Brodak Super Clown ARF

Cribbs74 wrote:Bandit,

The Super Clown is an adequate flyer, it will do the pattern, although not with much finesse.

I have built and flown an original version and it flys well enough. The Brodak one is lighter and will do well with a Fox .35

I can't comment on the ARF version other than to say I have seen them fly.

It's only going to be a stunt trainer and fun model and I'm not really planning on competing with it so I'm not really concerned with rock solid maneuvers, that's for my RM and twister when ever I'm able to get them built that is. (Bandit)

The Ringmaster won't do rock solid maneuvers either, the Ringmaster and Super Clown fly very similar, makes sense seeing as they are both early Kania designs. The Twister can be made to be competitive though.

I say all that, but I have seen Joe Gilbert fly some pretty impressive patterns with a Ringmaster. Built light and with minimal control throws it does have an edge over the Super Clown.

That doesn't really answer your ARF question, but surely someone on here has built and flown one.

Ron

Bandit, you might PM Sean(Shug) Emery at Stunthangar and ask him what he thinks of learning the pattern with a Super Clown ARF. He tried one when he first started and is fond of sharing his knowledge in detail. A very personable guy.

In one Summer, he blew past me like a dust devil, skipped Beginner and took first in Intermediate in his first contest. I humbly accepted second place. He's a bonafide Renaissance man. And he can balance it on his chin too. Lol. Learning the pattern is much less frustrating with a stunt capable plane, and you don't commit so many errors to muscle memory where it's hard to unlearn when you finally do move up to a real stunt trainer.

A lengthened Fancherized Twister might be good. I know a Skyray with an enlarged stab is marvelous. Also if you use firm balsa ribs in place of the lite ply kit stock, including full ribs at the half rib stations too. I used contest balsa in mine. A BIG mistake. It exploded like a grenade went off in the wing when it hit the ground the first time. Ask Ron, he was there.

Just my humble opinion. I started with a beautiful Shoestring that had the wrong moments for PA, and I was pulling my hair out thinking I couldn't learn.

Got the car loaded for a fun fly and meeting up in Huntersville tomorrow. You should come up for 1/2A day this fall. Drive up and spend the night in Columbia with me and Holley, and we can ride to Huntersville Saturday morning for a day trip. Then hit the road back to GA Sunday. I love 1/2A day, it's my favorite club meeting of the year.
Rusty

Here's my take on the Super Clown. First thing in order is that while the Fox.35 is a good candidate for this plane, it's not for the ARF. If your engine is new, it's really a bad idea for the ARF. The .25 you were bench running is a better candidate. I had 2 Super Clowns and the best one had a MAX-30S on it. If your trying to learn to fly stunt, the MAX-25 has better fuel economy and the nose of the Super Clown can easily fit a 3 oz. tank on it for practicality. The Fox .35 however would require at least 3.5 oz's and that's not enough fuel to fly a pattern if you were interested in trying to do so. It is enough fuel to have a lot of fun with though.  The ARF fuselage is poorly constructed due to soft wood and whatever that stuff they call hardwood is. In addition, the Fox .35 just blows one heck of a mess out all over. This will ruin and more than likely cause the covering to detach in or around 10 flights. The flaps of the ARF are far too light and these will start to resonate in flight. No solution to fixing them other than replacing them with a firm solid piece. Personally I see no need for flaps on a plane this small that's so close coupled and there's absolutely no benefit to having them. The plane in my opinion would fly far superior without them . If you have availability to the ARC, you have a much better model due to you being in control of many things covering being one of them. In the event that's not an option, I would utilize the wing and build a new fuse incorporating quality hardwood and plywood doublers. This would greatly increase your success with the Fox.35. If not, vibrations will just shake the heck out of it and you will be chasing a non fixable problem. It doesn't do any harm to try it and it can always be plugged and redrilled later. Usually I utilize one set of holes and plug the others if necessary due to one set being able to be shared between different engines. Ken

Good points, I'd forgotten many ARF profiles have hollow fuselages. I don't know if the Brodaks do. Whoever made Wayne's Pathfinder ARF made a hollow fuse, and I can see a Fox 35 shaking it to splinters in short order.

