As mentioned for top ten planes, this very much depends upon the area of the country, who you learned to fly with, what the contests were like and so much more. What you need to look at is the influence on soaring and correlate it to the development of RC Soaring. Popularity, or kits sold is one thing, but IF a plane was copied, or many of the parts incorporated into new designs, that may be an important criterion. As such, many of the planes listed in the <SNIP> may not be applicable. Try these on for size: Thermic 50 or B, By Goldberg (the BOT used the wing design) The Malibu and Monterey of AstroFlight The Mark Models Windward (of course the windfree is a derivative of the windward for higher performance) The MIrage by Blaine Rawdon The KA-6, by Slingsby (If you are id the age to remember this ship, it was one of the first ALL molded fiberglass ships weighing in at nearly 11 +lbs, and was a great sloper at 12 ft since we didn' thave the winches of today to launch it. The Paragon (and now the derivative Gemini) The Graupner CirrUs which so closely paralles the planes we now fly and it was designed in 1969 or so. Just change the airfoil and it IS the plane(s) we now fly, at 30 years old! Try the SWK MK1, which which was a cross country record holder, evolved to the Goose, and parallels many of the planes of today. The Challenger, by Otto Heitdecker, won many a SOAR Nats. The Astro Jeff , a much larger Cirrus type ship. The Aquila, as mentioned, but with a Semisymmetrical foil used by Skip Miller for FAI F3B speed. The Rubber Duckie, you may not know this but it was one of the first foam planes desinged for combat. Know how combat is flown today, this plane was more aerobatic than the current Zagis. If hit the wingsa and stabs were designed to come off, making it the EPP equivalent of it's time. How about the Albatross's from Pasedena. How about the White Trash (can anyone ID the Pilot??? He's now a top Full-size Soaring pilot) The Javelins from JP models. The grand espirit by Airtronics The Legionair (recall "Texas" Tom Williams, not the "Calif" Tom Williams of The Winddrifter) The Algebra of Sean Bannister the Harley Michaelis designs The Raven series by Tom Jones (?) The Gyphon flying wing. Many models by Rolf Decker, the Beligium team, the Italians, As you will note many of these (not all) are West-Coast US designs. Someone from the East Coast or Europe could compile a much different list. Look the planes over. Many of the planes are just spinoffs. Now think slope racers. Have Fun. Chris Adams Snip> >A cross-thread: how about the top 10 USA sailplane designs? Some nominations: > >Gentle Lady (more pilots trained ...) >Windrifter >Windfree >Bird of Time >Aquila >Hobie Hawk >Oly II >Sagitta >Windsong >Sailaire >Falcon 880 > >Glenn >Frederick MD >RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send "subscribe" and "unsubscribe" requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send "subscribe" and "unsubscribe" requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
