My S.M.A.L.L. Raffle Flying Clown ('bout 1999) and Joker Ready to Go

Got another ancient project off the shelves and ready to go.  Thanks to, or because of, my bud Billy's rehab of a Swap Meet Rescue.15-powered Ringmaster Junior, I decided it was time to get my Brodak 'Flying Clown' glued together and going.



I won the kit as a raffle or door prize at the S.M.A.L.L. Fly-In back in 1999 or 2000.  I'd started on the fuselage, finishing it all the way to the clear coats of dope, and got the wing framed up.  Then, something else shiny must have slid by, with my brain following it, and the Clown got shelved.

An old Fox 'Cross-Thread' .15 had been  parked in my engine drawer since about forever and was dragged out and forced awake with some 10% or 15% Sig.  I must have intended the Clown to be able to take a couple size engines, as there was an 'adapter gap' with the bearers.  This was ground to fresh wood and replaced with a pinned bearer to fill the gap.



Luckily, the plane was hauled out during one of those rare instances where I was able to focus on it, and it went together pretty quickly.  

But, of course, SOMETHING has to chuck in a wrench in the works, and that was the finish.  The fuse had been clear-coated to shinyness, so all I needed to do was to shoot some color and it was off to playtime.  But not so.  It never occurred to me that back in 1999, I was still using Aerogloss, not switching to Brodak until much later.  When I sprayed a white base-coat on the Clown, everything went just great, but then...I tried to mask it for some color, and the white tried come off with the tape.  These are the hazards of decade-stalled projects!

I got mad enough to threaten to name it 'Plain-White-Wrapper' and fly it as it was, but finally tried again with some less-aggressive tape, that more or less worked.  Heath Ledger, my favorite clown...if I have one...was stuck in the cockpit, and the thing was christened ready to fly.  It's got the rough edges that ALWAYS accompany my builds, and if all the paint peels off on the first flight, that'll still be fine with me.

Billy's been flying his Ringmaster Jr. on 52" lines and doing OK, so I'm gonna make up a set from .012 and get it in the air at first chance.