The following is a letter that I sent to PTG. It should answer several quetsion about some Mackey airplanes.
"Phil,
The discussion about your Lark build, rekindled my curiosity about the turtle deck vs. the open cockpit.
I talked to Charles Mackey last night. He said that he drew the plans with the T'deck because several people asked him for the plans with a T'deck. This WAS NOT due to any request from M.A.N.
He never made a plan with the open cockpit, and he personally never made a Lark with the T'deck. He sent me pictures taken at the 1958 Nats. He said that this should show enough to build the Lark as his original. I know that Robin Sizemore requires backup plans available for approval at VSC, but this might be an exception. It might also be possible that Robin would accept an attachment for the original drawing showing the open cockpit. You will have talk to Robin.
Since the wings on other Mackey airplanes look like they have a wing like the Lark, Charles also clarified that.
The Lark and the Crusader have the same wing. The Carousel wing is basically the same except the airfoil is a little thinner. He felt that that was necessary for the Carousel.
I also asked him about the various bellcrank locations on his boomers. The Crusader had the crank in the outboard boom, the Carousel had the crank in the inboard boom.
Charles said that the outboard location in the Crusader was simply to eliminate tip weight. He really has no other preference.
Charles gave me permission to send the Lark pictures to you, and to place then on the forums.
Tom N"