big c
Dick Sarpolus
Orville and Wilbur Wright started it all with an aircraft layout that today we call a canard configuration — the horizontal stabilizer/elevator mounted in front of the wing. Despite the Wright brothers' success, aeronautical designers quickly found that the conventional planform, with the wing in front and the vertical and horizontal stabilizers in the rear, is more practical, easier to build, and generally better performing.
Throughout the years, canard aircraft have attracted attention for brief periods, but a look through any aircraft magazine — full-scale or aeromodeling — shows there are few canard designs in use.
Some have claimed that canard aircraft are extremely safe because they can't stall or spin. A more accurate statement is that a canard can be designed so it does not stall or spin. Aircraft design is all about compromises, especially in the model aircraft world.
I wouldn't want an RC airplane that wasn't aerobatic. The RC canards I've built are aerobatic — loops, rolls, and inverted flight are all easily done. They will stall and spin, but recovery can be tricky, so I try to avoid spins. I like different aircraft as long as they are easy to build, reasonably practical, and capable of enough aerobatics to keep me happy.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
