dogbiteken

here are some pics during covering and final assembly. used evoliution .36 engine. have not flown yet. enjoy!









"Help! Jane! Stop this crazy thing!" George Jetson.

stg61abc

Wow, great and beauty plane folk, my congratulations !
And with the 36 will move like a Rat Racer ...
Its posible to share the plans from it with us?
many thanks

Carlo

cjet

A little over 50 years ago a friend flew one of these. I still have my Ringmaster from those days that I last flew about two years ago. I think he bought a Flying Fool original kit on e-Bay a while back.

Thanks for the post, I enjoyed the memory. Let us see it flying one day!

build light

It really looks good and I always have liked the lines.
I would like to make one for .049-.061. I am thinking about a 24" upper wingspan. I would need a good 3 view to do this.

It's a shame a half A size Flying Fool was never kitted...

Robert

icerinkdad

Well... there kinda was a half a... I remember a little Ringmaster Bipe that was fun to fly (one of the first half a's I got to loop). Lost the top wing in a crash and then flew it very fast on the tiny bottom wing for several months more.
Bob

build light

Quote by Bob:
"Lost the top wing in a crash and then flew it very fast on the tiny bottom wing for several months more."

Heh! [sm=lol.gif] Thanks for that! You paint a pretty good picture with your description.

The Ringmaster bipe is nice but not quite the same. I had the full size long ago and it was a nice plane though too heavy and the flaps on both wings were a pain then and weren't as effective as I thought they would be.

Robert

CajunAce

My dad still has his original Flying Fool. Slowly rebuilding it here and there. Along with a smoothie aswell.

Slowjohn

The Flying Fool brings back a lot of memories for me. Does anyone know where I can get a set of plans so that my Flying Buddy & I can scratch build us another one each?

Thanks In Advance
&
Standing By.
SJ

Fytch

thats a nice bird!i want one too!!

dogbiteken

i found the plans at the AMA plan service. the plans come as two sheets. one is the origional plan from the kit , and the other is a photocopy of the die cut sheets from the kit. had to do some inking to make good templates, and re draw the fuselage bulkheads.







"Help! Jane! Stop this crazy thing!" George Jetson.

Slowjohn

cutaway

I've got a FF I've been slowly working on for a while. I had to replace all the kit's plywood pieces. The stuff was terrible. The die cutting was exceptionally poor too. The parts were really just vague approximations that all require custom fitting.

Slowjohn

IIRC I bought the only one I had in the summer of '69. I remember I wasn't old enough to get my license to drive yet. Totally destroyed it in '71 while I still had my first car so I don't recall how good or bad the die cutting was. I'm also thinking that it was the last C/L kit I bought as I started flying RC about then and also started taking flying lessons. Mowed a whole bunch of yards back then too so I could support my flying habit.

Standing By,
SJ

Lou Crane

Ken,

As many have mentioned, that's a lot of engine for the model. It WILL be fast...

The Sterling kits, back then, were notorious for heavy balsa, so the models often came out heavy... The .19s and .35s (recommended range on the box and ads) were nowhere near the power of our modern engines about that displacement.

I think I have a F/Fool kit around my shop; if scratch-built - in good wood and simplified structure - to get down to the ~20 oz range, it should be a lot of fun on a modern .20.

Yours should be a blast! Enjoy!

build light

Lou, you said a mouth full! cutaway, you too.
The wood was terrible and the parts fit was worse. I don't know why the FF kits fetch so much on that auction site but they are always strongly bid upon.

Too, when the engine quit these overweight and draggy but wonderfully georgeous models would be drawn to the earth as though it were a dust mite under the suction spell of a Dyson.

Scratching one is the smartest way to go, shooting for lightest weght.

Robert

50+AirYears

I really enjoyed the FF I had in 67. Drilled the mounts for a Fox .35, but flew it with either the .35 or a Fox 19. Oddly enough, on 60' lines, I couldn't tell the difference.
Several years before I went into the air Force, local flyers were into the Saber Dance with CL planes. They'd normally take off slobberingly rich then hang planes on their props. My flying fool could easily be coaxed into a Saber Dance at normal engine settings with either the .19 or .35.
I seem to remember when American Modeler did an article on Sterling, a comment was made that they usually got their balsa in bulk by buying up the unusable balsa from a nearby factory that made life rafts for the Navy. I also remember sometimes finding decent balsa and decent die cutting, and even decent ply, and other times oak hard balsa with Die Crush, and ply that delaminated if you looked at it wrong. In fact, I once built a very decent flying Sterling rubber powered Piper Cub by using the parts as patterns to make good parts from decent balsa.

