The white stripes are sellotape hinges catching the low evening light

May 10^th, a nice, calm Sunday evening and the latest creation from the building board of

 “Depron Dave” Hartley takes to the air. Two other club members were present to witness/assist in this momentous occasion and here’s the story, in words and pictures. I’m glad to report that nobody was injured recording of this event!

C of G is definitely out making the aircraft tail heavy!

A quick prop change enabled a nice ROG and a handful of down trim soon had the aircraft flying nicely as other pictures illustrate.

First, a little spec talk about the model and how/where to get the goodies, should you decide to build one for yourself. Dave found the plan on RC Foam's web site an interesting and highly varied site, featuring numerous free plans for trainers, semi-scale models, hydroplanes, jets and other assorted stuff. Most are depron based, although a few are E.P.P. Dave recommends following the accompanying thread to each plan, in order to benefit from other modellers building experiences.

Dave looking very serious, a sight seldom seen!!

For those in the club who may be averse to "flying ceiling tiles" this is a lovely little model and it's bags of fun on a budget.

The model has a wingspan of 92cm (3ft, in old money) and is constructed of 5mm white depron, sprayed in matt scarlet Humbrol enamel, diluted 50/50 with turfs.  It’s a ‘full house’ ; rudder, elevator and throttle, with ailerons in the upper and lower wings. Dave chose the following set-up to drive his little Fokker; a 2410-12 Y brushless ‘Bell’ motor (care of Robotbirds) giving 970 Kv, the power source was a 1000Mah 3 cell Li-Po battery.

Although very light, the ‘Tri-Decker’ wings create a lot of drag, so Dave has now fitted an 11x4.7 prop, as recommended for the motor. It is hoped the extra weight of a 1500mAh battery will sort the balance problems.

Dave would like to pass on his thanks to Kevin Longworth who assisted with the test flights and to ’another member’  who risked life and limb to get some close-up photos. Truth is, he really couldn’t avoid the “Little Red Fokker”!  Click on the gallery bellow for more pictures

Words and pictures-Kevin Smith