Stanley Ogozalek / 11 Feb 2001

In regards to your question about 'One Shot Tipplers'..........Jack
Prescott, in of his many letters to me, went on to say that the 'old timers'
in the Tippler sport in the UK many years ago would train a kit with one
specific contest in mind. I would think that it would have been the Long Day
fly or maybe the fly just before it. Now, what was done with that kit
afterwards.......well you can use your imagination for that. I'll have to
ask Jack about that once again. I'm sure that he can recollect and pass the
info'
on to us here.

There is something here to stop and think about.......and it is........a
Contest Kit of Tipplers flying time, meaning the length in months. In the
UK, and elsewhere I suppose, old birds are flown from March until June 20th
which is Long Day. Now, they have contests about once a month as compared to
us who have them every two weeks. After the Long day fly, the old birds are
put away until next year! If that same kit is used at all! Then again, maybe
one or two members of the kit may be kept and used the following year. Don't
forget that there will be young birds coming up that may show tremendous
promise in their flying and staying abilities and so would replace some of
the old birds. And another question............just how many tipplers would
one keep over for the next year? Unless the fancier is retired, he will have
his hands full if he were to try and fly more than two kits! Even two kits
is a lot to work with if you are employed.

The Tipplers that we have here in the USA and in Canada are of a high
caliber and ten hours is nothing for them. If the weather is conducive to
long time flying and the flyer knows how to manage the tipplers, he can fly
the kit for ten hours every 4th or 5th day. How long this can go on, I
cannot say for certain. Be assured that these birds are not just 'One Shot
Tipplers'.

Marathon times, we're talking about.........from at least 1/2 hour or more
before sunrise to 1/2 hour after sunset on Long Day here in NJ is 16 hours.

Now, how many times can and will a kit do 16 hours? They can only be
exploited just so many times before they begin to fail. They are not
machines, we must remember!

Then again, some kits of tipplers may fly very well as young birds and then
fall flat as old birds. Nothing is guaranteed in this game of ours, you'll
soon learn that to be true.

Submitted by Stanley Ogozalek on 11 Feb 2001