Covering is Black Baron
Metalflake film...even the
plastic wheelpants and the
nylon spinner!  Too bad
that this covering was to
be it's Achilles Heel.  :-(
 

This is one of my all time favorite planes.  I loved that airplane!  It was, (yep...past tense), capable of the fastest, wildest, and most violent snap-rolls that I have ever seen.  I built mine from plans by Don Muddiman, but I believe the Progressive Miniature kit is the exact same airplane.

My dearly departed Flying Machine was a rare combination of extremely fast control response, super agility, and high speed...WITHOUT being a handful to fly.  How can I best describe the flying characteristics?  Hmmmm....let me think back....I know....how about a "Go-Where-You-Point-It-Right-Now-Competition-Fun-Fly-At-120 mph" type of airplane.  Yeah, that pretty much describes how it flys!  Absolutely perfect for beating the sky into submission!

The aerobatic potential was amazing.  The roll rate was over 2 rolls per second.  Landing speed was FAR slower than you would expect.  To me, the most impressive thing about the Flying Machine was the snap-rolls it did.  A normal snap-roll was very fast, but it was LIGHTNING fast if you IMMEDIATELY went to full down elevator and full opposite aileron just after entering the snap-roll.  It enters a high speed flat spin...except the rotational speed is so fast it's just a blur (Flat-Snap?).  When entered from a full power vertical dive, this flat-snap is definitely one of the most awesome, and the most violent aerobatic maneuvers I have ever seen to date!

I flew mine first with an unpiped K&B 6.5cc, then a piped OS 40 FSR, and finally an unpiped OS 46 VF.  All were capable of vertical hand launches. The APC 9x7 prop was my favorite with all of the engines.  Flight speeds were measured at 115 mph with the K&B and the piped OS 40 FSR.  The OS 46 VF went around 125 mph and proved to be my favorite.

Creating this page made me realize how much I really DO miss my old Flying Machine (sigh).  It would probably still be flying today IF I would have MonoKoted it.  Instead, I tried using Black Baron Metalflake film.  It looked really great when it was new!...especially in the sunlight!  Unfortunately, it didn't take too long for me to discover that Black Baron Metalflake film was NOT fuel proof.  After several years of flying, the structural damage caused by this fuel soaking resulted in the fin and rudder to depart from the plane during one of those high speed "Flat-Snaps".

:-0

The crash damage was not really all that bad, but it was now so fuel soaked because of that &%$#@! Coverite Black Baron film, that it was unrepairable.

In an instant, my beloved Flying Machine was reduced to a vivid memory.

<sniffle......sob.......sigh.......>

So, if anyone who has flown a Flying Machine knows of a BETTER airplane for the purpose of assaulting and battering the lower atmosphere, PLEASE E-MAIL ME!!  In the mean time, I guess I'll just have to dig out the plans again and build another one.
 
 

Comments?
E-Mail me at:
dmcdnld@yhti.net

(To Dave McD's GLH II)

(Back to R/C Air Force)

(Home)