A Flying Clown Friday (and Sunday)

Kim Fri Jul 30, 2021 11:38 pm

Flying my Brodak "Flying Clown" in the front yard late today.

It does need some trim changes before I can get very frisky, but still flew pretty nicely.

AND, I've almost gotten used to having a fence running through my flight circle!

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A Flying Clown Friday (and Sunday) 57_10

Removed the landing gear for grass landings.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFB7rTUKuVA

davidll1984 Sat Jul 31, 2021 7:57 am

Cool plane with the joker inside Flying

Ken Cook Sat Jul 31, 2021 11:47 am

A very underrated engine. I like the .15X personally. It makes a great choice for these older .15 sized planes. Even more , I like that Darwin tank. That goes back a few years.

Kim Sat Jul 31, 2021 11:55 am

Ken Cook wrote: A very underrated engine. I like the .15X personally. It makes a great choice for these older .15 sized planes. Even more , I like that Darwin tank. That goes back a few years.

Thanks Ken!
Yes...seems like everything on the Hill "Goes back a few years"!!!!!

Gonna make a new set of lines for the Clown this afternoon, taking it out to 60', to give it a "a bit more sky" !!!!

rsv1cox Sat Jul 31, 2021 12:38 pm

Goodness, that little Fox really hauls!!!!!!!!

Now THAT is fun.

andrew Sat Jul 31, 2021 12:57 pm

I watched your video on YouTube last night -- the pilot was pretty scary and gave me a start. However, the dog saw it and took off. I haven't seen her since! Surprised

Ken Cook Sun Aug 01, 2021 7:11 am

Kim, I also wanted to comment on your color scheme. I did a Akromaster like this with similar fuse colors. I assume that's Brodak insignia white and insignia blue? Those two look very classy next to one another. The blue has a nice gloss to it and unlike some of the other colors I've used, it lays out very nice when brushed. I also admire your placement of decal with the trim scheme being circular around it, a very nice nostalgic touch. I assume you added the additional nose tripler on the inboard side?

Kim Sun Aug 01, 2021 7:55 am

andrew wrote:I watched your video on YouTube last night -- the pilot was pretty scary and gave me a start. However, the dog saw it and took off. I haven't seen her since!

Sorry Andrew!!! I hope she comes home soon!!!!! Sad Goodbye

Kim Sun Aug 01, 2021 8:10 am

Ken Cook wrote: Kim, I also wanted to comment on your color scheme. I did a Akromaster like this with similar fuse colors. I assume that's Brodak insignia white and insignia blue? Those two look very classy next to one another. The blue has a nice gloss to it and unlike some of the other colors I've used, it lays out very nice when brushed. I also admire your placement of decal with the trim scheme being circular around it, a very nice nostalgic touch. I assume you added the additional nose tripler on the inboard side?

Thank You Ken!!!!!!

Yeah, I wanted it to have a "cowling", so added a slab to the left side...though with this happening 5 years ago, I can't remember for sure if it was included/intended with the kit or not...I'm guessing "not".

One other small change I made was to straighten out the top of the fuse from the cockpit to the engine to try to give it the appearance of some 1930's racer that may be seen in the "Bill Barnes" comics of the time.

A Flying Clown Friday (and Sunday) Dsc_0099

getback Sun Aug 01, 2021 8:48 am

The Fox was really pulling her through some air Nice !! Let me ask , i have a Baby Clown for the .049 and yours is .15 size wonder why there both Babys >? That's pretty wild as you can land on one side or the other of the Fence / Nice fling and can see why you may add another 5 ft. Very Happy

Kim Sun Aug 01, 2021 9:15 am

getback wrote:The Fox was really pulling her through some air Nice !! Let me ask , i have a Baby Clown for the .049 and yours is .15 size wonder why there both Babys >? That's pretty wild as you can land on one side or the other of the Fence / Nice fling and can see why you may add another 5 ft.

It was my mistake. When I got the kit, I somehow renamed it "Baby Clown" (my brain often does this with objects and people) because I thought the original Flying Clown was a much larger model. I tried to edit out the "Baby" part from everything, but was too lazy to make a new title card and edit the video...though I may have to do it....

Sorry for the confusion!

My landlords recently took down the fence on the north side of what had always been a cow lot next to the house, opening it up for pasture grass for hay, and so my little brain started ticking. I wanted badly to be able to fly some larger planes (an attempt to fly in the back forty bean stubble was a terrible mistake). So, I so took a tape and discovered that, if I stayed in one spot near the fence, I'd have pretty good clearance from the powerlines and my TV antennae---WITH NO WANDERING ALLOWED!!!!

So far, the fence has not been a problem, though it does cut down on any low-level antics, and at least gives me the opportunity to do trim/adjustment flights near my air conditioned shop...which seems to get more and more important as I age!

Ken Cook Sun Aug 01, 2021 10:15 am

The nice thing about the .15x is that most everyone hates them. Generally you can pick them up for next to nothing. I keep a stash of at least a dozen of them and probably more. I never counted them. Some of mine are the r/c version which I never ran. I've also come across a few of them new in the box for around $25. The r/c version can double as a control line version, all that's needed is to remove the butterfly and replace with the needle valve. Fox used the same needle ( Needle only ) for the r/c version as the control line so all that needs to be required is the spraybar. TJ who was a frequent poster on here took me to school one day when he suggested the Super Tiger needle valve assembly. My first response was that this would be a huge decrease in performance due to swallowing the choke area. Well, TJ was correct as the ST assembly is the same diameter as the Fox. It would also offer a much better needle and lack of air leaking due to it's quality and finer threads. I have the Fox XX hop up parts which was the red anodized connecting rod and other mods. I've never officially put together a Fox .15X to make what was sold as a .15XX.

Kim Sun Aug 01, 2021 9:14 pm

Got another calm evening, and even some slightly cooler temps, so the Clown was hauled out and hooked to 60 feet of Spiderwire.

We did OK, but even the skinny Spiderwire was making for a lot of drag...with an impressive bow between me and the Clown. Sooo...gonna try cutting them back, 5 feet at time, 'till we find the sweet spot...which will probably be back at the 50 foot mark.

I was able to fix its strong pitch-up tendency by twisting the Fox downward in its mounts just a tiny bit. The Clown now tracks nicely whether upright or inverted, and it should get a good wringing on our next session.

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**Cribbs74** Sun Aug 01, 2021 9:54 pm

I’ve noticed that with braid line from time to time. I use cables exclusively now. 60ft is crazy long for a Flying Clown, I think you are right about 50ft being the sweet spot.

getback Mon Aug 02, 2021 8:38 am

Cool That you were able to get it up for some more fun , and the engine placement helped ,, I have never used the cable lines and thinking there going to bee a pain cause it is coming Very Happy

At least you have something to hold on to while fling lol!

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