretched a couple of inches. I talked to Don last year and he still has the
airplane stored in his home and it is still in immaculate condition.

tommy s

I don't know the name of the airplane but it has Kraft electric retracts. Dwayne

Thanks Guys! I appreciate contributions. After a little searching, I'm pretty sure Tommy S is right. The wingspan is the same as the description I received with the pictures in post 1. See for yourself. I found all the planes that were mentioned and posted them. I would have been searching for its identity a long time without your input. RC Modeler magazine has the plans.
Hotselliptic is the first image, Loiseau De Paradis the second and Don Juan 2 is the third.
CAsniffer

Tommy,
I do remember Don a little and yes Dad does remember him. I got to fly one a lot in the 70's
because we have a friend that built one from Don's plans. Plane flew great with a Enya 60.

Hey Todd!
How the heck are you?
Dean

Hey Dean,
Doing Great, just trying to keep up with all this pattern stuff.
Hope your doing well and maybe we will see you again at the Nats.

Ok.
How about this one? I was looking for this picture to compare it to the ones in post 1, but couldn't find it until now. I thought they might have been the same plane. I saw this at a swap meet in Perry, Ga. (RC Mecca!) It also has an elliptical wing and similar tail configuration, but the canopy is different, just as the P-51B and P-51D are different.
Thanks again!
CAsniffer

The main advantages an of elliptical wing is more lift and less drag for a given
size and is very hard to tip stall. The Don Juan was a very fast airplane, extremely
smooth, but would slow down to a crawl for landings. I've always wanted to build
a 2 meter version but the wing is very difficult to build and requires a good wing jig
and lots of patience. I heard Don say numerous times there were no straight lines on
his airplane...all curves.

tommy s

I've had a couple of Jupiters, which I think is the prettiest pattern plane ever designed. Wing was pretty easy to construct. I quit flying it when I had to do more snapping manuevers. For some reason I had a hard time getting it to stop when I wanted .

Jeff-RCU,
That's a nice looking plane. Looks very slippery and fast.

CAsniffer

CA
Thanks, It was designed and kitted by Dave Stuart, he used to do glass work for Dick Hansens' kits. It's a long story, but I was just getting into pattern when Dave was selling kits. By the time I was ready for a larger plane, Dave was out of the business. I had an old Kfactor with his ad and called him. He made up a kit form me. It was immaculate glass work. A couple of years after that I called for another kit and he said he had sold the tooling and wasn't doing it anymore. I tracked that guy down who bought the tooling, but he had just passed, so I don't know where the patterns are now.

The plane is an extremely smooth flier and looks good in the air. But like I said, I couldn't get mine to snap and stop like I needed. It was made in 2 wing sizes 900 and 1,000 sq inches. The bigger wing looked in better scale. Hopefully someone has the tooling and starts to kit it again. I'd build another! (and if anybody has a kit out there, let me know)
Jeff

Hey Jeff,
I had a kit (or most of one) that may have been the last one. I got it from the guy who had the molds not long before he passed. I traded it to Dan Hines (of Carolina Custom Airframes) for a T2A MKIV and the option to purchase a new Jupiter kit from him when he gets the molds done. It is a very cool looking airplane!!
Regards,
Will BArtlett

Will,
That's right, I think you helped track down the where the molds were when I was looking the second time. I wonder if Dan is ever going to kit it? It would make a great looking biplane also. Someone contacted me once saying they were going to make a 40 size version, but I never heard back.