Rudi's Fokker E-III 'Eindecker' Build

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Rudi's Fokker E-III 'Eindecker' Build

Postby RudiGreyling » Thu May 18, 2017 3:29 pm

Microligters, in case you might be interested, the Fokker E-III qualifies as a Microlight. My main build pages are maintained over at Avcom, with weekly updates, but some of you might miss it so i will provide a link here, and copy the first 3 post to the background here, for you to decide if you want to venture over to avcom: http://avcom.co.za/phpBB3/viewforum.php?f=324

COPY POST 1:
Build the Dream, Live the legend, Fly your Own Fighter!

Aviators, well I am at it again…here I will document my trials and tribulations of my ‘new’ kit build experience.

With an empty workshop and idle hands, I had to find something to build again, BUT WHAT?

I am blessed to have built and own a RV7 and RV10, and own a trike.
• The RV7 is my sports car of the skies, fast agile and aerobatic,
• The RV10 is my family cruiser, lots of space for four and luggage, lots of power and speed, very stable IFR platform, to go touring with.
• My Microlight Trike is my scooter of the skies, low and slow, open cockpit to enjoy the splendor of flight and take it all in.

So you kind of see my dilemma. WHAT NEXT? I was looking for something:
1. Different and unique,
2. To learn new skills,
3. Not break the bank (I didn't want to spend a R1 million on a plane)
4. Fast to build (I don’t want to spend another 2,000 hours)

That is when I stumbled across Airdrome Aeroplanes (AA) and their World War 1 fighter replicas. There is SOMETHING MAGICAL about those old WW1 fighter planes, the bare essence of flying. AA ticked all my boxes.

It is different and unique, how many WW1 fighter replicas do you know of? I will be learning new skills, as it is a Aluminium Tube and Ceconite Covering build. They are dirt cheap and fast to build 250-500H.

Go to the Airdrome Aeroplanes Introduction here http://avcom.co.za/phpBB3/viewtopic.php ... 2#p1829539 then watch their Promo Video here https://vimeo.com/32382093 to see what I am on about.
Last edited by RudiGreyling on Fri May 19, 2017 8:56 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Rudi's Fokker E-III 'Eindecker' Build

Postby RudiGreyling » Thu May 18, 2017 3:37 pm

COPY POST 2:

Build the Dream, Live the legend, Fly your Own Fighter!

With the Kit manufacturer chosen, Airdrome Aeroplanes, I had to decide which model since Airdrome Aeroplanes (AA) has more than 25 x WW1 Replica models and various sizes available.

Man I would love a Fokker Tri Wing DR-1 ala Red Barron, but I think for a first time building with new techniques it will be difficult build with 3 wings. The full scale 100% replicas give lots of extra speed and utility, but they are BIG and they cost a whole lot more for the kit and engine (Anycase I have 2 practical airplanes the RV7 and RV10 I can use)

So that is when I fell in love with the Fokker E-III ‘Eindecker’ at 75% Scale.
ATT_1.jpeg
The Fokker E-III design embodies the essence of an airplane and should be a hoot to fly. The wing is situated in the middle of the fuselage, inline with the engine thrust line. The wing is straight and does not have any dihedral, so the roll response should be great. The pilot sit right in the heart in the middle of the wing, "strapping" the wing on at his shoulders. The E-III fuselage is tiny and sleek, basically just there to hold the wings and the tail together, and have a place to hang an engine on. It is a full flying tail so it is small with less drag and does not have a vertical stabiliser or horizontal stabiliser so yaw and pitch should be very response. This model compared to others like the Bi and Tri wings should be simple to build.

BUDGET: My initial budget is set at R150,000 and 500hours build time ready to fly, that consist of a New Kit, Good midlife Rotax 582, sparse avionics (2nd hand and donated).

SUMMARY: The Fokker E-III should be very responsive little airplane with no frills, a true fighter plane. Something I can jump in and go fly around the patch to get my flying fix and dump work related stress.

FLIGHT REPORT: http://www.airdromeaeroplanes.com/e-iii ... lover.html
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Re: Rudi's Fokker E-III 'Eindecker' Build

Postby RudiGreyling » Thu May 18, 2017 3:38 pm

COPY POST 3:

Build the Dream, Live the legend, Fly your Own Fighter!

History of the Fokker E-III ‘Eindecker’

A bit of history on the original Fokker E-III ‘Eindecker’ and what made it unique and stand out.

The Fokker E-III was considered the 1st True Fighter Airplane in history, because it was the first airplane to properly integrate a weapon, a machine gun into the airplane. It was fitted with a synchronization gear, enabling the pilot to fire a machine gun through the arc of the propeller without striking the blades.

The Eindecker machine gun gave the German Air Service air superiority from July 1915 until early 1916. This period, during which Allied aviators regarded their poorly armed aircraft as "Fokker Fodder", became known as the "Fokker Scourge" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fokker_Scourge).

