• amigo III

• approximately in 1962 when as i was a schoolboy i produced several free flight models (the largest with a span of about 2 meters) made from strips of balsa and covered with paper. for quite a long time i found no time for this hobby. in 1991 i renewed this hobby. my first model was an aero star (sorry no pic available). after many lonesome tries to start only a few flights succeeded, sometimes even without a crash; after a lot of lengthy repair work i attended a flightschool in "greifenburg" (carinthia) and (although we only flew motorized airfishs´ there) on a coach´s recommendation i bought an amigo III. as it was not motorized and also for lack of courage, it was not flown for a long time, althought it was built and tested. finally i added an OS10 (1.76cm³) essay engine and subsequently i just flew it by myself for a while.
  

• trainer40

• 1996 I joined the model-flight club "aero gols". on this occasion my wive gave me a trainer40, which I almost never flew because of the unreliable MAGNUM engine (3.5cm³).
  

• delfin epoxy

• at the club i saw beautiful flights performed by colleagues with electrically powered sailing models. after short consideration i also purchased the plane delfin epoxi, equipped it with 8 cells and a gear motor PLANETA power 500. due to the unsatisfactory building specifications (no adjustment angle difference and no emphasis indicated) the model was, although beautiful, unfortunately practically unflyable. after i finally have accepted this fact, i flew my beloved amigo too fast, which it answered by a broken wing in approx. 200m height.

  so, as i´m a fan of cosy flying, i bought an amigo III again.
  

• vega termik

• shortly after this a half built vega termik; with a span of 2400mm was given to me. i built the left-over electric drive into this bird. after the first test flights it was clear that 8 cells are too weak for it and therefore i put 10 cells in. since then it has flown superbly! just as beautifully and easily as the amigo, just more calmly, even quieter and longer. i could enjoy these two models in autumn ´98 and 2000, also on the occasion of sailing vacations near kitzbuehel (tyrol) in the most beautiful countryside under perfect weather conditions with a lot of cumuli and also quite violent winds from time to time. the two birds were stripped of all motors and batteries so that they could be pure gliders with less weight. in the previous year i once again overdid the speed (the light-weight wings built according to the rib method are not made to resist that!) and as a consequence both of my models crashed in each case from well over 100m height into the ground, looking like a pair of hands clapping. i assembled the two wrecks again in the remaining half-year.
  

• piper j-3 cup

• this model of a < href="http://www.iflyherr.com/">piper j-3 cup was built in 2000. it has span of 900mm. and was structured from a kit delivered by herr engeneering corp. it is built from all lasercut balswaood, and is covered with lightest paper. the flight-ready model has a weight of 464g. flight times beyond 7mins can be achieved.
  in the meantime it has unfortunately gone the way that all model flyers go.     RIP
  

• candy acro e

• in 2001 i added the model candy acro e which has a span of 1500mm and is equipped with ailerons to my collection. the motoring used allows up to four gentle ascends to a height, that is sufficiently for searching for thermal zones. the total take off weight is around 590grams! unfortunately the wings are made indivisible, fortunately the main spar is a carbon pipe.
  

• peppo

• also in 2001 i bought this model, a simprop peppo. it has a span of 1200mm and is propelled by a speed 400. the model rises steep at an angle of at least 30degrees and is unbelievable fast. nobody, who doesn´t know it believes that it is driven by an ordinary 400 motor. the wings are made one piece in styro-balsa construction and incorporate ailerons. the weight is around 610grams.
  unfortunately destroyed in a freshly plowed field in 2002. honours to it.    RIP
  

• chubby lady

• to balance the speed of peppo, i purchased the slow-flyer chubby lady. this plane is constructed from depron (no styro!) solely. with the 300 motor gentle flights with a duration around 8 mins are possible. unfortunately the plane is not able to start from grass, and it is only flyable with no wind (ok! also possible in calm conditions). this is not a surprise, if you have in mind, that the weight of the whole thing is a mere 310 grams. the span is 950mm,
  

• fokker dr1

• in 2002 another slowflyer. a simprop dr1 was given to me. this small airplane is built also solely from depron. the span is 715mm, the flight-ready weight is around 300g. this plene is also flyable in very calm wind conditions only. i altered the camouflage because the common richthofen-red seems boring to me. a pilot (including the tie, of course) was placed into the cockpit. (this was made by placing a piece of heat-shrink-sleeve on a positive, the its inner-side was covered with glass-composite, after curing the shrink-sleeve was thrown away and the piece coloured with acryllics)
  

• wildthing

• as a new challenge i bought a slope-sorer. it's a wildthing from braeckmann (originally from SAS).the model is built completely out of epp (expanded polypropylene). it has a span of 1170 mm and weights about 750 g. it flies like a jet (if there is sufficient wind of course) and is virtually indestructible. because i fly it in really strong winds too it has had a few very rough ground contacts. if other planes made of gfk, cfk or wood had experienced this sort of crash the remnants would only have been good for the garbage bin. the only damage to this plane was a ruined servo. after purchasing this model i spend most of my flying-time on the slope.
  

