Man, look at the lack of whitecaps or even wind lines in the water in Hutch's last three photos...
Sorry to all that missed Sunday....

Olen,

Sure wish I'd been there to see your flight! As you know by my Komet flights, I really enjoy the PSS thing but, what you flew took way more "guts to throw it off" than what I did! WOW ….. you just didn't have a lot of information to go on about how it would fly or not and, you still flew it.

And looks like it flew quite well. Nice airplane and nice flying!

Would you post up what it was like to fly it?

Jim

Was that the Learjet that Eric M built?

Sad to say but Olen is not present here on RC Groups. The lear was purchased by Olen at the local hobby shop who acquired it from an estate sale in Hailey Idaho about this time last year. It did seem to fly well in the heavier winds we had on Sunday but it also felt like it only had one speed and it was slow. No bad habits though and the stalls were pretty much straight forward and the landing was nice and predictable.

I'll have to do a little digging to see if it was the one built by Eric. Eric brought that model with us to Soar Utah in 2004 and never flew it. Sadly, he passed away in 2005 in a plane accident.

This is Olen. Would like to join. How do I do that? Do I need a handle like MagicOlen? The Lear Jet has a 69" wingspan, is 67" long, and weights 6.7 pounds with all the gear and battery installed. I would like to know if it is the one that Eric M built if you can find out. It was a dream to fly, did loops and rolls, and held inverted quite well. Maiden flights are always a little scary, but there comes a time to fly it or go home. As Aaron said, it was built more for show that it was for speed. I really enjoyed all the flying and thanks to all those that made Slopefest 2018 happen.

Ah Ha... now that it posted it looks like the Hobby King user name is my handle. Can I change it?

With a whoppin two posts under your belt you may as well just start a new one Olen

That's Eric's Lear, I have no doubt. I met Eric at the 2004 6-pack. He brought the plane, but didn't fly it for lack of wind.
Here is a photo I took of Eric's model at the 2004 6-pack. The secend shot is the model recently flown at Blanco.

It's the same airplane, for sure.

I'd sure like to know all the details about how it passed through the hands of several owners between then and now. It's awesome to know that it's still flying, and still looking great! I'd like to think that Eric watches with pride every time someone flies it.

It occurs to me that Eric's plane possibly never flew before this years Slope Fest. I believe Eric passed away without ever flying it. I can remember Jack Cooper bringing the model to the next 6-pack (2006 probably?) after Eric died. If I recall correctly, Jack presented the model, at the six pack, to some family members of Eric's who had arranged to meet Jack there. That was the last I ever heard of this model until now. Maybe Olen can tell us if the model looked like it ever flew before he found it in a hobby shop somewhere.

Brian, from the looks of the bottom, it either has new paint, was always hand caught, or it has never flown since there were no scratches or scuffs on the bottom.

It's not new paint, would be my guess. That paint is too identical to the original paint. You would think that if it were repainted, it would probably be different.

I am really starting to think that Eric's plane finally flew.. 14 tears after the model was finished, and 13 years after the builder tragically passed away.

That's pretty amazing. I think I will raise a glass in Eric's memory, with a nod of thanks to Olen for finding this model and allowing us all to see it fly.

I truly think Sunday the 12th was the first time this Lear ever flew. The inside was empty when I received it. There were no brackets to mount the battery or the receiver. I had to mount the battery way to the rear to balance the plane. There were absolutely no scratches but there are still no scratches - the landing site at Blanco is so forgiving. I also will raise a glass in Eric's memory. Wish I had met the man.

I went back and pulled out some old Soar Utah pictures. I remember talking to Eric, I was just getting hooked on Scale PSS at the time.

Wished I'd taken a better pic of him putting plane together.

It is my understanding Pete was strongly successful with FPS.

Are there any photos or film to present/share?