This week I uncorked the 46-year old bottle of fine wine that purchased from another member of this forum. The product was bottled by:
The C.A. Zaic Co, Inc, Brooklyn, 21, New York, commonly called "Jetco Models". If you're having trouble finding Jetco on a search, try Zaic. The list of Lew McFarland's victories spans 1958 through 1962 solidly nailing the classic nature of the design. Lew's magazine article mentions dabbling with the 60-size, but concluding that a 45 was a big as a stunter needs to be.
In the Detroit area, the Shark 45 was the upgrade from the Top Flite Nobler, which overwhelmingly dominated the stunt world. The major users of the Jetco Shark were Leroy Gunther and Mark Ramsey, both of whom built several. Leroy always went after all 40 of the apperance points. In a newsletter article that he authored, he stated that his first Shark (which looked GREAT) weighed in at 67 ounces. Mark had at least four Sharks and he heeded Leroy's advice and played cool on the paint job, settling for 23 points at the 70 Nats, but doing better on the flying end of the deal.
Other contributors here have warned me about the weight of the kit wood, so I'm entering this venture with mass management as the prime directive.
I began by cutting/punching out the parts and sorting them into Ziplock bags by part number. I sub-assembled some of the laminated parts. Quite a few parts which could have been sawed from 1/2" balsa are laminated from numerous odds and ends of die cut 1/16" and 1/8" wood.
For example, the center of the tailplane weighed 0.5 ounces when done the "kit way", but a little under 0.4 when cut from a single piece of 1/2".
The bulk 1/16" balsa included in the kit weighs 8.4 ounces for a computed density of 10 pounds to the foot. This wood will be replaced and saved for ribs on racers, etc.