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General control line discussion => Open Forum => Topic started by: kenneth cook on August 19, 2012, 07:56:10 PM
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Today we had a great experience in the skies of Philadelphia. We had two warbirds on the prowl looking for the enemy. Dan Banjock and my son Shawn were flying simultaneously using their Fox powered planes. Dan's being a unique homegrown variety of grafted 40th anniversary cases. My F-82 being powered with 60th anniversary engines. Dan being the builder of both of these aircraft in 1985. I rebuilt the F-82 as it went through a full blown reconstruction in 2006. The talk was to fly level. This amazingly lasted about 3 laps when both went into the wingover and now the fun began. The Fox's sounded great, Dan's twin having a sound unlike any other engine on the field was just music to our ears while my Fox's on the Mustang sounded great going from a deep growling 4 stroke breaking into a 2 on the climbs. Both planes to my surprise were matched for speed. They both burned 8oz's a flight and they really ran approx the same time. That was something none of us expected. All engines running on the piston ruining Powermaster GMA 11/22 fuel didn't miss a beat.
Dan while inverted had the rudder just missing the ground by less than a foot. Shawn had the F-82 settled just above the belly of the Bearcat and this went on for several laps. One near miss took both pilots by surprise but their combat instincts took over and it was game on once again. It really looked quite cool seeing both planes going into the wingovers revealing their insignias to us as we tried to get some pictures. Unfortunately, the skies were overcast which didn't result in good picture taking but it certainly made for good flying and the no breeze made it even nicer. Ken Cook
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Hey Ken, that must have been great!! Thanks for sharing the story and photos.
Maybe Shawn and Dan will repeat it at Brodak's next year!!!
-Chris
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Hi Ken,
I got to pit for Dan a couple times when he flew the Bearcat at Brodak.It truly has a sound all it's own.Wish I could have seen them together.
Trax
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Jeff, it really is a cool piece. I live close to Dan and I was able to see the progress daily when he decided to build the engine. The excitement and smiles coming from everyone watching when it initially started on the test stand was great. I love when it's running on one cylinder then he touches the plug with the clip and the other cylinder lights off and the rpm's shoot up. I may be incorrect but I believe this is the near 20th flight on this engine. This engine unlike the first one he built has a different crank configuration. The first one broke after a few flights. This engine hand starts no problem and just sounds as mean as you could imagine. Ken
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I love the sound of twins. I have a twin Flite Streak from John Miller with twin FP .20's that I hope to start on this winter.
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Dan machined both cranks in the twin Fox. Made the connecting pieces. Redid the bushing with a better alloy. His imagination was fired by a box of engine parts that he was told came from a one-off twin Fox. Nothing viable. That puzzle could not be put together. So Dan designed and made his own. The first version used stock cranks and other stock parts. The rear crank snapped after 17 flights. The new version is still singing. 18 or 19 flights so far. Dan was fanatic about aligning everything. Randy Holcroft, a tool and die maker, heat treated this and that. The cranks were made of tool grade steel. I think. Lots of careful thinking and machining. Dan has had hell of a productive 2 years. The new twin fox. (A spectacular plane has been drawn that will complement the engine better than the Bearcat. Tho the Bearcat is a hoot.) The Dynajet Stunter. That already does most of the pattern. The Double Sized Bi-Slob. A new stunt war wagon drawn up and started. Definitely a new Banjok Phase. Everything works.
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Bearcat/twinfox. I don't know why these iphone photos upload upside down. Looked right side up on my desk top. I think the twin turns a 12x5 prop more than 10,000 rpm. Not bad.
Ken is right. Shawn and Dan put on quite a show of 2 up flying.
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Turn your phone over. LL~ LL~ LL~ Pictures still look good.
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But then I'll talk to folks upside down. Wait. I usually talk to folks upside down.
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At Brodaks this year