Last flight of the JET at Huntersivle nc

[EddyR]

 I did this flight so I could see if I remembered how this plane flew . Eric Viglione has been after me for several years to supply plans for this old model. I built it in 1964. I left it with Dave Merrithew in Binghamton NY when I moved to Florida in 1972. In the 80's on a trip to NY I got it back but it had been crashed almost beyond repair. It had well over 200 flights on it when I gave it to Dave. After repairing it I flew it maybe 6 or 7 times in the late 80's even entering it in a contest and getting third place in Atlanta. I flew it 2 times in 1996 or 1997 and Eric saw it fly. He was amazed how well it flew. It had a Fox .59 it it originally but I put a ST/46 in it for today's flight. I was flabbergasted how well it flew. Square loops and triangle loops like they were drawn in the sky.  y1It turned quick but flat has no over shoot in the corners. It was very easy to fly. After five minutes I was hoping for the motor to stop before the old metal bellcrank failed. I had a perfect motor run on the 45 year old built in tank. It was fun and it flew much better than I remembered. Stunt heaven today
 Eric I will have Watt make a set of CAD plans from my hand draw  ones. I had two versions of this plane and I have pictures of my 48 year old daughter holding the plane when she was four years old. Also in the picture of my plane is a Sabor Stunt by a unknown builder. A club member got it in Texas a few years ago. It may be older than my Jet and it is in good shape.
 Maybe someone in Texas will remember it. No AMA number on it

[Dennis Adamisin]

Ed:
What a great post.  I have enjoyed the pix you posted of this bird in the past.  Now cut the leadouts off it so you are not tempted to try that again!

Looking forward to seeing those plans too.

[EddyR]

Dennis
   I cut the leadouts after the flight. Here is a picture about 1965-66. Different paint job and smaller wheels,Enya .29 in it.The Fox 59 went in it in 1968. This plane has a 25%+ stab on it. That seemed very large at the time. The older Daughter Debra in the picture will be 49 this week. Over the years I have built replicas of some of my early planes and they fell far short of what I remembered. This old plane was better than I remembered it. Good power does help.
Ed

[john e. holliday]

I love the looks of the Jet.   When you get the new one done will need an updated pic.  The Sabre Jet looks like one built from the old Jetco kit.  The kit I had said it was either 51 or 52 Mexican Champion.  Look forward to plans of your plane.   

[Bill Little]

HI Eddy,

I'm glad you got it safely down and have the great memories of it now.  As we were discussing at Huntersville, I have a strange attraction to the swept back wings.  I will have to build one very soon.  Jack had a ton of them! LOL!!  I mentioned the Thor and Demon when we were kibitzing.

I spent a combined 5 hours going through my magazines lately.  Separating them to those that have "stunt plane" articles in them and putting a file label on the cover with the name and page number.  I have that many more to go through at least.  Some of them I had forgot I had! LOL!!  (a stack that has a couple of "must haves" still is sitting in a box in the bedroom, close to a hundred at least in there)

I hope to see you soon, maybe a flying session before the meet in May.

Bill

[Will Davis]

Ed's Jet was very  impressive in flight, I was not expecting it to fly as good as it did and really was surprised with the great engine run he had ,

Will

[EddyR]

Will thanks for the pictures. The last one of the plane in the air showed the planre is 90 degrees to the lines. That is something I could never see from the center of the circle.
Ed

[Eric Viglione]

Ed, That's outstanding news! I call dib's on the first set of plans you send out! It's good to see Will's comments validate my own experience seeing the jet fly. Sometimes when you see a plane on the ground, like a biplane, or something with an unconventional looking configuration like your jet with all that sweep, you just assume it's not going to be a stellar flyer, because it doesn't have that familiar "TLAR", (that looks about right) like a conventional stunter. And that's whats so cool about your jet, it looks cool, different, yet flies conventionally like a really good stunter!

Looks like am I going to get to build one finally!   

EricV

[Will Davis]

This is the group picture of all that saw Ed's jet Fly,  and another shot of the Jet to show it's size  compared to other models . Alot more wing area than it first appears .We had a great day and enjoyed the good  spring weather .

[Alan Buck]

Hi Will looks like weather was good for flying. Miss coming down in the time  when Diane and Erin went to Bristol. Jon Rakes and I always had a good time.

[Will Davis]

 I about froze to death at the  Bristol Nascar  race that year , snowed all the way there and we had a snowball fight in the stands    we had a  full day  on the Saturday before flying at Huntersville . alot warmer this year

[Alan Buck]

Just my luck. Looks everyone had fun but me 

[EddyR]

Same day Will flying his SV-11
Ed

[EddyR]

No wear on the controles. Old Veco bellcrank with flex leadouts. Those leadout may be ready to let go. Most of the time the bellcrank would cut the leadouts. It had about 250 flights on it.
Ed

[john e. holliday]

Better safe than sorry.   

[Larry Cunningham]

Ed,

That's the most authentic control line ship I've seen in a long time!

Good job.

L.

"You become what you think all day long, and those days become your lifetime." -Dr. Wayne W. Dyer

[EddyR]

If any of you have wondered about the odd bend in the pushrod.there is a reason. When the model was first built the flaps were larger and driven from the inner hole in the bellcrank. The flaps didn't move equal and there was binding. I removed the top block and changed the flap pushrods to the elevator pushrod  and the flaps then moved equal and were now smooth. There is plywood bearings on the fuselage sides but I forgot to replace the center hardwood bearing. The smaller flaps made the plane fly better but they were always noisy. The odd bent was to clear the flap pushrods that originally came from the bellcrank. The Flaps are one to one as it is set up now.  I changed the paint when I replaced the top. When I opened it  this week I could see where I had opened it up in 1966-67. The flaps use to be 1/2" wider than they are now. The flap horn was 1/2" farther forward than it is now. I thought the metal bellcrank would be all beat up but it looks mint.
Ed