Fred,
Firstly no, you can't have my Flamingo Contest.
However you are right that they are a really good machine - the best layout - Rudder, elevator, ailerons and airbrakes. I have been lucky to have had two. I bought the first from Willie Owens in Bray about 1989 and I flew it for 27 or 28 years. I flew it regularly - maybe 20 saturdays a year for at least half an hour. So at least 10 hours a year at about 30 to 40 kph for 28 years - the best part of 10,000 kilometres! No wonder I liked it. It had suffered a fair few thumps and bumps over the years but was never seriously damaged until a couple of years ago. I launched it and it flew out perfectly - ignored the radio control (new 2.4gHz stuff), slowly banked to the left, and gained just enough height to do serious damage before it piled in. Total flight time 30 seconds. Goodbye to my favourite plane.
Luckily, 15 years ago David Mayrs had given me his damaged model as a source of spares for mine - a donor of vital organs as it were. My son had looked at Davids model for a month or so before he announced that he reckoned he could rebuild it. He flew it for a few years before being distracted by life and I am flying it now.....
JIM
