Yes, the actual incidence on the wings should be -2.5 degrees. The same with the landing gear wing.

Thanks RCmob, that's what I was waiting for. Man that thing must have a lot of drag!

I flew my GP DR-1 today for the first time. About all I can say is that it's awesome. I even performed a no damage ground loop on it's maiden flight. Just like many of the real ones! Landing in about a 7 mph head wind, the plane was carrying nealy no groung speed when I sat it down. The second flight was flawless.

I found the rudder to be very effective in the air. Mine actually flys well flying the rudder and using the ailerons to maintain the desired roll angle in the turns. And es, it will do some amazingly tight, slow, flat turns.

As far as the OS .61FX, I strongly recommend a 4 stroke. The sound is so much more realistic on a plane like this. Besides, the plane is not the type that you can do a whole lot of aerobatics with. Though it will loop, roll and spin.

The gear are narrow, a cross wind or gusts get tricky, but there's not a thing you could change to make that any better unless you'd could rewrite history. I must say, hats off to Great Planes on this one.

Flew mine for the first time this weekend, It was great! a very nice flyer, it took a little work to land in a crosswind, it was hard to hold a wing, or wings down with top rudder, but it got easier after I flew it a few times. It will do alot more than I expected out of the plane all of the scale manuvers can be done in a very tight space, it is a ball to fly this plane in close. You do need to fly it with the rudder, if not it will skid around and you are just asking for trouble if you fly in close.
All in all I am very pleased with the plane, I just have to find a pilot now and it will be complete!

Guys,
My Dr1 developed a hairline crack at the juncture where the lower wing butts up to the fuselage cradle. It was apparent because I noticed the monokote was wrinkled, as if I had overtightened the wing into the mounting bolts. Upon inspection I found the trailing edge closest to the fuse was loose under the covering. When I stripped it back to do the necessary repair I found that there was only soft balsa spars where you would normally find hardwood. The smaller spars were cracked and as stated the thin balsa sheeting had a hairline fracture running about 1/2 the width of the wing. I CA'd everything and cap stripped the inboard sections. As a prevenative I opened up the other side and did the same thing with the CA and cap strips. Let me lastly state that I did not crash or land the plane hard! It might be to your benefit to keep an eye on your lower wings to catch this problem if it occurs. Plane is an outstanding performer otherwise!

Happy Flying!

LOOPMAN

fiery, How does your 3 Sea Bees Fokker DV fly and what engine are you using in it? I have an opportunity to pick up a good used one with a 45 2-stroke and was wondering if it is worth getting.

Well the summer is over. Wondering if there are any more experiences with the Fokker DR 1.

I read Dick Pettit article in RC report twice and one in Flying Models, and of course on RCM. Everyone seems to like this plane. I would think it would be difficult to fly, but the article's and responses I have read all support its good flying qualities.

The two fields I fly at are paved and a average 10 - 15 knot winds 5 to 20 degrees off center of runway, cornering wind is common.
How do you think the Fokker would handle in these conditions ?

The Fokker Dr1 is a light wind aircraft, better suited to lazy summer evening flying. It excels at slow speed stability but can get buffeted pretty good in moderate wind. Any wind speed above 8 to 10 mph is a no-no!

Happy Flying!

Loopman

That's for sure, this plane has lot's of area to push on, no matter what angle you present to the wind!

My pilot has hung up his goggles for the winter.

That't too bad about needing light wind. It's very rare we have wind under 10 knots. The afternoon sun and ocean cause the effect. I did see one fly but once and you are right it was a no wind day. It looked great.

I have seen my first DR1 ARF in the store and it does look very nice. I also own a DR1, but it is a scratch built Ziroli's. They are outstanding flying machines, and they do draw a crowd when in flight. Due to the shortness and the weight being very far forward, I found that the throttle, rudder, and elevator control is very important during take off. I have over 30 flights on my (baby) and hopefully many more. Mine is much heavier being 18lbs and powered by a Zenoah G-38. It does sound incredible on those low slow flybys, with the pilot scarf blowing into the wind. I have flown mine in winds up to 20 MPH, it is a challenge, and you have to be on top of it. Landings are also tricky with this bird. I find the best way to land is to 3 point. Because of the narrow gear and all that rudder, to fly it down on the mains is a real mistake, especially in crosswinds. Just like the real machine it will weather vain into the wind. It is not a good habit to let it go where it wants to but with my Triplane, if you fight to hard it could be all over.

It is definitely a beauty to see and fly. I have been eying one up and I may have to buy one.

Good luck on those Dawn Patrols.

Craig.

Use lots of control throw, a powerful engine and add ballast for those windy days. You can tame it considerably.

Mine will be fitted with a .91 Magnum four-stroke. I've even thought about adding extra ailerons, but I'll fly it the way it is before making any change in that area. I will be surprised if it has enough aileron authority as is.

