I took the Big Red Fokker out of the hangar and spruced it up a bit.
Cleaned it off, took the wheels off and greased the axles, took the rocker cover off and put some castor oil on the rockers and the valve springs and
let a bit run down the pushrod tubes and into the crankcase.

It is always a challenge to get it into the car, and another to get it put together at the clubhouse, but eventually it was sitting there, fuelled,
and ready. I started the engine and at first it was reluctant to rev, but
I coazed it a bit until it was running fine. Then, I looked around for
some excuse, but I couldn't find one, so I asked one of the guys to carry
it out for me and I prepared to take off.

There was a 90 degrees cross-wind, and the rule for flying a tripe in a crosswing is simple: DON'T. But the wind was actually *very* light (at ground level, anyway) so I punched up the throttle, and went for it.

The Magnum roared, the crowd cheered, the Big Fed Fokker swerved, I pulled
the stick back, and after a run of about 20 feet, she was airborn.
Tripes have the reputation for high rates of climb, and straight up off
the grass it wanted to go *up*! I actually held some down-stick to keep
it climbing out at a semi-normal rate while it cleared the strip. The aircraft has a flat-bottomed wing section, which tends to make them
throttle sensitive on climb -- increase the throttle and they climb. The
Big Red Fokker has THREE flat-bottomed wings! I trimmed the throttle
during the course of the next two circuits, until, with the Magnum at
about 35% throttle, the aircraft flew level.

And *BOY*, was it beautiful!

At this point I remembered to turn on the stop-watch, and called myself
names for leaving the camera at home. I had a good 10-minute flight,
making several lowish (15-20') passes up and downwind, and really enjoying
the experience. It really is tricky to maintain control because of how
the three wings 'present' in the air. And I was 3/4 of the way through
the flight before I realised that I had full-rates on all surfaces, which might account for a slight bit of roll-sensitivity. And remember the cross-wind? When making passes, I'd start the pass wide of the strip on
one side, and as it travelled down the strip, you could clearly see it side-slipping beautifully across the strip to finish up wide of the strip
on the *other* side. The cross-wind was obviously blowing, aloft!

After a lowish pass, I'd bang on the throttle, and in the blink of an eye, that magnum would 'speck' the aircraft. It really does climb well. I
made some cross-field passes as well, slightly higher, and a few turns and
so on, but I chose not to try anything clever like a loop, roll, spin,
snap, stall, etc. The crowd was calling for a loop, but I quoted
Rittmeister Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen himself, who said
that he had never ever looped or rolled his tripe, and that "A flying man
may be able to loop and do all the stunts imaginable and yet he may not succeed in shooting down a single enemy." and " Looping the loop is worse
than worthless in air fighting." :-)

After ten minutes, (or 12, taking in the time I was in flight before I remembered to turn on the stopwatch) I made a decent on the downwind leg, throttling back to let the high-drag airframe bring me slow and low, then
the base leg was made at a low but safe height, and I turned on finals. Approaching carefully, avoiding the westerly sun, I crossed the threshhold
and throttled right back, letting her settle neatly onto the wheels.
Rollout was clean and controlled, but I made no attempt to turn it with
the fixed, wooden tailskid.

It was very nice to get that Big Red Fokker flying again. It's been
sitting in the hangar for far too long, waiting for me to hone my
tail-dragger skills and practice a bit with high-drag layouts. The Elder
was supposed to have been built and flown first, but to get the huge box
out of the house, I ended up building the tripe first. Then various other things (including a death in the family) delayed the Elder's debut. But I finally got it together and have been doing takeoffs and landings in preparation for the reappearance of the dreidecker's reappearance.

After a bit of a rest, I fuelled up for another flight, but fuel began spouting out of all the cracks :-( so I had to call it a day. A loose or split fuel line, or a burst tank, perhaps? I'll know tomorrow when I have light to work on it.

So I have a little repair-work of some sort that has to be done. :-(

But I had an absolute *ball* flying it! :-)


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þ Synchronet þ Made of wood and glue, but mostly glue!

