Airworthy Fokker E.III 422/15

Welcome everybody!

The other day I was in a bookshop, flicking through various publications, when I saw a photo of an airworthy Fokker E.III 422/15. Do any of you guys have any information on this aircraft? It has an unusual paint scheme, ie. lozenged wings, blue fuselage, but in some photos it appears blue-green. It certainly looks a very eye-catching example, I wouldn't mind applying this scheme to a model someday. Any help you can give, I'd love to hear.

I wasn't too sure whether to post this thread on this section or the 'Aircraft' section.

Best Wishes to everyone, Ken. *;D

P.S. Guys, I haven't forgotten about the life-size cardboard replica!

[Gregvan]

Kenderoz,

I cannot be sure (the following is only a guess), but this sounds like one of the many paint schemes applied to the Bianchi-built (Personal Plane Services ??) sort-of Fokker E.III, which has flown extensively in England and has appeared in some films. Look at the photo again: the replica had ailerons, a radial engine, and a tailplane and elevators, unlike the original. I'm sure there are others on this forum who know far more about this replica than I do.

I'm certain no wartime Fokker E.III ever flew in lozenge fabric. However, if you want to do a model of the replica, hey, go for it !!

Greg VanWyngarden

[stringbags4ever2]

A Fokker EIII would make an excellent ultralight, n'est-ce pas? :

[wolfenbill]

There is a user named Brad from Ft. Worth who is building an E.III ultralight. You may want to correspond with him. He is on this forum from time to time.

[stringbags4ever2]

Notice to Brad: Have any details about your EIII build? Please share!

Blue skies,

Pete L'H.

[Brad]

Notice to Brad: *Have any details about your EIII build? *Please share!

Blue skies,

Pete L'H.

Ok... I'll share what I can. We're in the plans stage, REAL close to starting tailfeathers (something easy to build to boost our confidence and enthusiasm... also something we need to test first.) Let me start by saying we are doing an E-I, not and E-III. It's a hair smaller, which allows lighter weight and doesn't require splicing of material for the ailerons and wingspars- this was honestly the deciding factor.

Fuselage: 6061-T6 tubing, braced with cable. I almost have to draw how we'll do this, but basically the vertical tubes are "fitted" to the longerons, and the cable pulls the gussets, so all the tubing is in compression and the gussets are in tension. The forward (cockpit section) is 7/8" x .058", and the part from the cockpit back is 3/4" x .035. Vertical tubes are 1/2" x .058 in the forward part, 1/2" x .035 in the rear. gussets are ~.040" sheet stock.
Still evaluating cables. Initiall I planned 1/8", but may go lighter. NO turnbuckles are used- the cable layout is done with a single turnbuckle per bay while setting up, then the ends are nicopressed and the section that the turnbuckle attaches to cut away... then the turnbuckle is reused for the next bay. This one requires a picture to explain.

One could probably, with appropriate planning/tools and perhaps a second set of hands, built the basic fuselage in a day, 2 days tops.

Wings: 6061-T6 spars, compression struts, tip bows. Ribs from foam (isulation type, think Home Depot or Lowes) with plywood capstrips. The "main" or front spar is the leading edge (as it is with most ultralights) and the flying/landing wires attach to the rear of this spar. Not 100% to scale, but not far off. Ailerons are full span, hinged to the rear spar. They are actuated by the aileron spar/leading edge being used as a torque tube, with the "horns" on the end passing INTO the cockpit area and being connected via push-pull tube to the bellcrank assembly on the mechanism for the control stick. This allows for quick breakdown and assembly, easy construction, and differntial aileron throw to reduce adverse yaw.

Tail surfaces are true to the original in form, with no fixed vertical or horizontal surfaces.

Covering will be 1.6 or 1.7 oz Dacron, dyed with coffee to match unbleached linen... finished with a UV-inhibiting poly clearcoat.

LG are ALMOST true to the original, although we plan to use some sort of suspension in the vertical members, either internally or at the mounting point, to prevent intrusion of the mechanism into the cockpit area. This is actually one of the few items we haven't finalized. Wheels with be "tuff wheels" (the molded plastice 20" BMX wheels) with fabric glued and shrunk to cover and concel them.

Rigging will be almost identical to the original in appearance, however, no wing warping... so it is somewhat simplified in actual practice. Flying wires will be anchored with bolts in shear, and the landing wires will have a quick-disconnect mechanism to allow quick teardown for trailering.

Unlike the Baslee 75% ones, we are using the full number of flying and landing wires instead of half, to maintain a more scale appearance. Also, at 87.5% size, it's more comfortable for a "real" adult to fly... and we aren't cheating on the dimensions.

Engine plans are currently a FULL VW, we are pretty confident we can "make" weight with this configuration. If not, we'll consider 1/2 VW or 2 strokes... but I don't think that will be needed.

Brad

[Brad]

p.s. please note:

ALL hardware will be aircraft grade hardware. Standard ultralight (even the foam ribs!) construction practices are followed throughout- the fuselage is the only thing remotely unique about how we are doing things... and the basic concept is how the original was built! Nothing new there. It's just combining ideas and design features from several ultralights I have examined pretty closely and/or bought plans for.


Brad

[Brad]

p.s. again... the basic structure could, with one less "bay" in the fuselage, different landing gear, and a different shaped rudder, be built as a Pfalz E-I as well.

Brad