New to me

[TLyttle]

Just got a wonderful package from Nigel in the UK which, along with plans for the Mercury Matador, included a couple of others which I had not seen before. One was the Magna, a 38" span ff model for up to .75 (same class as the Deacon, let's say) and the Magpie (in French, no less!), a 20" span beginners towliner. The towliners didn't get a lot of play over here in the Colonies, so this is a new experience for me.

Anyone remember these, or have any experience with them?

(Many thanks Nigel, getting the Matador plan marks the end of a 3-year hunt!)

[Applehoney]

Magna is a very pleasant little sport model of 'traditional style' - with a Dart or Mills it's a nice airplane to fly.

The Magpie's cute but, at 20", it's about the worst size of glider one could aim at a beginner .. little glide performance and it wouldn't tow very well. It would probably do more to discourage a novice!

[TLyttle]

Traditional: THAT'S the word I was looking for... It sure is that, alright.

Interesting analysis of the Magpie as well; I have a couple of Veron plans for towliners around the same size, but with even less area. The only thing about this was the imagination of the builders of the time; I remember staring at the bundle of sticks in a kit, imagining a Spitfire sweeping the sky, but nowadays the kids seem to have no such imagination. I DO remember my occasional success when I was actually looking at the bottom of a model in the air, and absorbing every second of this wonderful miracle...