Unfortunately, I have the largest, most complex territory of the 22 people within my company that share my title. It encompasses West Texas and most of New Mexico. Double track and all, it encompasses about 3,000 miles of railroad. Luckily that is shrinking. I am losing most of New Mexico and El Paso. That being said, I expect to have time to build some this winter. I have a large tower project to complete prior to turning over my favorite, and yet most hated, portion of my territory to a new guy...(poor sap).

So, on to projects. I have a Houston Hawk almost finished, (rebuilt from the blue one I was flying in Houston). I have a Super-V fuselage and a Houston Hawk rib/web set. Looks like those will be married up for a V-Hawk with a flat center section and ailerons, and I'm retaining the spoilers. I have a Legionair 132 and a Grand Esprit. I have a Soarcraft Libelle kit with no ribs. I have a PIK 20 fuselage with plans and canopy.

And to top it all off, I have 2 new designs done that I am jumping up and down about. Journey is a slightly larger, stronger version of the Yardbird. It has a slightly longer wing with increased area and chord. I'll probably use one of Mike Lachowski's Supra fuselages with this one. Then there's El Jefe, (the Boss in Espanol), is done in concept. This is a true builder's model. I will be doing the forward fuselage somewhat like Bob Dodgson's Windsong, but tapering and rounding down so a boom can be plugged on. That will allow for airfoil changes without totally retooling the thing. The airfoil is proprietary, and not something from Drela or Selig... (yes, I can do math)... Jefe will be quite large, have a wide speed range, and be light and very strong. It will be very easy to ballast and will have a 3-piece wing. It will NOT be easy to build, nor will the design/airfoil be available to anyone... (sorry)...

Now somewhere in there is a possible promotion and move. Possibilities are Ft. Worth, Albuquerque, Amarillo, and Denver. And then again, I may be right here until I retire and move to Central Texas or Southern Colorado... But right now, I just want some time to build and fly some!

Thanks for looking...

JW

Hi Jack, I would like to ask some questions about the yardbird before I pick it to build.

Most importantly is it fully winch launchable?

If yes, I will have more.

Thanks, Keith mechanical engineer, dad, builder, yada, yada