Flying the SR Batteries 1/4 Scale Fokker Eindecker E1

The maiden flight was flown on 11/26/2005 along with two more flights.  It was a windy day, but not gusty and nothing to be concerned about.  But the wind made it difficult to determine what trim was needed.

At this time the model is balanced where indicated by the instructions but the tail tends to drop in turns which tells us it may be a shade tail-heavy.  The aircraft responded to pitch nicely and wasn't the least bit twitchy.  If you watch the video you can see Mike had full elevator control all the way to touch-down (which was extremely slow!).

Mike said the model was yawing left.  Again, the wind made it difficult to tell if the model is out of trim or if it was weather-vaning.  Adding right rudder trim seemed to make the problem worse to a point.  More rudder trim seemed to correct the yawing.  The rudder is turned about 1 or 2 degrees to the right.

A couple clicks of right aileron were also added.  It was so little that it isn't immediately obvious when viewing the model.

Both the yaw and roll trim may be due to one or both wing panels being slightly twisted by the flying wires.

Mike wants to swap the Zenoah G26 for either a DA 50 or a Zenoah G45.  I think the power is just right because it is plenty to fly the model.  The rationale normally given for having more power than necessary is to be able to get out of trouble.

This model should never get into the kind of trouble that it needs that much power to get out of.  Mike isn't going to be flying a wild aerobatic routine down low.  The only real hazard, if you can call it that, is the light wing loading makes it susceptible to the wind rolling the model.

On the day of the test flight it was clear that wind is a minor problem at worst.

The bottom line is that using the recommended engine will force the pilot to fly this model as it should be flown.  There is no danger of being underpowered.  It's one of the few models that I've seen that actually has the correct power.

We will be experimenting with different propellers to find the one that works best.  The one thing I don't like about this engine is that the largest propeller that can be used looks ridiculously small.  But that's why scale modelers have a scale display prop and a flight prop.

The maiden flight was performed using a 19 x 8 propeller which is a little too big for the engine.  The second flight was flown using a 16 x 10.  The 16" propeller allowed the engine almost 1,000 more RPM, but Mike said the model flew worse with it.

Mike has ordered 17" and 18" propellers.  One of those should be the best for this engine/airframe combination.  The results will be posted here.

• Eindecker Photo Gallery

maiden_flight.wmv (8.9 MB) Large Version of same video maiden_flight_lg.wmv (30 MB)

Maintaining and Cleaning Your Eindecker

As I've stated, this is an absolutely beautiful model aircraft.  It would be a tragedy to lose it due to impatience.  There are a lot of cables and connections that are vital to the survival of your Eindecker.  Everything is clearly visible and accessible.

At the beginning of every day of flying, do a real pre-flight inspection.  Put your eyes and hands on every linkage and flying wire to ensure they are secure and not excessively worn.

Cleaning

I've always found that SolarTex covering stains badly.  Usually it's very unsightly and impossible to get all the stains out.  In this case I think that could be a good thing.

I tried to make the gun, pilot and wheels as realistic as possible.  Unfortunately, the rest of the airframe isn't weathered at all so they don't match real well.  The model looks good but it would look better if everything matched a little better.

My suggestion to Mike was to fly it for a season, use a disciplined cleaning procedure and then bring it back to me next year for a good clear coat to seal in whatever happened.  I think it would have worked very well.

Mike declined this and I went ahead and clear-coated the freshly covered airframe.  I think the covering will still stain somewhat because I used satin hardener which is slightly porous.

All that being said, here is how I think the Eindecker should be cleaned so that any staining looks realistic.

Always wipe front to back on the top and on the bottom and bottom of the fuselage.  Stains and streaks tend to be vertical on fuselage sides so always wipe down.

Always wipe in the direction of airflow on wings and flying surfaces..

Those are just my suggestions.  If you have some actual experience with real weathering, be sure to let us know.

• Eindecker Photo Gallery

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Copyright © 2005 Paul K. Johnson