Flying Clown - new experience!

[Larry Renger]

Barry Baxter was clearing out his garage, and I picked out a Flying Clown. It had a steel fin Fox .15 on it, ( described in the engine set up column), but I put on a Cox Medallion .15 with a Rev-up 8-4 prop. What a delightful Old Time model!

First flight, 2 laps, a bit of climb to see about line tension overhead, and then launched directly into the OT pattern. No problemo! A bit of fuel foaming needing to add some Armor All , a slight handle tweak, loosening up the elevator hinges, and it is ready for the big time!

I will plan to fly this at the next VSC in March! John Wright has kicked A** with one for years, and I can see why. It just goes where you want it with no fuss whatsoever. I wish I had a design that reliable! 

[Motorman]

You're preachin' to the choir bro. Clowns rule!


MM

[Larry Fernandez]

You're preachin' to the choir bro. Clowns rule!


MM

I fly with a bunch of clowns

Larry, Buttafucco Stunt Team

[john e. holliday]

Aren't we all clowns at one time or another???

[wwwarbird]

 I had a Flying Clown with an LA.15 at one time, great flying little airplane and a lot of fun. Met it's demise while sitting on the floor in my shop when another model I was working on at the time fell on it, exploding the outboard wing. Stupid mistake on my part.

[Jim Hoffman]

I entered a Flying Clown in VSC about 2001.  OS 15 FP, 18 oz.  

I agree it flies well and can be competitive if the air is mild.  It is challenged in any kind of wind

Jim Hoffman  

[Chris McMillin]

Mine had a McCoy 19, it's what I learned to fly about half the pattern with, so long ago! Sounds like that Cox 15 is the ticket.
Chris...

[dave siegler]

A flying clown is 200 square inches.  For me that is strong .049 and 061 or .074  size of airplane.  It would have to be a light .15? 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Duke.Johnson]

I think I still have two kits, I should build them. One with a Norvel .061 and one electric night flyer.  What length lines would you start with for the .061?

[EddyR]

When I was in the TBLF club we has Clown Racing. Built from plans none of them had a sheeted leading edge and cap strips. I use them for combat back in the 1950's and they did not have sheeted leading edge. That is fine to build them like that but don't call them OTS legal.
Ed

[john e. holliday]

I still have the double kit Joe Just sold me years ago at the Tri-Cities NATS.   I also have the one I built from a Brodak kit.   I have a Fox .15 Schnuele on it.   Too nose heavy and when I balance it, it falls out of the air trying to loop it.     

[Duke.Johnson]

When I was in the TBLF club we has Clown Racing. Built from plans none of them had a sheeted leading edge and cap strips. I use them for combat back in the 1950's and they did not have sheeted leading edge. That is fine to build them like that but don't call them OTS legal.
Ed

We still have clown racing over here. I have one set up for "Geezer Clown" with 15fp's and one with a Fox .15 Schnuele.

[Terrence Durrill]

Looking at these pictures, it is obvious that the Brodak FLYING CLOWN is considerably different than the original PDQ FLYING CLOWN.  Thie primary difference appears to be in the leading edge........the Brodak has a sheeted LE while the PDQ had a solid Ringmaster type leading edge.   I got a PDQ version in 1956 and flew it with a K&B .35 Greenhead, also a McCoy .35 Red Head.  It was fast but it turned like a Mac Truck.  That Clown was a tough little plane and survived many mishaps....I finally gave it to my brother-in-law.  There is a Brodak FLYING CLOWN kit in my shop......who knows, I might get it built one day.        

[Jim Hoffman]

Gents –
The Flying Clown I shared in a previous post was built from scratch, not from anybody’s kit.  

After building it and competing w/ it I learned that the OTS legal version (PDQ) did not have leading edge sheeting.  

This fact makes mine not OTS legal to my best understanding.  

I was unaware of this when it was built and flown.
It will not see OTS competition in the future

Mea Culpa
Jim Hoffman

[Mike Keville]

Here's a view of the original Flying Clown.  No LE sheeting, no capstrips, no spars.


'nuff said!

[Randy Cuberly]

It appears that the wood leading edge (sheeting maybe) goes back at least about 1.5 to 1.75 inches on the one in Mike's picture.

It also appears to have a fairly wide trailing edge.  No external spars.  But could have a couple buried in the wing and still be legal.  It also says for A, B, and small C engines and gives an all up weight of 12 to14 oz.  Something is a bit fishy about all that!

I've seen Jim's fly many times and it appears to fly the OT pattern very well...Of course Jim is a very important part of that equation!

Randy Cuberly

[EddyR]

Jim   Many of us want to fly planes of our youth. Build them any way you want. I have seen many Vikings with leading edge sheeting flying in OTS and no one seems to care. I would love to see your Clown fly. In the 1950's my group always added three 1/8" spars to the front curve of the airfoil to get a better airfoil and the models flew much better. Many times we added extra ribs to help hold up the covering.
 If your plane was mine I would fly it in OT for points score just to see how it would do.
Ed

[john e. holliday]

Yes it is great to fly the designs we dreamed of as kids.  But when it comes to competition, VSC and the NATS are different story.  Local contests need all the entries they can get.   Not very good for clubs not to have enough entries to give away the awards.   So I try to enter when I can even if I get beat by someone who doesn't know the rules.