Re: Fokkin' 'ell!
By: Angus McLeod to Digital Man on Sun Nov 27 2005 07:47 pm

After a bit of a rest, I fuelled up for another flight, but fuel began spouting out of all the cracks :-( so I had to call it a day. A loose or split fuel line, or a burst tank, perhaps? I'll know tomorrow when I have light to work on it.

I wonder what caused that.

So I have a little repair-work of some sort that has to be done. :-(

But I had an absolute *ball* flying it! :-)

Ah, good to hear. I spent the Thanksgiving holidays at my inlaws and one of their friends brought over an el-cheapo RC plane, taped back together with packing tape (no, not a Zagi). Anyway, with my limited experience, I was still the first one to successfully launch and land (rather than crash) the plane, after a few left-hand circuits. The plane didn't have enough lift when turning right (and there were no elevators), so my right-hand circuit ended in a harmless crash. The owner attempted some left-hand circuits, ending in crashes, before it started to rain. <shrug>

I really enjoyed gliding in Barbados and look forward to building the 3C and gliding in the front (or back) yard of the new house where there are cliffs
and slopes a plenty.

digital man

Snapple "Real Fact" #175:
In 1634, tulip bulbs were a form of currency in Holland.

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Re: Fokkin' 'ell!
By: Digital Man to Angus McLeod on Sun Nov 27 2005 16:54:00

After a bit of a rest, I fuelled up for another flight, but fuel began spouting out of all the cracks :-( so I had to call it a day. A loose or split fuel line, or a burst tank, perhaps? I'll know tomorrow when I hav light to work on it.

I wonder what caused that.

Could be anything. Even mice! Tanks burst because of normal
pressurization from the exhaust manifold, which is used to keep a high-pressure fuel feed going to the carb. A tank can split a seam.
Fuel lines split at the ends where they are ctretched over metal fittings,
or can be cracked or cut if they get pinched on installation. Also, if a
tiny stone, a chip of wood or even a little stalk of grass gets trapped between the tank and the bulkhead, vibration can cause it to burrow into
the plastic of the tank and penetrate it.

I will take the tank ouf ASAP and have a look, but I loaned my prop-nut spanner to my niece friday (because it was all I had in the car that would
do the job for her) and despite all promises, she never returned it. If
the prop and cowl have to come off, I'll have to start by tracking her
down!

But I had an absolute *ball* flying it! :-)

Ah, good to hear.

Yep. The Dreidecker is one of those aircraft I've always had a soft spot
for in my heart. (There are others of course!) It has been a little distressing to have it here in the house for so long and not feel free to
fly it when I wanted to. But I had laid out a plan to build the skills necessary, by working with the Elder first. Circumstances delayed that interim step, and I was often tempted to just cross my fingers and jump to
the Fokker. I'm ultimately glad I didn't. Now, if I wreck it, I won't be telling myself it was because I wasn't ready. I'll be telling myself it's because you shouldn't stall-turn a top-heavy airframe under 50 feet! :-)

I spent the Thanksgiving holidays at my inlaws and one of their friends brought over an el-cheapo RC plane, taped back together with packing
tape (no, not a Zagi).

There are some very interesting *little* electrics on the market now.
They can be very interesting to fly! Some are quite sophisticated! The
$45 Formosa is a fully aerobatic, pattern-capable model that weighs less
than a pound, and has a wingspan of under three feet! I'd like a couple hundred right now, to rebuild my electric flight hangar.

Anyway, with my limited experience, I was still the first one to successfully launch and land (rather than crash) the plane, after a few left-hand circuits.

Right on!

The plane didn't have enough lift when turning right (and there were no elevators), so my right-hand circuit ended in a harmless crash.

Oh, yes. Throttle up to climb? I know those, but I've never flown an aeroplane without an elevator. Doesn't seem *natural*, somehow! :-)

I really enjoyed gliding in Barbados...

Yes, IIRC you hurled it around happily at our cliff, once you accepted
that you couldn't do it any harm! :-) I've even seen the photos of you chasing David's yellow zagi around the sky on your website!

...and look forward to building the 3C and gliding in the front (or
back) yard of the new house where there are cliffs and slopes a plenty.

Ah! To own ones own personal slope! :-)


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þ Synchronet þ Made of wood and glue, but mostly glue!