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General control line discussion => Open Forum => Topic started by: Shultzie on February 25, 2009, 10:05:26 AM
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LEW McFarland's DOLPHIN...over the years has led so many young folks to a life long addiction to modeling. I wonder how many flyers today....just may have gotten bit by this great flying little Stunt machine?
attached is a few photos...
Vance Dunlop with the Sky blue Dolphin...(great flight box)
The other young man...and his Gold Dolphin at the 68 Albany contest
The other two...(metallic ones could be either Bob Kautzman or Jack Shane's.
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Don,
Are you sure those are not Dolphins? The Ruffy had wing mounted "torsion bar" landing gear and a flat-top built-up lifting rudder, if I remember correctly. Of course those may be "personalized".
But they sure did inspire lots of kids.
George
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I think those are Dolphins. The Ruffy had a squarish tailplane.
Wish I had a picture of my two-toned green Ruffy built in 1967. First full bodied stunter.
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I think those are Dolphins. The Ruffy had a squarish tailplane.
Wish I had a picture of my two-toned green Ruffy built in 1967. First full bodied stunter.
Dolphins...UHHHH? SEE HOW MUCH MY MIND HAS DEMENTED? THANKS GANG FOR BEING MY BRAIN AGAIN!!!
I will make some corrections...bye the way....I just recieved an E mail from Bob Lampione of a beautiful HIGHLY MODIFIED RUFFY.
Bob sent a group of photos of this amazingly beautiful model....
Check this one shot out..
THANKS BOB! (if you are lurkingFor sending those beautiful detailed photos
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LEW McFarland's Ruffy...over the years has led so many young folks to a life long addiction to modeling. I wonder how many flyers today....just may have gotten bit by this great flying little Stunt machine?
Here's one that did. This is a scaled down version sporting a MAX-I .15. OMG was I ever that young?...with hair!
George
Hmm...never did go back and add the spinner and cowl.
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Nice old photo...ahhh the daze-days we were all sooooo young
(If you still are in Lexington...give my best to my mentor Lew and Charley for me!
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First full fuselage I ever built in about 78 or so. Still have the plans somewhere. Never could tell might be worth building another.
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Nice old photo...ahhh the daze-days we were all sooooo young
(If you still are in Lexington...give my best to my mentor Lew and Charley for me!
Left Lexington in 1960 when I went into the Navy. Moved to upstate NY when I got out in 1966 and only visit Lexington once in awhile.
BTW, I understand that Lew finally closed his shop...or do you suppose he just moved again? ;D ::) H^^
George
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Would anyone care to comment on how the Dolphin compared to the Ruffy in flight, and how they fly today when built with better wood than the average kit wood of their day? How about with modern powerplants? Thanks.
SK
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Now is the Ruffy a poke at the Smoothie, or was it just named after a fish? (dolphin, shark, roughy, etc)
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I had a Dolphin too. ;D
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From the look on your face as you are filling up that tank that shows one proud kid having a great time.
Is that "Big Daddy Art" lookin on? H^^
Dennis...
Still keeping you in our thoughts and prayers.
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Hey, I had one too! Still have one that needs finished, plus one still in the box.
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We had 3 in the Salisbury Hawks, mine was the one middle..
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Now is the Ruffy a poke at the Smoothie, or was it just named after a fish? (dolphin, shark, roughy, etc)
Yes. Lew McFarland says that he named it as a competitor for the Smoothie. When he was competing against a lot of Noblers (and derivatives) he came out with the Humbler...which was renamed to Shark 45.
George
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Humbler - THAT's the name I was trying to think of. Thanks George.
Remember the Dolphin was originally published as the "Poor Boy" Just speculating but I guess that after they brought out the Shark, Jetco wanted a different name that sounded like marine life - thus the Dolphin???
I'm sure Jetco probably selected that name on porpoise (rimshot!)
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Humbler - THAT's the name I was trying to think of. Thanks George.
Remember the Dolphin was originally published as the "Poor Boy" Just speculating but I guess that after they brought out the Shark, Jetco wanted a different name that sounded like marine life - thus the Dolphin???
I'm sure Jetco probably selected that name on porpoise (rimshot!)
Ouch!!!
I remember my Dad told me the Ruffy story-that it was a reaction to the Smoothie---back when I was in 7th grade and he (and we!) was stationed at Charleston AFB. As I recall, his Ruffy was a Sterling model and was finished in yellow. On the first flight a leadout broke and it was totaled. It is indelibly imprinted in my memory how calm he was after it happened. I don't think I ever understood (even to this day) how he kept his cool! Must be a pilot's trait.
Boy I betcha the Ruffy would make a nice electric powered model!
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Hey guys -
Surely someone has some opinions of how the original and Jetco Dolphin's flew/fly, and how they compare to the "Ruffy". I'd be really interested, especially in light of Ted's discussion of preparing and trimming his VSC "Ruffy."
SK
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Interesting question Serge.
