 1 1982 Grovalier Grovalier is a combination of the words groveller (inside joke) and cavalier. The Plane has a foam wing, is powered by an ST46 and weighs 51 oz. A young Brian Eather and Grant Wylie stand in the background at the 1983/84 Nationals in Sydney. |
 2 1982 Grovalier I also fly this plane in the 1982/83 Nationals at Warwick Queensland. I'm at KMFC with Dennis Percival. |
 3 1983 Chimera The Chimera is a slightly larger plane than the Grovalier. It is powered by an ST46, has foam wing and tail, and weighs 51 ozs. This is the first of the flamboyant colour schemes. |
 4 1984 Kareela I build the Kareela for the 1984 World Championships in the USA which I attend with Brian Eather. Prior to the championships, Brian and I go to a competition in Flushing Meadows, New York City where this photo is taken. |
 5 1984 Flushing Meadows NYC Brian's plane is powered by an ST46. |
 6 1984 Kareela At the contest I meet Bob Geiseke and park my plane next to his - an original Geiseke Nobler. |
 7 1984 Kareela at the World Championships The 1984 World Championships were held in Chicopee, Massachusetts. The plane weighs in at an official 54¼ oz and is powered by an ST60. It has one of Brian Eather's first propellers, hand carved out of wood. |
 8 1984 Kareela at the World Championships Photo by Claus Maikis from Germany who I met for the first time at the championships. |
 9 1984 - Kareela at the World Championships A Boston newspaper printed an article about the World Championships and I was lucky enough to get my picture in it. |
 10 1984 - World Championships When the event is over, we rent a car and drive from Boston to San Diego California. Brian's and my model boxes are on top. |
 11 1985 Transfer to the USA I transfer to the USA for three years for work and to continue my flying experiences. I take Kareela and Chimera with me. |
 12 1985 Transfer to the USA The model box comes in handy again. |
 13 1985 Transfer to the USA Kareela is all I have to fly for my first year-and-a-bit in the USA. This is at a local contest at Whittier Narrows in Los Angeles. |
 14 1986 US Nationals at Lake Charles Louisiana Brian and Val Eather join us for a visit to the US Nationals - our first. Brian's plane is visible on the floor and Kareela I is there somewhere. |
 15 1986 US Nationals at Lake Charles Louisiana Brian's plane at concourse judging. I think this is the first plane to carry the Firecracker name. |
 16 1986 US Nationals at Lake Charles Louisiana Jenni was a highly acclaimed judge and judged at three US Nationals. |
 17 1986 US Nationals at Lake Charles Louisiana Bob Whitely made it to the final five and finished up in second place behind Ted Fancher. |
 18 1986 Introducing Kareela II Kareela II is the first of two planes that I build in the USA. Here it hangs on the wall of our garage. The two yellow planes remained in the USA and the original Kareela still exists. |
 19 1986 Kareela II It is similar to the original Kareela but it has a cowl and a removeable tank. I had cut the foam wing cores in Australia before leaving and took them with me. |
 20 1987 Kareela II at the US Nationals I take the Kareela II to the US Nationals in Lincoln Nebraska. |
 21 1987 Kareela II at the US Nationals Here Kareela II is surrounded by famous planes. Paul Walker's Bad News to my right, Kaz Minato's Blue Max to the left, Bob Baron's Avanti in the foreground. In the far left is Bob Whitely's Laser and Ted Fancher's Citation 5 |
 22 1987 Kareela II at the US Nationals Kareela II has the bed while Jenni sleeps on the floor. |
 23 Late 1987 Kareela III Kareela III under construction in San Diego USA. I cut the foam cores at home in San Diego using my car's battery as a heat source. |
 24 Late 1987 Kareela III This plane is a big departure from the two earlier Kareelas. This has a much bigger wing designed by Bob Whitely and reflects current American thinking. Even though the plane is considerably heavier, it flies much better. |
 25 Early 1988 Bob Palmer I am on my way to a contest in Clovis California and Ted Fancher asks me to call in and collect one of Bob Palmer's Thunderbirds. Ted is going to transport the plane to an air museum on the east coast. I remember Bob Palmer as a gentleman and a true champion - on or off the flying field. |
 26 Early 1988 Bob Palmer At Bob's house I pose my brand new, never flown Kareela III next to his hoping some of his magic will rub off. When we leave and continue travelling north, Kaz Minato says over the CB radio that he has met a legend. He said that as a youngster learning to fly stunt in Japan, it was his ambition to, one day, meet Bob Palmer and George Aldrich. Now he wanted to meet George. |
 27 Early 1988 Kareela III At Clovis, Bob Whitely flew it once and says "Do this, this and this." I do as I am told and the plane flies fine after that. |
 28 Early 1988 Kareela III I used to drive up to Mile Square Park in LA every weekend to fly with Bob Whitely. During one flight, the plane suddenly feels funny so I don't attempt any more manoeuvres. After a few minutes the motor quits and I land. Then I see that the elevators have disconnected from the flaps. Look at the angle of the flaps compared with the elevators. Lucky. |
 29 1988 Travelling to the US Nationals from San Diego to Virginia Beach We were joined once again by Brian and Val Eather. The boys drive in the old Civic and the ladies have the new one. Brian's plane can be seen in the back of Jenni's car and Bob Whitely's LA Heat is transported on the top. My plane is underneath Brian's plane as we need room to take Cheryl Eather with us in the old car. |
 30 1988 Kareela III at the US Nationals The concourse judging at the 1988 US Nationals. Kareela III is at the front of the RH row. |
 31 1988 Kareela III at the US Nationals The Nationals is held at Virginia Beach Virginia. Kareela II is powered by an ST60 on muffler. |
 32 1988 at the US Nationals Art Adamisin holds court in our motel room at Virginia Beach. Kaz Minato is on the left. The hat belongs to Bob Whitely and he seems to be the receiving "compliments" from Art. |
 33 1988 returning from the US Nationals We stop at Elvis Presley's Gracelands on our way back to San Diego. |
 34 Leaving the US and returning to Australia Three years fly by and we are to return to Australia. We have a small celebration at Bob Whitely's house with a group of the LA modellers. John Poynter made the cake. |
 35 Late 1988 Kareela III A couple of months after returning to Australia, I'm competing in the Amberly Queensland Nationals. I signal and Dennis Percival is ready to launch my plane. |
 36 Late 1989 Kareela III 1989 was the year our house was built so there is nowhere to build a new model. A week before we are to go to the Nationals in Bendigo Victoria, I crash it. |
 37 Late 1989 Kareela III I work all week and get it back together. We are joined by Art Adamisin who comes to Australia for the 1989 Nationals. Art takes a movie of the repaired plane. |
 38 Late 1989 Kareela III at the Australian Nationals in Bendigo After the repairs, it is too heavy for the tuned pipe so I change it back to a standard ST60 configuration. Notice the fancy scroll is missing from the tailplane and "San Diego" is missing from the fin. Today, this plane is in the roof of our house. I never fly it but I don't want to part with it either. |
 39 Late 1989 Kareela II And what happened to Kareela II? I'd brought that back to Australia with me the year before and sold it to John MacIntyre. While flying during practice at Bendigo, a bird attacks and destroys the plane. Sadly, the bird lived. |
 40 2006 at the VSC Tucson I had left the Kareela in the USA in 1988. To my surprise, nearly 20 years later, it turned up in Bill Heyworth's garage in Tucson. The plane was then 23 years old. |
 41 2006 at the VSC Tucson It had been crashed a few times over the years but most of it was in pretty reasonable condition. The plane hangs in Bill Heyworth's garage to this day. |
