Wing Envy! Old Fogey Biplane.

by alibopo | September 26, 2013 | (9) Posted in Just Fun

Old Fogey - double take!

When I saw the recent article on the brilliant Anvil by kactiguy- it got me thinking about biplanes. Sadly my Baby Blender met a sticky end and is currently recycling through a number of new builds, so I wondered about building something new(ish), maybe something a little quirky....

Well here it is - the Old Fogey biplane. We do it because we can :)

Not quite a sesquiplane (bottom wing area needs to be less than 50% of original) but still quite pretty - in an ugly Old Fogey kind of way.

UPDATE - 31/08/2016 - I've been exploring the topic of Angle of Incidence more recently, both from research and from experimenting with builds. The conclusion I've come to is that for most model planes, no more than 2 degrees Angle of Incidence is required for the vast majority of more modern designs. This actually led me to reduce the 'real life' Angle of Incidence on model versions of biplanes I designed - why? Because with the 'real life' angle, the wings produced too much lift, which needed to be countered by negative inputs like; adding lots of nose weight, excessive down elevator, or a steep downward thrust angle on the motor. Basically the plane is fighting itself - one part trying to lift the plane, the other part trying to keep it level - it is a waste of battery power that could be used to keep the plane flying longer. With this version of the Old Fogey I kept the 4 degrees angle of Incidence of the original, and relied on a pile of nose weight to keep it flying level. If I had known at the time, I would have re-profiled the wing seat to reduce the A of I and flown it on the correct CG, which would have given me much better slow-flying performance. I discuss this in my recent article 'Grouchy' Old Fogey getting you down? 

COMMENTS

kactiguy- on September 27, 2013
Love it!
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alibopo on September 27, 2013
But your creation has DRAMA! :) Thanks.
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twan1997 on September 27, 2013
this is BRILLIANT!!!! :D love iitt
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alibopo on September 27, 2013
Thanks.
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NoUsername on September 27, 2013
Super job in the building, what was your insperation?
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alibopo on September 27, 2013
Thanks - regarding inspiration - it was that Anvil plane by kactiguy that did it. And then I remembered the sasquatch plane by Zatoichi - sorry, that should read sesquiplane by Zatoichi. :) Must be my age, but I really like things that fly slow. Like thumbing your nose at gravity.
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NoUsername on September 28, 2013
Great idea, like you I enjoy the slower flying as it gives me more time to react, must be my age also.

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BuckE67 on October 1, 2013
Very cool!
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joann69 on October 17, 2013
Brilliant idea and build. Way to go.
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Wing Envy! Old Fogey Biplane.