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From 3 years ago, another scratch: The unforgettable image of John Cleese in the movie theater howling: "-Albatross!!!! Albatross!". And this model belongs to the same species! I think that one of the modelers' Grails is a plane that he/she likes, that has pleasant lines, attractive colors, and can be built without having to enter a religious order or a mental institution. Such plane is for me this month the Albatros L.72. Used as a newspaper delivery plane (dropped the stack of newspapers in flight on the possibly unsuspected occasional pedestrians) in three different versions (predictably "a", "b" and "c") of which this is just the first built ("a"). Its angular, polygonal but graceful lines add to the cleanness of the design creating a remarkable shape of classy demeanor. The design featured advanced aerodynamic devices, like slats and flaps (and this is 1926) and although not completely innovative, put to good use technical tricks incorporating them in a very sharp and streamlined treatment of the airframe, exemplified in the careful shrouding of the BMW IV engine. Just compare this design (tongue-in-cheek here) to those not so rare examples of ungainly, homely, and sometimes frankly awful French and British contemporary products that seem to chose to ignore that air is a fluid that produces drag, as if ignoring it -in true British fashion and French flippant attitude- will make that quality (and the laws of physics) feel ashamed and disappear. And I won't have it any other way, since I have built a large number of them, and I truly love those ugly ducklings -Farman Jabiru in mind- as anyone who knows me and my models will testify. In researching this plane I became aware of this strange trend of "newspaper planes". Several aircraft firms sold to newspapers machines that were adapted to this specific function. As famous as the Albatros L.72 are the Heinkels HD39 and 40, and a very little known Junkers F.13, in the list of my candidates for the future projects. This model is mostly based on the excellent article posted by Günter Frost und Günther Ott at the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Deutsche Luftfahrthistorik site: http://adl-luftfahrthistorik.de/deutsch/adl_start.htm To them my gratitude for their great work on lesser-known types. My thanks also to Alain Bourret and Sönke Schulz, suffered co-researchers. Whatever mistakes are committed here, is of course their bloody fault 😉 (not)