I used to watch fellows crash their high wing trainers many years ago whenever they tried to fly in any wind at all. In those days, most flew with very small control surfaces and very little movement on said surfaces. Some of the models were so light that it nearly would have been possible to fly them as kites. A little ballast helped that situation. Replacing their anemic weeny engines with something a bit stronger helped too.

Granted, flying such a model, even with all the changes I recommended, isn't that much fun on a windy day, but it can be done successfully - if your thumbs are up to it. <G>

WOULD A GYRO FOR THE RUDDER HELP ?

I doesnt need a gyro, the plane flies great as is, just donr fly in more wind than you are comfortable with. I have flown mine is fairly heavy wind without any problem. Just stay within your limits. In the wind I do wheel land th plane in order to maintain stability.

I found this guy on ebay.

Some posters say they needed up to 1.5 lb of noseweight and others need none? Could I get some more feed back on what people used for engines and any noseweight added. I'm thinking of getting this plane and have a Saito 72 but would really hate having to add 1.5 lb of weight to make it balance.

Thanks,

Marcus

I have a saito .91 in mine and did not have to add any weight.

On the .91. I'm using an O.S. Surpass II. No additional weight was needed.

I have a Saito 0.91 and have flown quite a bit without weight, and with a 1 lb transformer bolted to the firewall.

Whenever anybody asks what the transformer is for, I tell them you have to convert all the german planes from 220 to 110!

Anyway, I fight the pitch axis all the time in the Fokker.. suddenly you loose 20 feet, then the slightest elevator movement makes it balloon up. I though it was tail heavy, but the extra pound doesn't really make that much difference. Tried shimming up the lower wing for slightly more angle of attack, but still little effect.

I realized I never had the problem when idled down on final, only at full throttle. I think the 0.91 may be a bit too much for this plane, it actually flys better at a lower airspeed.

Thanks guys

rwh: I'm truly amazed that adding 1lb hardly altered the flight characteristics.

Does anyone else have this ballooning effect at full throttle? I can't imagine this being normal!

Thanks for the input concerning the wind effect on the flying characteristics of the Fokker DR 1.

Seems like a lot of people like this plane. I took the plunge and purchased one. It will be great fun flying an Anthony Fokker design.
I plan fly it in the morning to early afternoon when the wind is low. Listening to the ATIS reports the wind has not been as strong as I originally thought.

Thanks again for all the great input.

I will add my 2 cents worth. This plane is an absolute pleasure to fly but you need to do a couple of fixes up front!

1. I used an OS.91FS and did not need any add'l weight to balance.

2. The lower wing has no internal plywood spar, if you catch a wingtip you will in all likelyhood be doing a repair. It might be a good idea to beef up the lower wing.

3. solder the elevator pushrods together instead of using the plan suggested linkage.

4. The ailerons are extremely responsive and this plane will turn on a dime with 9 cents change!

5. Enjoy!!!!

Happy Flying!

LOOPMAN

Have a Super Tigre .75 on mine, no weight needed anywhere. Used the supplied pushrods, but I did put lock-tite on the elevator split rod system, plus bent the extra rod leftover out to the side a bit, in case it wanted to get loose and slide a bit, I wouldn't lose the whole thing. Nothing has happened on that, as yet, with 30 or more flights.

The landing gear main axle has broken it's solder/weld on mine, letting that little wing flop around. I've soldered it back with silver solder, and it's holding up. No rough landings, either. This thing lands at a literal walk, and we've got a smooth field, too.

The long CA hinge on the rudder starting splitting from the top-down on mine. Wasn't sure if this was from flutter in the air (doubt it, no high-power dives or anything silly), or from my bumping the rudder on the side of the Blazer tailgate when taking it in and out fully assembled (more likely). Replaced it totally with some Hayes hinges, seems to be holding up well.

Overall, I really like it. Gets oodles of attention at the field, and it's by far the easiest landing airplane I've flown in a while, and those DR1's are famous for nosing over. This one won't.... Still gives me goosbumps when I fly it. I'm expecting the worst, like my old Proctor DR1 gave me, but it just flies around really nice.


phil in austin

Has any one modified the GP Fokker DR 1 with scale Axe handles or skid plates similar to the full scale aircraft? Is it an easy modification?

I though it would be help protect the wing tips.

It's a great flyer! First flew mine last summer. Power is an older OS 91FS - balances w/o additional weights, swings a larger prop around the cowl, and flys scale at 1/3 throttle. It easily performs basic aerobatics, knife edge, and so on. Did the first 10 or so flights using lots of left stick rudder then remembered that I have a computer radio. Then coupled ailerons/rudder, making the DR1 a pleasure to fly. Still haven't done that scale nose-over landing as it slows beautifully to an almost three-point landing.

It's an attention getter - the crowds love it!