Right now, I have a salvaged FF from someone who went to RC only that needs some major rebuilding, and an NIB red labeled kit. I'm looking forward to getting them both built.

dennis

My Feedback: (90)

You tend to forget how small that model is when you are relying on your memory as a 10 to14 year old. Putting an Evolution 36 in this model is really not a good idea as it is a real powerhouse and will seriously overload the model. It was not uncommon for this plane to shed it's top wing when pushed too hard. Suprisingly enough it did fly on the bottom wing and depending on what was up front it actually flew better.
I have the kit and then a friend bought out his reconstructed FF annd flew it. That was enough to let the kit sit on the shelf as a memory. Incidentally I could have bought my friends model for a very decent price but passed on it. Sometimes you just can't go back. Better to let the memories endure.
Dennis

dogbiteken

i used all top quality balsa and ply with modern adheasives. the air is thin at a mile hi and proper prop selection should help keep it under control. the evoloution engine also came with 3 ventiri stacks to play with. i went with the evoloution after reading that they were reliable and trouble free. thanks for the comments everyone!




"Help! Jane! Stop this crazy thing!" George Jetson.

AJ Sun

I’ve been cleaning my area had rats and mice invasion found two classic kits Flying fool and a ringmaster. Both original kits. I built both many years ago. And yes My Fool lost the top wing and took the lead out with it lost the plane. That happened on my first figure 8 not over my head. Fox Stunt 35. Still have the motor. And bought another kit about the time they quite making them maybe 1972 or 74. I was in the Army, and bought both of them at the PX model shop. Kinda forgot I had them. Pat Treddle makes an updated version larger example. I was told by another flyer who had built one power was an OS 50. I pitted for him flying on 65 foot 18 lines. After that I ordered Pats kit. The Fool is an attractive bi plane AJ

AJ Sun

Reading this post old post again, I built that Sterling Flying Fool many years ago. And flew it for maybe five years. Always brought a lot of comments at the Circle. Hawaii was the UC at Hickman AFB usually every Sunday after Lunch. Always several guys flying. Lots of fun. I never had any Issues with the wood but later production the die smash was pretty bad. I have a kit original but it’s still covered in plastic and a little dust. I bought a larger version of the Fool it’s a nice kit can RC or UC I don’t think they are offered any more, If and when I build it, another winter project, in the future. I was trying to do a figure 8 when I lost the top wing the left strut went with the upper wing and hit the wood prop I had a full down on the elevator doing an out side loop on the 8, back in the day Ambroad glue and Sig made a wood glue a lot like the Ambroad, I also lost the wing counter weight on that day. So many factors were to blame and I really learned a lot. Building flying and crashing.AJ.

AJ Sun

I was reading this post again and read your in Mile hi city, the Rockie mountain high! I flew there several times did the sim at Stapleton United, but flew for Emery. Went to the flying circle a few times can’t recall where it was, but they also flew RC. I remember the big hobby shop that had the big screen RC simulator. Also had a flyin fool hanging from the ceiling. Great shop. And great memories long gone for ever! AJ

AJ Sun

I was rereading this flying fool post. And the Fox Stunt 35 was a lite weight engine. The evolution 36 is a heavier engine with the muffler. Which is pretty big it's self. The original engine I ran was the Fox 19,but the fool struggling in the circle. I flew it that way on Okinwa where I built it. I was transferred to Hawaii. And rented a bunglow in Halieva. The airport there was by the ocean and you always had that sea breeze. The Sky diving club was at one end and the glider club was at the other end. Old Army sub landing strip in WW11 in fact the only facility that launched P-40s during Dec 7th attack. Lots of history. And my Flying Fool flew there. It was a major job to remove the Fox 19 and install the Fox Stunt 35. It flew a lot better. Flying my S-1 Ringmaster and the soon to be no more Flying fool. It's demise is in a previous post. AJ

AJ Sun

No fool like an old fool that thinks about the Flying Fool? I’ve been planning on a next winter Build. And was looking at Esaki Silk. For the wing covering. And the cost of heavy Silk. Some offer it for fourty dollars a yard. Sig no longer sells it sense their move to Illinois. And now I am wondering what happened to the cost of model Silk. I prefer using it, and would never sell my stash. Now worth over four hundred,if that’s what guys are going to pay for it. At my age is even considering future builds a lost effort. With a simple cost of cover has gone thru the roof. And so it goes in 24. Going to keep shopping around and the zFlying Fool just may be my last build. AJ