Sounds like Neons has about as many books as Martin!! Ha ha!!! Steve

While stationed at Wheelus, I did get to see the aftermath of pilots becoming target fascinated with rocket flare or tracers on a ground attack run. Plane goes out as a big F-105-F or F-4, and comes back as a couple 45' flatbed trailers loaded with shredded metal in a bunch of 55 gallon drums. Three funeral services on base, and a quiet memorial service for the back seater from the 105. They couldn't find enough of him to identify, so he was offically reported as missing, presumed dead.

Also got to see the difference between Col. Robin Olds marksmanship with the centerline gatling on the early F-4s and some of his squadron members. Base F-100 went up with two target darts, followed by Olds and about 8 of his subordinates. Rumor was he was not happy with them.

When they got back from the range, the tug made one pass, dropped a slightly damaged dart. Made a second pass, dropped a bit of center beam and a small chunk of honeycomb. Word quickly got around that the first repairable dart was the result of gunnery runs from the first 8 F-4s, and the ruined one was a single firing pass by Col. Olds.

Within 3 months, the rest of the squadron was regularly destroying the darts.

Everybody I knew from his squadron were always very impressed with him.

I just watched some old film of WW1 planes taking off. Now I know why I have trouble taking off, I need 2 little men to run with the plane holding on to the wings to keep the plane stable.

Something to be said for a steerable tailwheel instead of a fixed skid. I even had a couple planes that taxied decently with steerable tailskids.

Anybody working on anything or flying? Too much work and bad weather here!!! Steve

nope......on vacation for a while.:tc:

I can fly my Sopwith Tripe in some wind so I had it up twice yesterday. It is fun to watch it fly backward in the wind.
I was wondering how the WW1 planes made an Immelmann turn. The drawings I have seen show it climing into half a loop from level flight. Finally I found a write up saying to start the turn dive to gain enough speed to loop. I always have to dive my WW1 models to do a loop. I also found an interesting write up from a WW1 pilot that said his aircraft was so unstable that if he let go of the stick he did not know what the plane would do and he did not think the enemy did either cauese the 2 times he met the enemy he just let go of the stick and lost them.

Immelmann turn
 

The Immelmann turn consists of a half loop followed by a rudder turn (with resulting half roll) at the top of the loop. It was used to reverse the direction of the aircraft so the pilot could return to combat. Martin

But I always wondered if any of the WW1 planes could do it from level flight or did all of them have to dive first. I think they all had to dive. From what I have read one of the advanges of the DVII was it could hang on the prop and shoot upward at about a 45 degree angle. This tells me it could not climb while doing that so it had to dive to get speed for loop would be my guess.

repairing my DR-1 from damage being blown off work table at the r/c field.....been 2 cold n windy

Sounds like a Camel found it.

That was a...

(are you ready for this?)
















...low blow :D

You know how those "Camel jockeys" are Flying Monkey!!! Ha ha!!! Steve

As if I don't have enough projects in the works, the latest RCMW has plans for an E-scale Thomas Morse Scout, 33" span, by Peter Rake. Sounds like England's answer to our Walt Musciano. Getting the itch to build this one.

I've been flying my GP SE5a as much as possible. Playing around with a little video camera on it!

Just trying to improve my skills with it, trying different things like rudder or whatnot. Fun plane, and I've not crashed it, but I'm often reminded that my abilities are NOT beyond this plane by anymeans!

Been trying the Immelmann, and I guess I had it wrong. I thought it was an aileron roll when the plane is pointing straight up in the loop.

I've got lots to learn!

Take a look here. I thought about enlarging this, cutting it out of foam. Then printing the paper and glueing it on the foam after the foam is made into the airplane. Maybe it could be printed on paper or tissue and use to cover a balsa plane.

http://www.modele-kartonowe.com/thom...s-5/index.html

I can do the first half or the Immelmann with my Sopwith Tripe(R/E/M) but have not learned yet how to do a roll with rudder only. When the Tripe is upside down it is easy to roll upright with the rudder. I guess giving it rudder going into a dive might look like the second half. I guess I am doing as some of the pilots probably did in WW1, do just the first half to try to loose the enemy on thier tail.

For aerobatic competition, the Immellmann is done by doing the first half of an inside loop, then as the plane comes level and inverted, rolling upright. Just the opposite of a split S. The AMA and FAI rule books show it in diagrams. It can be done with a rudder-only plane.

An article in one of the 1960s Air Progress magazines discussed the actual Immelmann manuevers, one offensive and the other defensive, neither of which resembled what we now call an Immelmann. Both apparently were intended to take your plane from a bad spot in front of your opponent and put yourself in the kill zone either on his tail or coming up at his underside. In fact, I seem to visualize that the offensive manuever started with a dive at the front of your oponent, and as he tried to dive away, you pulled into about a 30 degree climb, rolled inverted, and did about a 3/4 inside loop to put your sights on the other guy's belly, where he didn't know you were there till your bullets came up through his floorboards.

Few of those old fighters could stay inverted for any length of time with their low power, heavily underchambered wings, and primitive fuel feed systems.

50+ is always a great source of information!! By the time you figured out where your enemy was he had already eliminated your athletes foot problem!!! Steve

This place has a couple of ARF DR1s. See if you guys like 'em. They have a gas and electric version. www.flyboysmodels.com Steve

Here's a pictorial on doing an Immelman.

Looks like I am doing a full Immelmann not half of one. Now to find one of those planes with the black crosses on it.

Funny, my Fokkers are in the air all the time and not a Camel in sight!!! Steve

I guess that's what happens when WW-I aerodromes are more than 150 miles apart. Fighters only had maybe 2-2.5 hours of flying time.

Hey there blokes,
New to this thread .. just finished an LX Models DR1 .. maidened it on Sunday .. not good ..but undamaged! here's the vid ..Cheers
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtncMf4c2ZE[/media]