Bob had a number of Lasers based on Gid Atkinson's Laser 200. The one that he took to the Aus Nats was his own design and was Monokote covered I think. I used the box for a while to ship models back and forth from St. Louis to Los Angeles a few times in the 90's when TWA had L-1011's and the bulk cargo doors were big enough, come to think of it, it would fit in a 727 too. It was a huge box!
Anyway, the Showtime Laser was slimmer and more of a stunt ship than the scale like Lasers before. He painted Showtime with a different scheme and won the '89 Arlie Prezler Prop for best finish. He was in the top ten but missed the fly-off. The model made the fly-off in 1992 and was fourth. It still flies and I flew it a couple of years ago at Tucson. It's very heavy, probably weighs 80 oz, but flies very well once you get on to it's over turning the corners (I wanted to try a hard point handle on it but didn't have one at the time).
I cannot remember which model the Aus Laser was, but it may have been the model that he destroyed flying in a 30 mph wind at Eloy, AZ around spring 1988. I had one of his old X45 Derringers and refused to fly in the conditions. He and Bart were in contention and Whitely forgot to signal (remember those days?) because his hat flew off (IMO, I kind of recall the hat being Aussie). He completed a decent flight and was marginally ahead of Bart. Bart refused to fly another flight but the CD said Whitely's flight wasn't official because of the signal. Bob flew again and the wind went from 20 to 30 mph. The model had insufficient horn strength and during the outsides it crashed and blew into a million sticks, the wind carrying off the wreckage like it was never there, poof. The engine flew down the ramp hitting Kaz in the ankle.
Chris...
Topic: Showtime laser - BOB WHITELY (Read 1852 times)
