Jcrispi
05-06-2002, 03:36 PM
;) Okay, let me give you a background first, when I was a kid I use to buid all kinds of aiplanes, wood, plastic, Vacuform, erector set, if it had wings I built it!! My favorite was Guillows and Comet, they were the only ones that made kits that I considered big. One of the more expensive kits from Guillows was the Fokker DR1, which was and still is a favorite of mine. I had tons of fun building the wooden models because they would fly. I saved all of my money and bought the Fokker DR1 and built it. In the old instructions they use to explain how to warp the wings for it to fly straight. After weeks of test flying and doping and warping I had it where it would climb and spiral gently back to earth. At home I had an old Cox CL plastic plane, I think it was the Stuka cox made. I wondered what would happen if I mounted the engine on the DR1 and let it free fly, remember it would climb and spiral gently down to land. So being the bright young lad I was I mounted the motor on the DR1, if I remember correctly there was even instruction how to mount it and mentioned something about a thrust plate and other things, which I disregarded. Soo, the weekend was coming up and so was the Sons Of Italy Picknick which we all went to every year. What a place for my entry into the powered free flight club!!! On Friday it became almost unberably hot and humid, any one who has been in Northwest Indiana as close to the lake as possible in the middle of summer will tell you it gets unbearable. We had a real hefty thunderstorm that night. On Saturday the sun was shinning and off we went, my mother was really given it to me because of the plane, " Do you have to bring that junk with you!" junk in my mothers opinion was any thing that couldnt be eaten, worn, lived in or driven. I had my giant black cat 1.5 volt glow plug battery, cox clip, 1 quart of fuel and a small pump. After help setting up our picnic area and sweeping out the Bocca pit for the old ones. I ran back to our area and got my plane, I was going to collect Tons of Cool points from my buddies. So, I filled the tank, attached the battery gave the three bladed prop, yep! three bladed prop, its the only one I had and it came from the Stuka model, a few flips and she roared into life, which attracted everyones attention, the cox is small but it is loud. I lifted the Fokker up and let it come out of my hand, I was expecting the slow climb that I was use to with the rubberband, nope!! she lept into the air and started climbing like all the SE5a's in the world were chasing her, the motor sputtered abit and she leveled off, good!! that means she will start her spiral, nope!! the motor caught again and this time she went up like an arrow!! smaller and smaller, I could just bearly see her when the engine died, cool, now she will be coming down, so I thought, remember the thunderstorm the night before? well the tempature was now about 85, the ground was wet and apparently there were thermals aplenty. The Fokker must have jumped a thermal because it was not, I repeat NOT, losing altitude. The last I saw she was headed out to the lake, never to be seen again!! I spent the next two weeks with my eyes glued to the evening news incase there was a major air disaster caused by a colision with a little red triplane!!!