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As a builder, you can work with Robert on certain design parameters, but sometimes the past is still very much in the present. I have a full size Sopwith Camel replica with a Rotec radial and a modified airfoil to be a bit more easy on the break than the original. That said, owing to the Camel's designed in weight concentration , she is still a handful to fly and really likes to change direction. There is no large torque effect from a rotary engine, but a lot of the Camel's original personality is still there. And to some degree, part of the original personality may always be there in many light wing loaded WW1 replicas.
What fun.
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/c.../123crop-1.jpg
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...and one has to ask if it's a Robert Baslee spec (to original plans) build or a modification. Everyone changes something, even myself who has been pretty slavish in following the drawings to the letter!
The largest complaint is the airfoil, which is right on the NACA Cub airfoil, making for a docile type of plane.
One of the downfalls with the Airdrome planes is one of syntax. They're not replicas - they're more like representations of WWI aircraft. My Nieuport closely resembles a Nieuport 11 in appearance and will have some of the same habits (no vertical stab! Flying with a free flying rudder is going to be interesting to learn), but that's about it.
The construction techniques, materials, engine (inline versus rotary), weight, and operating limitations are all different.