DOC - That's quite right. It was supposed to be fast, and at only about 150 in2, it'd be incredibly fast with todays .15 combat engines! I think the vertical c.g. is way too high for "precision" work, but it's still quite an appealing little profile job.
George- I don't know that double taper would necessarily hurt it, and I would have expected a Paul DeGatto model to fly well. However, despite being dimensionally thinner, the tip is actually a higher % thickness, maybe too thick for low Reynolds numbers. Maybe it flew best fast; things might be a bit subtle to analyze, except by just flying it. Tank space is a problem. It's originally shown above the wing and angled upward toward the rear, with the pickup quite a bit above the venturi. Maybe this isn't a combat problem, but it might make runs pretty uneven. I have no experience, since I never flew it. The McCoy just coughed up burning fuel twice. After I patched and repainted it, I never rebuilt the nose for a better engine. So it survived my talents, as they were. Ha!
Anyway, I agree; it's cool.