Sloping Off - June 2003

Olly's Fox
by Oliver Kirkwood

The Fox got bought at Spire models for £125 on the way from Heathrow to Corfe last February, taking Cathy into Spire models as she buys all my planes.

I built it in about a week (thanks for the loan of the soldering iron Phil) and flew it at SW Ringstead, SE Ridgeway hill, and the Picnic site.
 
The Fox does not have flaps - I might fit some eventually.  For arrivals I use up aileron and a touch of up elevator mixed in.  When deployed, the nose goes up and the wing goes into a stable high drag no lift mode that gives hands-off descent. This works really well on the Microfloh I prised from Neil; the Microfloh goes into kite on string mode and descends to a pancake landing.   For the Fox landing against a force 4 blow was similar, but great care is needed to be lined up dead into wind with wings absolutely level as the tailplane is low and vulnerable.  The first attempt at landing in gentle conditions was heart stopping; the Fox came down alright, but rapidly, and I thought I must have rammed the wheel to the roof.  But all was okay, probably saved by the fact the ground was so soft from all the Winter rain.  I haven't really got the landing/brain sorted. If descent gets rapid then pulling up stalls the wing more and the descent goes on but faster, and pushing nose down puts on too much horizontal speed. Putting away the up aileron requires height as the recovery is a nose down swoop back to the speed the RG15 wing flies at.  I suppose I'll have to reduce the amount of up aileron some time, but provided there is breeze enough to push against the Fox comes in beautifully.

My last flights at the Picnic site were in moderate/light conditions and I blew a landing when I turned into the slope too low (I was getting tired of overshooting) with brain unconnected.  The Fox was travelling downwind fast and then it wasn't!  Well, the expected damage was huge while the actual damage was light and all at the tailplane; a crease across it, a dislodged locating pin and a snapped hold down bolt. Damage was fixed by ironing the crease out and reinforcing with a strip of diamond tape.

Well that's my Dorset holiday done.  It was good seeing you on the slopes.