DICKEYBIRD

I was looking for something last night in the DickeyBird Aviation Archival Storage Facility (old shoe box) and came up with this picture. Boy, did it bring back some old memories!

This is my 2nd R/C airplane, scratch designed & built in the winter of 1980, 1st flown spring '81. My 1st R/C plane was a shoulder wing Aristocrat trainer kit from AHC with an OS H.40P. While I was learning to fly, my buddy/instructor told me I'd better be building something else 'cuz I would need it soon!

I had a pair of 1969 Golden Bees from my freeflight & u/c days and decided to build something to put them on. Everyone thought I was nuts but I went ahead and built the "Twin Potts Special" anyway. The tee tail and twin booms look weird but the areas and moments were just standard freeflight force arrangements I'd used on previous models with elevator and ailerons added.

The radio was REALLY something for a 1/2A model...it was a Futaba 6 channel with the chrome gimbals, 2 big 'ol S-6 servos (beige case) and a 500 MAH battery! Geez, I now have complete airplanes ready to fly that weigh less than the battery and 2 servos!

I had learned to fly pretty well by the time it had it completed but I asked my instructor Jim Prillaman to do the test flight. After seeing it the first time, he looked REAL apprehensive about it but I said hey, it's gotta fly, it's just a matter of how long!

I finally got both engines loosened up and singing happily and gave it my best hand launch. I watched it climb out in a gentle right hand spiral and I was standing there grinning like a fool, I hear: "Hey Milton. look at this!" I turned around to see Jim holding the transmitter up in one hand with nary a thumb on the controls! He said "Heck, I never touched anything after the first 20 feet!" It flew very well and I guess my favorite maneuver was a long shallow dive down the center of the runway where all that weight would allow it to really wind up and those engines would scream in a resonating, dissonant cacaphony (don't get to use that word often, but it fits!)

I flew it for 5 or 6 months pretty regularly and finally stored it in the attic until 1987 when I took it down, "re-radio'ed" it and sacrifice-crashed it straight in from about 200 feet for a video project. I still use the cylinder from the rear engine on one of my 'ol reliable Medallions.

Occasionally, I have the urge to revisit that project with a steamlined fuse & cowls, tapered wing with good airfoils and 2 of my best throttled TD's. Hmmmm, next design project maybe?

phuffstatler

My Feedback: (20)

On the next one, don't forget the tiny retractable gear, too. You've got plenty of wing to carry it...


That's a neat plane, with a neat story to go with it. Doncha jsut love this stuff!!


phil in austin

DICKEYBIRD

Yup, last night as I was looking at that picture and reminiscing, I was thinking man, if the tools & equipment were available back then that are easily available now, we'd have been dangerous. Things like super light radio gear and batteries, CAD, CNC, composites, etc. not to mention the instant communication and sharing of ideas via the internet. Oh yeah, and the fact that I was single and spare time was unlimited, well almost anyway!

I have 2 ideas in mind for "Twin Potts II". #1 would be a sleek, low wing, pattern-like look with inverted engines, rear engine would have Cox Sandblaster style accessory clamp-on heat sink head to help it stay cool, MAYBE light mechanical retracts and a swoopy canopy.

#2 would be a scale-like Cessna push-me-pull-you twin with side mounted engines, fixed trike gear. What are they called, 337's? All I really remember is "Mixmaster." So many ideas, so little time. (And space to store 'em all!)

av8rsodt

My Feedback: (23)

Doesn't get any better than this....

Thinking up the next project (or potential project) and adding it to the 20,000 others already on the list.

I have a file cabinet full of plans, 3-views, and magazines...

Gotta love this hobby.

Av8rsodt