Rest in peace.
Elwyn,
A great photograph that brings back many memories. I met Al at the Olathe 1968 Nats which was his first Nats. But that is another story. That first encounter was the beginning of a long friendship.
That photo you have shows Al is launching one of his Bearcats. There was another Bearcat he had at the 2000 VSC which I think is the only one he attended. That Bearcat was white with the dark blue diving eagle on the side of the fuselage (His second painted with this scheme). He wanted me to fly it. I am not anxious to fly another person's airplane and was not very enthused to fly that one as it was brand new. He kept insisting, so I relented and flew it that one time. It was a real experience. ((I have flown some other of his airplanes including that Cavalier Mustang he had at the 68 Olathe Nats and the Mustang he had at the 78 World Championships, he placed 2nd, when I accompanied him there in Woodvale, England (another story)). I will always remember that Tucson flight. When you first fly a semi scale Bearcat like Al's design, you get the impression there is a short stubby creation out there that sort of resembles a beer barrel. We all know that beer barrels do not fly. We all also know that not only do they not fly but they cannot do a loop. But that thing flew, so I tried to do a loop, and it did. A couple more practice loops, then I tried a square. WOW! I try to be safe on the pullout of a square with someone else's model. But this thing turned to level flight about 10 feet higher than I thought it would. Then some respectable (at least for me) square horizontal eights. Except for OTS, I seldom build a design from someone else. However, a year or so later, I had my own Bearcat from the magazine plans with a Hunt lost foam wing which resulted in more than 10 years flying the thing with 1,000+ flights.
This is one of many stories I have with AL.
We are loosing too many or our own. Al - I miss you and will never forget.
Keith