KR Builders,
Last year I bought the CD with all the KR newsletters that Larry Capps had
put together. I had started building my KR2S last year and would
occasionally scan thru some of the past newsletters. I had even subscribed
to the newsletter for a couple of years (Dec 97-Feb 2000). This summer I
decided to try and read a few pages each nite starting on page 1 and I just
finished going thru all 1907 pages (I really did not read the classified
ads!). It turned out to read like a novel and there were all kinds of
characters and plots. Just the efforts by the newsletter editors over
almost 30 years is a story unto itself. What is sad is that I never found
out toward the end of the newsletters what happened to some of the
contributors -like Art Smart - Minnesota in the summer and Alabama in the
winter - did he ever fly? The history of the KR is also fascinating and
where things like that painting of a collage of Ken Rand and the KRs came
from. Discussions that you see on the KRnet have been going on since the
inception of the KR .....and many of the problems and questions for which
folks are looking for answers to are hidden away in these newsletters. And
there have been some folks (like Steve Bennett) that have been there from
the beginning and continue on today. Going to the Gatherings and meeting
some of these folks has taken on a new meaning for me. I printed off pages
of ideas as I went thru the newsletter and hopefully it will speed up the
construction of my KR2S. What is also sort of sad is that I don't see how
the history of the KR will be "bound" into a volume for future generations.
Today construction ideas and first flight reports are being published via
web pages and e-mails. If these electronic publishings are erased or lost,
there goes that part of KR history. I guess my bottom line is that if you
have not bought the KR Newsletter CD and are building a KR, you are missing
out on one fascinating story and will not appreciate all the people and
efforts that have gone into making the KR the airplane(legacy?) that it is.
r/
Bernie
KR2S Builder
Lexington Park, MD
http://mywebpage.netscape.com/n2w6
