Akula has had a long gestation - in fact, very long! In the early nineties I designed Georgia Peach (MW2373) and planned, after a successful summer's flying, to follow it up with a 'retracts' version. However, other projects put that plan on the back burner for twenty or so years, as they do. But last year I decided to revisit the idea. Electric retracts now make the exercise so much easier by eliminating wire links, bell cranks, locking up and down geometry or air tanks, tubes and valves. Suitable units with oleos are reasonably priced and quite durable. I looked at my old Georgia Peach plan and decided not to do exactly the same again. Also, I wanted to have a sturdy model of around 56" span and reuse my OS 55AX. An evening with pencil and pad and I had the outline of what became Akula 55. I admit to having been influenced by the beautiful control line models of the Ukrainian Yatsenko brothers and Akula is named in recognition. It means shark in Ukrainian/Russian.
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