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| LASTWOODSMAN | Dumas Kit #1803, Pietenpol Air Camper | Parked | 22-Jul-17 15:11 |  | | Views : 315 | | Two more pics fram this AM and that is it . HIGH IN THE OVERCAST SKY |
| LASTWOODSMAN | Dumas Kit #1803, Pietenpol Air Camper | Parked | 21-Jul-17 20:24 |  | | Views : 293 | | Went back out at 8:30 PM - Best shot of the day and best shot ever - only had one flight as I broke the rubber winding for the second flight ... |
| LASTWOODSMAN | Dumas Kit #1803, Pietenpol Air Camper | Parked | 21-Jul-17 13:24 |  | | Views : 305 | | The little "Gypsy" Air Camper was really "camping" up there in slow flight against the wind, and running its rubber out right to the very end! I'm starting to feel like the early flight pioneers, discovering the nuances of the physics of aerodynamics ... |
| LASTWOODSMAN | Dumas Kit #1803, Pietenpol Air Camper | Parked | 21-Jul-17 13:21 |  | | Views : 263 | | I had several perfect flights, then I cut another small balsa shim, and added it to the other one (just stuck it in behind the top of the nose plug - the rubber pressure held it in place), in effect DOUBLING UP the DOWNTHRUST, and wound in 900 turns! Got the BEST flight yet !!! 46 seconds of flight going VERY high and turning !! |
| LASTWOODSMAN | Dumas Kit #1803, Pietenpol Air Camper | Parked | 21-Jul-17 13:14 |  | | Views : 283 | | Bad windy weather was forecast for the next several days, so I went out again this morning at 11:00 AM, wind 11 mph gusting to 17 mph, 74 % humidity, 77 deg F feels like 91 deg F - but NO saggy wet tissue ... |
| LASTWOODSMAN | Dumas Kit #1803, Pietenpol Air Camper | Parked | 21-Jul-17 13:11 |  | | Views : 259 | | 18" AIR CAMPER - I went flying last night in the dark at 9:30 PM (they were playing Cricket all day), with NO wind, 79% humidity, 79 deg F feelslike 97 deg F. Only flew once - a perfect circlling left flight of 26 seconds on 600 winds and with soggy saggy tissue. |
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| LASTWOODSMAN | Dumas Kit #1803, Pietenpol Air Camper | Parked | 20-Jul-17 12:52 |  | | Views : 277 | | And my little plane was happy too - quite the valiant flights by that little Gypsy girl!! She really gave her all in that wind ! - reminds me of my exes. I think I will now call her "Nancy", or "Sandy", or both ... depending on the mood swing of the plane at the time... LOL Oh, how I miss the touch of a woman ... a little bit of female affection would really cap off a great day of flying !! But I digress ... LOL |
| LASTWOODSMAN | Dumas Kit #1803, Pietenpol Air Camper | Parked | 20-Jul-17 12:48 |  | | Views : 295 | | I had put in 40 cranks on the winder handle = 600 winds on the rubber, and LO AND BEHOLD!! - a 29 SECOND BRAVELY FOUGHT FLIGHT TURNING LEFT, in 8 mph wind, gusting to 15 mph. The temp was 83 degrees F, feels like 103 degrees F, and humidity of 73%. It was getting too windy and the tissue was getting wet and starting to SAG ! But I was a "HAPPY CAMPER" flying my "AIR CAMPER" !!! So I went home before smashing it up ... |
| LASTWOODSMAN | Dumas Kit #1803, Pietenpol Air Camper | Parked | 20-Jul-17 12:44 |  | | Views : 338 | | Back in my balsa dust-filled apartment woodshop, I ended up sticking about one gram of modeling clay under the fuse rear end, and around the wire skid (for a tail wheel), and balanced it out perfectly. The total weight was now 26 grams, including 2 grams of two strands of 1/8" rubber , each strand of rubber 12" long (the prop hook to rear motor peg mount was 6 1/2" ), and including the one gram of ballast modeling clay. I then went back out to the Cricket Wicket, and I was only lucky enough to get a 12 second flight, because it was climbing too much and was "porpoising" too much. Then I followed the fantastic Dumas instruction segment for flight trimming, titled "FLYING THE MODEL" ( I had photocopied the page, highlighted the important sections, and brought it with me), and then "added down thrust by placing a small balsa shim behind the cowl at the top". I had also brought a sanding block, a permanent marker, scissors, and a small piece of 1/16" balsa plate. I sanded it to a sharp acute angle, traced the edge of the top half of the male (tenon) nose block {that plugs into the female (mortise) hole in the forward fuse bulkhead former}, cut it out with scissors, and stuck it behind the nose block at the top, after winding with a 15:1 winder, and a winding stooge. |
| LASTWOODSMAN | Dumas Kit #1803, Pietenpol Air Camper | Parked | 20-Jul-17 12:40 |  | | Views : 252 | | I picked the poor thing up, after languishing on the shelf, so lonely, for so long, and grabbed my backpack, stooge and gear, and headed out to the "Cricket Wicket" grounds in Jackson Park across the road, for some test glides (without even checking the balance). It test glided OK, but dived down at the end - too nose heavy. I then put 100 turns by hand on the rubber motor that was in there almost 3 years, which gave about 4 or 5 seconds of power, and it climbed OK with a natural left turn, but again dived down. I then returned to the apartment to adjust it. |
| LASTWOODSMAN | Dumas Kit #1803, Pietenpol Air Camper | Parked | 20-Jul-17 12:37 |  | | Views : 407 | | Dumas 18" "AIR CAMPER" kit # 231 scale 1:19 (not the big 36" kit #1803) With my SIG 22" broken wing 'Cabinaire' under repair for tow glorious flying days, I still have the uncontrollable urge to go flying ... This is my 18" Dumas "Air Camper". I've only just looked at her posing there, on the shelf, since Nov 21, 2014. I previously had doubted that it would fly because of that inline 4 cylinder model A Ford engine Radiator, sticking up there all high and mighty, causing drag, and blocking the wind ! The poor thing was just sitting there in heartbroken, spirit-destroying, soul-killing, muted silence and sadness , desperately yearning to fly for almost 3 years, in quiet solitude ... |
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