Full Scale Grandson. Ya Gotta Love Our Crew!

[plod]

[You gotta love the our members here at FlyingGiants!! FG friend, and long time lurker, Mr. Graeme "Plod" Anderson from Australia submitted this absolute ridiculously off the charts uber-cute gem of a foamy he designed, after his grandson! This proud pappy engineered a scale flying superman replica of "Fisher", complete with handerons and toelevators, complete in a superboy suit!

Ya know, there is something very cool about this hobby that I find tough to put my finger on sometimes, and every once in awhile it hits me like a ton of bricks - modelers have a magic quality; humor, charm, and ridiculous amounts of simple passion for the sport. And we usually end up seeing the best of it here.

Thanks for the submission Mr. Plod, and for keeping the skies safe from evil villans! Show us how you git er dun Graeme!]

With a ripper Grandson like this, you can see where my inspiration came from.
The problem… how to build a flying version of a miniature Superman.

The basic shape was sketched out, utilizing the hands as ailerons, the feet as elevators and his shoes for the twin rudders.

I used 3mm thick Depron sheet for the front and back, with ribs to give the structure a thickness of 30mm. Polystyrene was used on some of the edges where I needed a rounded shape. A carbon fibre band gives some extra strength across the chest.

The face, of course, is a print of my grandson, Fisher Crane.
Low sheen water-based paint for color. This added 40 gm.

All up flying weight is 525gm.

Motor is a “MAX II 400XT-1050 Gold” with a 1047 prop.
25 amp Speed controller with Flightpower 3S 1800mAh 25C.
Pushrods are 1mm dia. carbon fibre rod, with heatshrink connections to flying surfaces.

First test flight on 12^th Jan 2008 went well. He climbs vertically with ease and can hover for as long as I can control the sticks. Rolls and loops are cool and he attracts a fair bit of attention when seen from a distance. Landings are really, really slow.

Greetings from Epping Australia,

Graeme

[madmax]

more shots....

[mfe300]

G'day Graeme,

It is Matt Fraser here, i don't know if you remember me, but i flew with you when i was just a little tacker some 15 + years ago at GMAC. I am a mate of Brett and John Hughes, and flew an Ultimate Bipe.

I saw you in Airborne some time ago to. You have always had very interesting models Graeme. It is great to see you, like me have a great passion for our hobby. This model is fantastic and i am sure your Grandson loved it.

Talk soon Matt

[rcdart]

Where is John Hughes these days, last I heard he was in Dubai. He has/had a lot of our old gear.

[adrian]

marvelous!!!!

[mfe300]

He still lives in Dubai, just over here on holiday. How do know John?

[Stu_D]

Good one Graeme . I better not show my kids , my boy would
want one of those in Collingwood colours . Hope you can make
a trip up to the masters in March .

[Boulder]

Great job Graeme!! An awesome tribute to your grandson, nicely done!!

[Matchless]

Super cool!

[mikedannielle]

Awesome

[plod]

Hello Matt.
Thanks for the comments. I caught up with Brett recently at Pakenham where he was flying his 2.8mtr wingspan, Extra with a DA100 up front. He was hoping to get into IMAC, but is currently not too well and was in hospital last I heard. Lets hope he is OK soon.

	Quote: Originally Posted by mfe300
	G'day Graeme, It is Matt Fraser here, i don't know if you remember me, but i flew with you when i was just a little tacker some 15 + years ago at GMAC. I am a mate of Brett and John Hughes, and flew an Ultimate Bipe. I saw you in Airborne some time ago to. You have always had very interesting models Graeme. It is great to see you, like me have a great passion for our hobby. This model is fantastic and i am sure your Grandson loved it. Talk soon Matt

[plod]

	Quote: Originally Posted by Stu_D
	Good one Graeme . I better not show my kids , my boy would want one of those in Collingwood colours . Hope you can make a trip up to the masters in March .

Thanks mate. Collingwood colours? Shouldn't that be Essendon (The Bombers) Colours, so that it would REALLY FLY.

lol