Due to a long time friend just a Few of weeks ago given 8 weeks and with luck a little longer, Dick a former member of our flying club had started a Flair Puppeteer 35 years ago, and due to life's pressures never got it finished, Through a friend & former club mate Brian Wright, he asked if I would be able to complete so he could see it fly;
I collected it a nicely made airframe complete with many years of loft grime, model was almost complete except for ailerons and the connecting of servos to flying surfaces the fitted "new at the time" Skyleader equipment still worked fine so I changed the Skyleader servo plugs for futaba plugs & radio to 2.4 so that I had failsafe function .. The OS 52 fs engine I degummed fitted a 12.5 X 5 propellor & got it bench running again after all those years, changed out the fuel tank too, fitted baffles in the cowling to aid cooling , Dick had not made the ailerons so after finding a plan on tinternet those I made, and used olive green solartex to finish, My artist Neighbour Jim, painted the roundels on the topwing.. I balanced the cg as per plan..
First test flight Brian & I went to the flying field some 3 weeks of receiving the model early evening alone, because if things didn't work out Dick would not be a witness to it, & repairs done if needed ..There was more breeze than we had wanted, anyhow got the engine running into wind takeoff was in in almost Zero feet, the "puppeteer" emulating a drowning person clutching for the sky rose into the air ( BOB you was right re cg ) anyhow I managed to keep in the air and completed the circuit and landed still in one piece..
Adding more stick on weights tried again, this time more success & i was able to do some trimming landed back altogether in a more stately manner,back home I turned up a brass nose cone this added a further 2oz nose weight ..
On the 30th July We managed to get Dick up to the flying site, so he could see ( to him) the maiden flight.. The conditions were perfect and with engine running a near perfect take off, i needed bit more down trim than i could get via trim but the model flew for 10 mins and nice touch down much to Dicks delight,
Adjusting the clevis for more down trim on elevator, the puppeteer again rose into the air , a purring engine a few wing overs a nice graceful landing magic . .
After 2 more flights we called it a day as we could see Dick was quite drained, but he went home a happy man having seen the model he started all those years ago finally take flight .. in the Photo with the three of us Brian Wright, Richard (Dick) Cobden & Pete Fullard we are the founding members of the Worthing & littlehampton flying club started Circa 1973/4 ..
Photos by Paul Brewer club secretary seen below with Dick
In conversation with Dick, I said; Old age it's a bugger getting there, "Yes But least we made it" he replied.. how true.... many don't..
It was really good to get Dick up to the patch for one last time to see his plane fly, even if at the same time it was sad..
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Update on Richard (Dick) Cobden Has since passed away,His funeral was on the 18th September 2020..
Beautifully done. Great job on the colors and markings. Got a technical question for you. Where did you get the Rotol part numbers for the stencilling on the prop blades? I am actively searching for this information.
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