VSC 2K4 Go Devil, Go!

I was about to leave the field for the appearance judging when I noticed a trim little ship on the grass with a ton of history behind it.

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The Go Devil That's an Orwick Replica in the nose of the Palmer Go Devil, one of--if not the very--first stunt ship to have flaps attached to the wing working in conjuction with the elevator.

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Trim the Devil The paint scheme seemed so, well, perfect. Translucent silk and clear dope on wood with a nifty but elegant flame job. Seen from the front as in the top shot, the plane looks like an innocious sport job. Seen from the top, the pristine white gives way to 1950's drag strip. And then there's those famous flaps, which look more like afterthought trim tabs by today's standards.

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It's devilish enough to show up with a really early Bob Palmer design, but all the more so to have one that is autographed by the master. Thus artistic imperative demands a dramatic shot of the wing to bring out this detail. Note the odd little ripple in the paint behind the cockpit...

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The Devil's Advocate So here's the story. The pilot said he was a little concerned before the official flight so only committed to level flight and some loops, forgoing most of the pattern. Which turned out to be a good thing. Upon landing he discovered a crack in the fuselage through both sides and the bottom--leaving only the turtledeck structure to hold the tail on the airplane.

I leave it to Len and Ion to contemplate the obvious implications.

Cy

LAST EDITED ON Mar-22-04 AT 07:26 PM (CDT)
 
This particular Go-devil is owned(and built) by Bob Lipscomb who is from Texas. The airplane is absoloutly authentic to the old time era.
it is covered with silk and finished in butyrate dope. It had a Froom Spinner, a Y&O prop and banner wheels. It was powered by an Orwick .64.

It won the Spirit of '46 award at VSC 16. The Spirit of '46 this year was an Ohlsson and Rice .23 mounted on a walnut placque. The engine was all wired up to a battery box, ignition coil, switch, and condenser. The sparkplug would spark when the Super Fly Rite prop (donated by John Wright)was rotated.

Why me?

...and why Len?

LAST EDITED ON Mar-23-04 AT 07:13 PM (CDT)
 
Because my sense of humor is so dry as to be imperceptible.

There's an old saying that goes something to the effect--and I am paraphrasing here, since it gets adapted as needed by whomever feels really lucky at the moment--that "God looks out for fools, gamblers and stunt pilots". Change the last three to any group you wish, but you get the point.

Since this was a piece about the Go-Devil, the obvious connection (to me, at least) was that some form of divine intervention must have kept the tail end of the airplane connected to the rest of it, given that all there is on the turtledeck is a few stringers and some fabric. All the load bearing structure was compromised by the cracks on three sides of the fuselage. Seeing the fabric on the turtle deck wrinkle as the pilot bend the fuselage to show the cracks raised the hair on the back of my neck.

Was it simply luck or whim that made the unwitting pilot decide that day not to do all of the sequence before flying? Particularly to avoid a hard outside push, which it seems to me would have certainly have torn the airframe apart and left the remnants to shatter on the ground? Or was it the subtle influence of a greater wisdom saying, "Don't push it today" in a silent whisper to the back of his mind?

Given that you and Len have a closer association with the almighty than some of us, I thought the Devil/God connection would be a little easier for either of you to make--and possibly more appropriate than for, say, me.

The line that comes to mind is something like "Only God can save the Devil from destruction."

A lame assumption, I admit, but an effort to engage others in the thread.

In retrospect, I should have labeled the last image "Devil be Gone", which would have made a bit more sense along those lines.

Maybe it was a matter of sheer luck and physics that a severely compromised structure did not give way, destroying such a fine piece of stunt art and history.

Maybe it was something else.

Cy.

maybe it was aliens.......ha ha....

it is sad when one has to explain their own humour......the connection is quite obvious.....HOWEVER......