As I recall, Ed and Dick McCoy were pretty close friends, and Dick set up Ed's engines. And that was long before the heavy, Dykes ring Series 21's. (..which were also better than their reputation seems to suggest...)
So they were of the Red Head type, but not what you'd get from your local hobby shop. That could relate to the original Skylark being larger than then usual for a .35...
By the way, the Sterling kit "box art" was magnificent! (Pretty sure it was a Sterling kit. That implies that the wood was not what you'd hope, and the quality of die-cutting could be disappointing..) Ed flew for several years at early Tucson VSCs, and flew very well.
A great guy... we do miss him.