Starting a new project that’s been on my list for at least a couple decades.
Background:
In the late 80’s a friend showed me what I thought was the coolest, compact foam core skinned with brown paper, 36” sport wing and he gave me a copy of the magazine pullout plans for Chas Gardiner’s Obelix.
https://outerzone.co.uk/plan_details.asp?ID=8758
Foam cores were beyond me in those days so I opted for the built up version. I eventually built 2 of them. My 1st one had a poorly matched snake cable diameter to cable housing diameter setup which gave the ailerons a nasty double neutral which resulted in a slow creeping roll to the left or right at all times. Major surgery corrected the control issue and saw the addition of some cool landing lights. She flew great thereafter until a spectacular mid-air. The 2nd flew great and had nav/landing lights and a detailed cockpit - fictional pss style, but was lost over the Muir Beach Overlook. Both could fly inverted with zero elevator trim changes.
If you attended some of the Aloft build nights in the last couple of months you may recognize this black and white one built by oldtimer Arnie Shrick (Joe Strakowski’s neighbor):
I’ve been storing it over the last 30 years (Arnie doesn’t fly anymore) so I gave it to Scott aka the Tape Whisperer who has restored it to flying condition with a new control arrangement and a red/white color scheme.
Incidentally, Mr Gardiner released an updated set of plans more recently and included an electric power option. Oddly the airfoils are noticeably different than the original with no explanation given. Furthermore, there have been reports in the forums of poor flying qualities with the updated design, but with not much detail and unknown build quality.
Background:
In the late 80’s a friend showed me what I thought was the coolest, compact foam core skinned with brown paper, 36” sport wing and he gave me a copy of the magazine pullout plans for Chas Gardiner’s Obelix.
https://outerzone.co.uk/plan_details.asp?ID=8758
Foam cores were beyond me in those days so I opted for the built up version. I eventually built 2 of them. My 1st one had a poorly matched snake cable diameter to cable housing diameter setup which gave the ailerons a nasty double neutral which resulted in a slow creeping roll to the left or right at all times. Major surgery corrected the control issue and saw the addition of some cool landing lights. She flew great thereafter until a spectacular mid-air. The 2nd flew great and had nav/landing lights and a detailed cockpit - fictional pss style, but was lost over the Muir Beach Overlook. Both could fly inverted with zero elevator trim changes.
If you attended some of the Aloft build nights in the last couple of months you may recognize this black and white one built by oldtimer Arnie Shrick (Joe Strakowski’s neighbor):
I’ve been storing it over the last 30 years (Arnie doesn’t fly anymore) so I gave it to Scott aka the Tape Whisperer who has restored it to flying condition with a new control arrangement and a red/white color scheme.
Incidentally, Mr Gardiner released an updated set of plans more recently and included an electric power option. Oddly the airfoils are noticeably different than the original with no explanation given. Furthermore, there have been reports in the forums of poor flying qualities with the updated design, but with not much detail and unknown build quality.
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