The Allied aviators had better performing airplanes, but the accuracy of the straight on machine gun of the Eindecker meant the Germans could simply point their airplanes head-on and shoot.

The nickname Eindecker means ‘single wing’ monoplane and it used wing warping for control instead of ailerons similar to the original Wright Brother control method. The wing typical of the aera is an undercambared wing. In comparison the modern day replica I am going to build has Ailerons and a trusty Clark Y wing profile.

Original E-III characteristics
• Crew: 1
• Length: 7.2 m (23 ft 7 in)
• Wingspan: 9.52 m (31 ft 3 in)
• Height: 2.4 m (7 ft 10 in)
• Wing area: 16 m2 (170 sq ft)
• Empty weight: 399 kg (880 lb)
• Gross weight: 610 kg (1,345 lb)
• Powerplant: 1 × Oberursel U.I 9-cyl.air-cooled rotary piston engine, 75 kW (100 hp)

Original Performance
• Maximum speed: 140 km/h (87 mph; 76 kn)
• Endurance: 1.5 hours
• Service ceiling: 3,600 m (11,810 ft)
• Rate of climb: 3.333 m/s (656.1 ft/min)
• Time to altitude:
• 1,000 m (3,281 ft) in 5 minutes
• 3,000 m (9,843 ft) in 30 minutes

Original Armament
• Guns: 1 × 7.92 mm (0.312 in) lMG 08 Spandau machine gun offset to starboard, synchronised to fire through the propeller.
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Re: Rudi's Fokker E-III 'Eindecker' Build

Postby RudiGreyling » Thu May 18, 2017 3:39 pm

Follow the rest of the build over at avcom: http://avcom.co.za/phpBB3/viewforum.php?f=324
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Re: Rudi's Fokker E-III 'Eindecker' Build

Postby RudiGreyling » Fri Jun 30, 2017 10:01 am

Copy Post Week 5

Build the Dream, Live the legend, Fly your Own Fighter!
Week 5: Set Fuselage Sides upright [Total Project Time=67H and Fuselage Time so far=55H]

Good morning Av8tors,

"My Little Fokker", the new nickname for my aiplane, is coming along nicely.

Create false wooden firewall, square it up and screw it to your table, rig your fuselage sides upright.
Image

Rig the other side and stabilise it temporary with a tube at the rear at a constant width along the whole fuse length.
Image

Then I created little wooden support strapps over the top to ensure the width remains constant. Then square everything up the best you can. I inserted the wing spar fuselage carry through tubes, those thick horisontal tubes, and initial drilled them into place to keep the structure square.
Image

It in now starting to look like a fuselage, more views and angles for you pleasure:
Image

See the black square keeping the the temporary wooden firewall square with the table? It is safety wired in place not to move.
Image

Notice the black string crossed and twisted mid fuselage, corner to corner, wind it up to remove any slight square deviations.
Image

Next make lots of gussets!
Image

Then I started with the horisontal bracing, here you can see the firewall side bracing, drilled and clecko'ed. There is another tube top to bottom corner gusset i temporary removed to get access to drill and rivet the bottom gussets.
Image

This week I hope to finish all the top horisontal bracing of the fuse, flip it over and do the bottom bracing. We will see how far i get.

See you next Monday,
Groete
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Re: Rudi's Fokker E-III 'Eindecker' Build

Postby Bushbabie » Mon Jan 29, 2018 11:21 am

Any updates on your build? Id love to see the progerss
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Re: Rudi's Fokker E-III 'Eindecker' Build

Postby RudiGreyling » Mon Jan 29, 2018 5:54 pm

Bushbabie wrote:
Mon Jan 29, 2018 11:21 am
Any updates on your build? Id love to see the progerss
Hi Bushbabie,

for some reason, there is not much interest here on Microlighters but much more interest on avcom, so go over there to get the latest.

http://avcom.co.za/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=324&t=190292

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Re: Rudi's Fokker E-III 'Eindecker' Build

Postby RudiGreyling » Tue Feb 23, 2021 3:55 pm

My "Little Fokker" Eindecker E-III is done (75% Scale)
All the details over here: https://avcom.co.za/phpBB3/viewtopic.ph ... 2#p2167392

Image

Kind Regards
Rudi
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Re: Rudi's Fokker E-III 'Eindecker' Build

Postby RudiGreyling » Tue Feb 23, 2021 10:42 pm

Build the Dream, Live the legend, Fly your Own Fighter!
Bare Bones, Grass Roots, Stick and Rudder Flying

Good Evening Avi8tors,

Just a short post with a quick video of the actual first flight.
https://youtu.be/WPGyZ-qnT6s

Groete
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Re: Rudi's Fokker E-III 'Eindecker' Build

Postby JvTonder » Wed Feb 24, 2021 8:48 am

Wel gedaan Rudi
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