Folkerts Racer (oz2137)

About this Plan

Folkerts Racer. Control line scale racer for .19 - .29 power.

This Folkerts Racer appeared on Air Trails Plan no. 951 along with Whistle Wagon, a hand launched glider and Ollie a free flight. Thanks to newtmagick for more info on this.

Quote: "Folkerts Racer. One of The famous speed champs reappears as a slick flying scale model - and with minor revisions you can use the 'Jupiter' in official team races.

The 1937 Thompson Trophy Race was one of the most spectacular contests in closed-course air racing. At the starting signal Steve Wittman took the lead in his Bonzo and at the halfway mark was ten miles ahead of Col. Roscoe Turner flying the famous Laird Meteor. Third and fourth positions were held by Earl Ortman piloting a powerful Kieth Rider and Rudy Kling in his tiny Jupiter. Then a bird flew into Wittman's propeller forcing him to relinquish the lead to Turner.

The Colonel thought he cut the next pylon short and swung back to round it again. This put Ortman and Kling first and second screaming down the home stretch! Kling, flying much higher, put his Clayton Folkerts design into a dive, gaining additional speed to cross the finish line just one half second ahead of Ortman! Kling won by a half plane length, one of the closest victories in air race history.

The victorious Menasco air-cooled; in-line, inverted, 250 hp engine powered Folkerts averaged 256.91 mph.

Although our model with its 90 square inches of projected wing area falls short of the team racing rules minimum area requirements by 35 square inches, we recommend a semi-scale version for those modelers addicted to team racing. An enlarged wing outline is illustrated. Use the same type wing structure and a transparent bubble canopy.

Powered by a fooling 29, our model attained a speed of 97 mph, and it is only fair to state that our engine was not completely broken in! If you are after a model that will provide many hours of carefree flying as well as have a snappy appearance, you can install engines as small as .099 in the nose. It works swell!

The basic fuselage sides are the first items to feel the sharp edge of your razor blade. These are followed by the bulkheads. Be sure to cut out slots for the wing before beginning assembly. Bevel the rear of the fuselage sides as the top view illustrates and cement the rear together, meanwhile installing bulkhead F. When thoroughly dry, install the remaining bulkheads, being liberal with the cement.

Either beam or bulkhead type engine mounts can be used. The mounts must be securely glued to the plane and filleted generously. We used Weldwood. Bend the wire landing gear struts, bind the joints with fine soft wire and solder well. Now wrap the landing gear assembly to the hardwood strut supports with crinoline or thread and cement thoroughly..."

Supplementary file notes

Article pages, text and pics, thanks to BillW.

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