I allways thought the Poor Boy/Dolphin was a simewhat simplified Ruffy: i.e, constant chord wing simple box fuse, I think no-cowl on the plans version, fuselage gear instead of the Ruffy's wing gear etc. The Ruffy was also about 40 square inches bigger. With regard to the ORIGINAL kits, every STERLING Ruffy I ever saw was heavy, and Sterling die cutting was uhh, legendary. I do not recall ever seeing a truly competitive example of the Sterling kit. The Jetco Dolphin (which I built in 1966) was a very good kit, though simplified it was later vintage than the Ruffy and presumably benefited from Lewis' later thinking.
Ted F built the RSM Ruffy, a definitely un-Sterlingish kit, and it finished relatively light, but not extraordinarily so. He wrote at length about his tribulations getting it trimmed. Ted certainly knows where he is going trimming a new bird, but it seems he had big problems trimming it. I think he concluded that a contributing factor was a too light weight, which of course perplexes me! I think (but cannot prove) that part of Teds problems were related to too much power or more accurately, too much prop. Both the Ruffy and the Dolphin were designed for Fox 35's turning 10-6 wood props. I think Ted said the Rufy had something like a 15% tail - which means it did not have a lot of extra turning power to overcome an oversize or over heavy prop. I suggested this to Ted but he said his tests did not support that idea. However my nephew has been doing a lot of experimenting with an electric powered Oriental, with one of the power systems tried, he fitted an 11-5.5e prop in place of a 10x5e and determined the bird got significantly worse, lack of turning power to overcome the larger disk. I know it flew well with a 9" prop and VERY well with a 10" prop. Later tests with the electric Vector (roughly same size as Oriental) showed that bird flies better with the 11" prop than with the 10" but it is not a night&day difference like it was on the Oriental.
Alan H: I think ALL of the Classic era airplanes are great candidates for e-power, including the Ruffy & the Dolphin. However I would tailor the power system so the bird can use the same size prop as what ever the original design called for - most likely a 10" dia.
For personal/Nostalgic reasons, given the choice of building a Ruffy or a Dolphin, I'd build the Dolphin, with Turnigy 35-36 motor, 4sx2350, a 10x5e, Phx-35 and Hubin Timer. #^
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The Dolphin is an exciting plane to fly and it is forgivable in many ways... my first and only one came in at 43oz .. this plane would be a little better at say 38oz.. it will build heavy if you are not careful. .. I saw one guy at VSC 13 and asked him how much it weighed and he said 48oz... I thought, what a porker it would be at that weight.. it flew fine.. Ideally, I would even build another and use a McCoy 35 in it.. I love that engine even though they were inexpensively made and the power was down a hair.. a fine runner for stunt.. a Fox would be a great combo too...
I sat down one day and drew up a 700 sq/in stunter using the Dolphin tail and wing tips and combined it with the Oriental Plus.. I bet it would look great, I love the look of the rudder and elevator. .. at only 510 sq/in the wing is smallish maybe an increase to 550-600 with a .40 .. my mind scrambles at ideas..
My own opinion...this plane is a great flyer.. and likes to be flown fast... I would recommend it to anyone new as a first full bodied stunter.. it is robust, and can take a beating.. not all of us fly on pavement .. this plane will turn on a dime and make for nice square maneuvers... I garnered my first 40 point maneuver with the "little" Dolphin ... landing.. take off and landings are wonderful.. and with the right prop and engine combo flying in wind will surprise you.. I used an OS 35 in mine. All this talk has me thinking... right now... I have enough wood to start another... this time I will shoot for 38 oz... and make the tank removable.. or... just get my old one back out and start flying it again..
Mine ran a little rich when inverted and I never fixed that problem.. I am thinking about rotating the spray bar as a solution or at least look at it to be sure that wasn't the problem the first time..
Jim
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Dennis-
Thanks for the observations. I did try larger props on my flapless SkyRays and P-Force. I noticed that neither turned quite as well with the larger prop, although the diifference was greater on the Sky Ray, especially the one with a smaller tail (I had turbulated and increased stab and elevator size slightly on the lighter one though).
So, did you like how your Dolphin flew, or was it too noticably less "adept" than other serious contest planes of its time? I ask because I suddenly took a liking to its simplicity from this thread. Since I haven't built a full-bodied plane since returning to the hobby, it sees like a lower risk way to ease into Classic, full-bodied construction models, before committing to my more ambitious projects. I'm building a couple practice profiles, before I start destroying big projects at the field.
P.S. I just saw Jim's post as I was writing this. Thanks, Jim for your thoughts. I'll post anyway, for Dennis, if he wants to add anything.
SK
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Serge:
The Dolphin was my first full-bodied stunter. I finished it in 1966, at the age of 12, and the year after I did my first pattern. Thus my rear view glasses are a little fuzzy!
I remember it being very sensitive and hard to fly well. BOY would it corner! I have seen others fly since that looked very good and I would like to build another some day. I still have the original kit plans and there is (I think) everything I would need to build another.
My most memorable Dolphin flight? At the 1966 NATs in Chicago, 2nd round, winds at a steady 25 mph and gusting over 35mph. No less than Event Director GMA suggested that maybe I shouldn't fly. That silly little airplane hauled my scrawny little butt all over the circle.
But I got the pattern in, AND I got a big hug from GMA. #^ #^ 8)
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A little side note...if I remember correctly, Lew used yard sticks from the lumber yard as wing spars on the Ruffy. :o
George