I epoxy laminated two 1/4" pieces of firm balsa when I built my Sterling Yak-9 kit and that lamination is the only reason it's still flyable. Mr. Fox has induced spider cracks in the wing root on one side, and the fuse and stab too. But luckily, the thing is a flying rock and still going. It's fun as hell to fly, and I just found out it's OTS legal, minus 20 points for having flaps. I'm taking it with me today for a few sporty rips in the sky.

Here she is. I love this plane. It's like flying a big  snappy 1/2A
Check out my elevator hinges. I swear one of these days I'm going to put the exhaust pipes on it. I'd like to build its Sister slow combat model, the Sterling F-51. It would be neat to have the pair.



There's ol' Dirtybird next to it. The Yak has a red spinner now. Looks a lot better.

Rusty, the ARF Super Clown is not hollow. The problem is the wood selection is very very flexible. We chased a lot of problems with  these since they came out and pretty much nailed it down to vibration issues. Many required steel pads and plates, some being more extensive requiring the covering to be removed and fiberglassed.  It just foams the fuel and really causes poor runs. This hobby though is funny. Some have success, some don't. It all depends on the model itself. I'm just stating my experiences and what to look for. I'd rather build the entire model as I found out in the end  I'm much happier. Some people don't like building and some people don't want to build. I witnessed all the ARF's and their problems since the introduction of them Brodak, Sig and Top Flite. All of them leave a lot to be desired and for a little effort, the kit is a much better option.

As for your Yak cracking, this is completely normal and the Fox isn't totally responsible for that. The responsible party is long deceased as the design of the Yak is the reason for the fuse separation at the leading edge. There's very little contact area as the fuse just sits on the wing rather than the wing through it. I pin mine with a dowel through the leading edge into the fuse. While this helps, it also causes a failure spot in the leading edge. I figured it was a non issue due to the 2 piece leading edge anyhow. Keep it clear of oil and fuel residue and put some epoxy in it followed by a heat gun and it will run in and secure the joint. Ken

Thanks all for all the advice, Yeah it seems all ARF's regardless of manufacturer have soft wood, I'm not a real fan of ARF's myself and prefer to build however conditions at my place with all the storm stuff has put a lead brick on all my building until I can get my building shed repaired this very reason is why I'm wanting an ARF which would let me get at least airborne within a reasonable time. If I wait to build, it's going to be a good bit after Christmas before I can get started on anything of mine and probably late next spring before I could get any of them flying, since my first build is going to be my Dads Stirling Ringmaster and I'm going to be pressed to get it built and tested before Christmas (still have to find a good McCoy .35 for it which is what he wants on it). This ARF is going to be more of a basher and a way to get my feet wet in stunt and besides maybe a fun fly or two, it's not going to be used for competition. also I'm going to go on and use Ken's advice and stick the .25 on it instead of the fox, I was sticking the fox on it just to get it fully seated and was going to stick the .25 on later anyway heck I might even stick my old OS 28F on it which is a BB engine just have to lock the carb open.
I'll just wait to stick the fox on my RM when I get it built since it would be more capable of holding up to it better anyway.

@Rusty I'll do that thanks and good Idea when is it, I might just do that.

@Ron Oh I understand I know that the RM won't compete with the more advanced ships, I should of clarified better *Face palms* I do that alot Heh I was meaning use the RM and twister for competition at present I'm more interested in OTS however I may graduate to more advanced maneuvers later.

(Bandit)

I'll second what Ken said about the flaps. I have mine flapped and it doesn't do a whole lot. Right now it's about to get torn down to recover, fix old repairs and fuse the flaps.

If you go without flaps and fly OTS with it you won't get the point deduction. Plus it's one less point of failure.