Great stories Mike.

There is no greater gentleman in soaring (or aviation) than Rudy Opitz. I'm proud to have had the opportunity to know and fly with him during his life..

There's also Albion Bowers' work at NASA Armstrong on the Prandtl wing which has a lift distribution that appears to eliminate adverse yaw, and therefore (some of) the need for vertical stabilizers. Obviously Prandtl's ideas go way back to the early days of flight along with the above-described flying wing concepts. Not sure about the implications for crosswind landings and other practical concerns but it appears to work pretty well.

https://www.nasa.gov/centers/armstro...-106-AFRC.html

Andy Blackburn