• light cat

• because you can fly the wildthing in medium to strong winds only i bought a light cat from effektmodell at the end of 2002. it has a span of 2000 mm and weighs a mere 180 g when it is ready to fly. this model is also made out of indestructible epp and can be flown in winds of up to 2 bft.
  

• chance vought
  f4u1 corsair

• for the change and as a project for the winter 02 - 03 i built a "scale" slowflyer. the F4U-1A of USAF "BIG HOG" flew in december 1943 under cdr tommy blackburn in the pacific theatre of operations. the model from flying styro kit at a scale of 1:20 is made of depron, has a span of 630 mm and a ready-to-fly weight of approximately 400 g. deviating from building instructions i incorporated a cfk-mainspar in the one-piece removable wings and the ailerons are deflected using the new rds (rotary driving system). the cockpit is fully equipped (including the seat- belts, ...) and all visible exterior details as antennas, pitot-tube, exhausts, air-intakes,… are reproduced. the whole model was glassed with the lightest glass i could obtain. the paint work was done throughout with a mix of airbrush and brush work using acrylic paint. decals are used solely for the kill-markings (3 japanese planes). because of the fact taht the undercarriage (not retractable) induces too much drag it is used solely for exhibition purpose on the ground. in flying condition it is replaced by auxiliary tank dummes, which are used as landing-skis. it flies only with zero wind and then not even very well because it's motor is so weak! some day i should make a change to an s400, perhaps?
  

• herring gull (larus argentatus)

• i also built this slope-soaring model in the winter 02 - 03. it came from a kit purchased from birdworks :( down. the body is made out of gfk and the wings of styro-balsa. the span is 1040 mm and the weight of the plane is about 500 g. the surface of the wings was covered with light paper and afterwards painted with a brush using acrylic paints. this rare bird flies only in strong winds (more like hurricanes). i probably made it too heavy.
  

• spitfire

• this epp-pss plane i purchased and built in 2003. the model comes from patton aircraft (down), it has a span of 1210mm and a flight-ready weight of approx. 2000g. this makes it clear that the model can be flown exclusively under stormy conditions. paintwork has been done using acryllics over a textile iron-on-foil (oratex). no decals were used. the camouflage represents a spitfire mkIV c ´DU-L´of No.312 (czech) squadron immediatela after d-day (06.06.1944).
  a crappy flyer!
  

• m60

• in 2004 i felt speedy. caused by this i purchased this epp-pss bullet and built it. it comes from north country flying machines, it's span is 1520mm and it has a flight-ready-weight of approx. 2000g (additionally it may be ballasted with another 1000grams). it is really fast and flyable from fair winds on, even better if it's ballasted under stormy conditions! paintwork with acryllics over textile iron-on-foil (oratex). underside with flame-decor.
  

• u2

• in 2006 i felt again the need for something quick. i purchased an u2-dragonlady von Tuff Planes LLC. this epp bung-vulture has a span of 1550mm (~61") and a weight of 1025g. this plane is also a quicker one and accordingly it needs reasonably strong winds, better an average storm :) it is covered with dark-blue oratex, all decorations are also cut from oratex. the simulated glassing of the cockpit is made from a glued on (3M77) plastic film usually used to wrap gifts.
  the wire seen hanging off near the cockpit is a charger-cable and on-off-switch. "remove before flight!"
  

• jart

• after building a couple of models out of kits i wanted to try to build an epp-plane from a free plan. it was a comparably tedious task, but at the end i finished. my jart has a span of 1480mm (~58") and a weight of 980g. it is covered with oratex, again all the letterings and decorations are produced using this material, the simulated glassing of the cockpit is made from a glued on (3M77) plastic film usually used to wrap gifts. not flown yet.
  the wire seen hanging off near the cockpit is a charger-cable and on-off-switch. "remove before flight!"
  

• in the near future, new airplanes here
  

......ban billy, the guy who is responsible for all of our crashes......
.....if linux is making it into private computers, if linux is selfinstalling, let´s give it a try....