Amen, Mr. Flesner.
Sent from Windows Mail From: Flesner via KRnet Sent: Wednesday, November 25, 2020 3:54 PM To: Pete Klapp via KRnet Cc: Flesner I received my "on-line" copy of Sport Aviation today and briefly read part of an article titled "Revolutionary Homebuilts". I was disappointed to again find the KR a forgotten fact of history. I immediately posted a letter to the editor as I have copied below. Larry Flesner To the Editor, Glancing through the latest on-line issue of Sport Aviation I stopped to read a portion of the "Landmark Homebuilts" article. I soon realized that the lowly KR series was again the forgotten stepchild in homebuilt aviation. On page 81 Burt Rutan is credited with "revolutionary thinking" when using surfboard technology of "foam and fiberglass construction". While Mr. Rutan is probably one of the most "revolutionary designers" in the homebuilt arena, he was not the first to use "foam and fiberglass construction". It seems to be a forgotten fact of history that Ken Rand arrived at Oshkosh in 1972 with the KR 1 and two years later with the KR2, both using foam and fiberglass construction. They both predated the VariEze, the KR1 by nearly 3 years. Mr. Rutan didn't introduce composite construction to the homebuilt community as stated in the article, Ken Rand and Stu Robinson did with the KR design. I seem to recall that the Lancair series aircraft were designed by an early KR2 builder. I guess it's not too far out of line to say that everything "plastic" flying today is simply a branch of the KR family tree. It would be nice if Sport Aviation could do an article on the KR aircraft and get with the First Lady of the KR community, Jeanette Rand to capture the history of the design before it is lost. Larry Flesner EAA member 356226 KR builder and flyer _______________________________________________ Search the KRnet Archives at https://www.mail-archive.com/krnet@list.krnet.org/. Please see LIST RULES and KRnet info at http://www.krnet.org/info.html. see http://list.krnet.org/mailman/listinfo/krnet_list.krnet.org to change options. To UNsubscribe from KRnet, send a message to krnet-le...@list.krnet.org _______________________________________________ Search the KRnet Archives at https://www.mail-archive.com/krnet@list.krnet.org/. Please see LIST RULES and KRnet info at http://www.krnet.org/info.html. see http://list.krnet.org/mailman/listinfo/krnet_list.krnet.org to change options. To UNsubscribe from KRnet, send a message to krnet-le...@list.krnet.org
