I've been talking with Geoff Goodworth about "fixing" the original Carstens plan of Bill Simons' Shoestring. As Bob Hunt has noted here, the original had a Skylark wing (Foam Flite, I think). Anyway, Geoff has been working on a plan that (hopefully) reflects Bill's actual plane better than the Carstens plan. We've been trading emails and I've seen some of the CAD drawings. There are a couple of questions that have come up that only those that knew the original plane can really answer. Perhaps Bob Hunt will chime in with answers since it seems that he knows the most about this great design.
1) The Skylark wing has a somewhat narrower root chord than the wing drawn for the Carstens plan. Should the Skylark wing be aligned at the leading edge or the trailing edge on the original plan? In other words, using the Skylark wing, either the nose moment or the tail moment is going to be slightly longer since the chord on the Skylark wing is slightly narrower. Or once aligned, should the nose or tail moment be shortened to maintain the moment arms?
2) Should the flaps mirror the Carstens plan or the Skylark? The Skylark flaps are slightly narrower at the chord than the flaps published in the Carsten plan. Looking at a picture of the original plane (top view), it seems that the flap should more mirror the original Carstens plan, but this is a question.
3) Are there other areas of the Carstens plan that are not accurate? Based on my view of pictures I've seen of the original plane built by Bill Simons and looking at the Carsten plan, it seems that the fuselage is a bit narrower vertically in the Carstens plan than tha plane that Bill built. But that could just be an optical illusion.
Anyway, Geoff really loves this plane and wants to develop a plan that is the most accurate representation of the original possible. I told him that my experience with it is limited to the Flying Models plan and what I could glean from pictures. It would really help if folks that knew Bill and have seen the original plane could contribute some of their observations. The point here is to come up with the most accurate plan possible.
Thanks for any help.