Hi Dick. You may want to take the following while considering that My flying buddy is Gordan Delaney, and I worked with him on the design of both planes. I may be considered prejudiced, though I'll try and give an honest opinion based on my experiences with all the Pathfinder series.
I'm not known for being a top pilot, rather my small claim to fame is as a CAD drafter. I've drawn the plans for all the Pathfinders, except the new Starfinder that Norm Whittle drew up and built.
Right from the beginning, we thought we had something good going with the design. Gordy's inate sense of design and proportions, produced a plane that flew well, and had few, if any, bad habits.
The first versions using a full body came about back in 1994. It was a good flying design that served me well. It got me to 16th place at my first and only Nat,s in 1995. I still have it but It pretty much stays hanging on the wall these days. Gordy built a slightly larger one, that flew well, but we discovered a weakness in the wing construction. It resulted in Gordy's plane exploding into parts while performing multiple tight inside loops. This weakness exists in my wall hanger, and is why it hangs there.
A couple of years ago, Gordan and I got into a conversation, talking about the full bodied versiuons, their strong and weak points. Soon it led to a few lines being sketched out, then a full design study.
Gordy and I spent many hours in front of the computer while he made SUGGESTIONS, and watched as the design came to life. I used the shouted suggestions, for emphasis. believe me they were not suggestions......
As the design became more focused, we then worked on the esthetics. I think the result is a greaat plane.
The L.E. actually stands for Last Edition. It was supposed to be the last Pathfinder in the series. Then came the twin, anda full bodied version of the profile itself.
Well, as they say, the proof is in the flying. We've only taken them to a few contsets, but they performed well. In my opinion, the L.E. will, when trimmed out, and powered right give you excellent performance, and won't leave you wishing for a better flying plane. My opinion of coarse, but others who have flown the planes seem to feel similarly.
A lot depends upon what you want, and the level you want to fly at. The profile is a great flying plane, but is still a profile. When compared to the full bodied L.E., the differences in performance are noticable, and possitive.
In the end, top pilots can fly nearly any plane to the winners circle, but for those lessor gifted, such as myself, I can't have a design that isn't easy to fly well.
I hope others will post their findings, and experiences, but this is my own experiences, though somewhat jaded perhaps.
Topic: Pathfinder LE vs Pathfinder MkII Profile (Read 1531 times)