Sun ‘n Fun Flyin’:
     Sun ‘n Fun was well attended this year in spite of terrible weather. We introduced the Q-200 at this fly-in. Three Q2s and two Quickies also showed up this year. Duane Swing’s Q2 won the award for “Best Composite’’

CAFE 400
     Our planning for this year’s CAFE 400 air race was to enter our Prototype N81QA with the 0-200 installed. We expected several Q2s to be entered by individual builders. As race day approached it became apparent that this was not to be. We contacted Duane Swing and he agreed to come out for the race. Duane and son Scott headed for California only to be shut down in Missouri due to IFR weather and avionics problems. Eric Shilling managed to get his FAA sign-off 4 days before race day so he was a last minute entry. One individual entered a Quickie. A common saying at the CAFE races in the past has been “If a Quickie is entered, a Quickie will win the single place, experimental category.” However after this year the saying will need to be modified to include “assuming the Quickie can find its way around the course’’ Actually, it’s surprising that more aircraft didn’t get lost as the course covered some pretty rugged territory.
     In the 2 place experimental category the winner was Gary Hertzler in a modified Varieze. It’s interesting to note that the Varieze is no longer marketed.
     The Q-200 placed 5th in 2 place experimental. The only modification for the race was installation of a LORANC which helped keep us from getting lost. It might be interesting to compare the Q-200’s performance with aircraft in the same class. We would consider these to be the Long-ezes and fixed gear Glasairs. The Q-200’s score was 29% better than the only Long-eze to finish the race and 24% better than the highest finishing fixed gear Glasair.
     Eric’s Q2 finished 8th, still ahead of the fixed gear Glasairs and the Long-eze.


T-TAIL:
     We have received very mixed reports on the T-Tail installation. If you are flying with this installed please drop us a line with your experiences. One builder actually found his stall speed went up 10 mph with the TrIhil! We are still trying to figure that one out. One conclusion we have drawn is that the T-Tail should not be installed for first flights. The T-Tail has not been flown on an aircraft with the new canard therefore we cannot recommend it for this configuration.