There are numerous types of "celebrities" that atract fans whose behaviour borders on the obsessive. In music circles, at least, they're called groupies. I admit it...I'm a pilot groupie. Art Scholl, Patty Wagstaff, Svetlana Kapanina to name a few. However, hands down, no contest, not even close...I'll drive anywhere and pay anything to watch Jim LeRoy perform in his Pitts S2S Bulldog.
If you've never seen this guy perform...make a point of it. Head to [link=http://www.bulldogairshows.com]Jim's website[/link] and check out some of the videos. You'll also find quite a bit of interesting info about his plane, a modified Pitts S2S nicknamed "The Bulldog".
Jim's show is, in my opinion, the SINGLE most exciting performance on the airshow circuit today, and, honestly, the most exciting I've EVER seen...despite having seen the names above, and then some.
My latest opportunity to see Jim came just last month in Tullahoma, TN, where he was performing at AEDC for their 55th aniversary. I was lucky enough to have snapped a fairly nice picture of Jim last year at the Smyrna, TN airshow, and was excited to be able to take an 8x10 of that shot with me to Tullahoma. I had the opportunity to meet Jim after his performance, and have him sign that photo. Furthermore, he was gracious and genuine enough to spend quite a while chatting with me after he'd finished signing other autographs. Beyond being a top notch airshow pilot, he's a wonderful person, and a real credit to his business.
It was that experience that convinced me...I absolutely HAVE to stop "thinking about one day modeling the Bulldog" and get off my duff and make some balsa dust.
So...
A few searches later, I ran across [link=http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_3382269/anchors_3382269/mpage_1/key_/anchor/tm.htm#3382269]this thread on RCU[/link], in which Bipe Flyer discusses plans and construction for both a stock Pitts S2S as well as a Jim LeRoy Bulldog version. Using the plans that he provided in post 179 of that thread, as well as his superb TilePrint product, I started in on a .40 sized model of The Bulldog. Save for a spinner a a couple of finishing decals, it's finished, and has flown several times. It presents EXTREMELY well in the air, and maintains several of the "quirks" of the full scale bird, making it a real joy to own and fly.
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So, with all that in mind, it's time to build a "big one".
The scale Bulldog has a 19.5' span. This is good news, as it means a true 1/3rd scale comes out at a 78" span...a very manageable and transportable size, but certainly large enough to say "big model".
I found Andrew's .40 sized plans to be exceptional in every regard. They were clear, concise, easy to follow, and the plane is well designed. It's strong but not at all heavy. As a result, they'll be the "starting point" for the big one. Bipe Flyer's TilePrint software makes blowing up the original plans ridiculously easy, so that task is already done.
As for some of the vaiours "How will I???"'s of the project, the initial plans are as follows:
40cc BCMA SPE40 engine. Have one of these on my 25% GP Yak-54, and it's a solid motor, light weight, inexpensive, and BCMA provides good service.
Wings will be foam core balsa sheeted, as they are on the little one. LHS already has the templates stored, so cutting the new set should be a simple matter of increasing a few dimensions.
Like the little one before it, everything will be scratch built, from the landing gear up.
I intend (presuming I don't do something stupid and lose the Digicam's memory card again) to document the build thoroughly through pictures, and frequent posts here.