RADIO CONTROL AEROBATICS
Ron Van Putte
111 Sleepy Oaks Road, Ft. Walton Beach, FL 32548
I've begun to get input about what readers think are the best airplanes for the beginning pattern flier. Leading so far has been the Great Planes Ultra Sport 40 or 60, with the Super Kaos a close second. Surprisingly, the third choice has been the Dirty Birdy.
Let me make a few comments about each. I've seen Novice and Sportsman fliers do well with the Ultra Sport. Between the two sizes, I'd give the edge to the 60 simply because a larger airplane is easier to fly and present to the judges. The 40 seems to fly just about as well as the 60.
However, fliers of the 40 tend to fly it a bit closer, where they can see it better, and since both sizes fly at about the same speed, things happen a bit quicker with the 40. The 60 can be flown farther out, which makes the maneuvers flow in a more leisurely manner.
The Super Kaos is no longer in production by Great Planes, but I've heard that one is distributed by the company that puts out David von Linsowe's airplanes. Its variants are also around — Ultimate Kaos, Utter Chaos, and Total Kaos.
I saw a Capstone Ultimate Kaos for the first time last weekend at a contest in Jacksonville, Florida, and it is a very attractive, simple, and capable airplane. Can you believe that the Dirty Birdy is still around? This 20-year-old design by Joe Bridi is in use in the lower-level classes because it is still a capable design. I saw a Dirty Birdy at the Jacksonville contest. In fact, I have seen different Dirty Birdy airplanes at each of the four contests I've either attended or helped sponsor this year. As I get more input on this subject, I'll make more updates in the column.
For now, I want to point out that virtually every letter I've received stressed the importance of spending time and money on practice rather than on equipment.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
