Carl Goldberg Extra 300, Hangar9 Cap 232, Great Planes Giles 202

When I got back from University and started working to pay back the loan, one of the first things I bought was an Extra 300 model that a club member was selling, with an OS 1.20 FS.

I had first flown one of these the previous summer for another member and I really liked how it flew.  Back then, 3D flying was only just starting and wasn't really a thing yet.  So, with this model, I did alot of inverted flight and outside maneuvers as well as learning rolling circles and knife-edge circuits.  I developed one maneuver that freaked people out that you don't see much.  In the middle of a turn from base onto final, at low altitude and with some speed, I would roll 180 degrees and continue the turn inverted, followed by a low inverted pass.  That was my favorite.  Everybody thinks the airplane is going to crash!

The 1.20 was eventually exchanged for the 0.90 in the Corsair and both airplanes were then more "scale like" in their vertical performance.  The Corsair was better, while the Extra was worse ( the real airplane doesn't have unlimited vertical ).

My dad crashed the Extra one day and decided to replace it with the Hangar 9 Cap 232, designed by Dave Patrick ( who also designed the Goldberg Extra 300 ), powered by a Zenoah G-23.

It weighed about 14 lbs and was decidedly underpowered.  Well, one day while dad was flying it, the battery became disconnected in a loop and the plane crashed, bending the crankshaft!  A club member straightened it at which point it was installed into a Hangar 9 PT-19.  So, I had no aerobatic airplane.

I had previously test flown a Midwest Giles 202 ( designed by Mike McConville ) for a club member and it was the most "true" airplane I had ever flown.  I loved it.

Great Planes had an ARF version and I decided to go with that.

I installed the Saito 1.80 and flew it for about two months before suffering an engine exhaust fire and then problems with the cowl fasteners.  Other problems with the Saito included the muffler pressure nipple coming loose and a broken valve spring ( right after takeoff! I was lucky to get the airplane back ).  It didn't fly as well as the Midwest version.  By this time, everybody was flying these scale aerobatic types and 3D style flying was taking over.  I decided to sell the Giles along with the engine ( the valve spring was replaced ) and a new replacement cowl.