Found: Free Flight Aircraft

I live over here in West Nashville on a steep hillside. Last night while I was out cutting the grass in the back yard I found what appears to be a free flight airplane. It looks like it’s made of scrap ¼” plywood and has a trim tab on one wing. Appears to be powered by a small 2 cycle gas engine with a homemade pro-peller. No AMA number or other markings on the wing, but it does seem to have some brick colored dust and bicycle axel grease on it. There is no LG on the model. Must have been hand launched, or maybe a dolly was used. Looks to be well constructed, considering the materials used and should be a good distance flyer. Give me a call at BR-549, or email me at if you think you know this model. I’ll post pictures when I can find someone who knows how to develop film from my Kodak Disk Camera.

Best regards,

Clay

Famous last words "Hey ya'll, watch this."

>I live over here in West Nashville on a steep hillside.
>Last night while I was out cutting the grass in the back
>yard I found what appears to be a free flight airplane. It
>looks like it’s made of scrap ¼” plywood and has a trim tab
>on one wing. Appears to be powered by a small 2 cycle gas
>engine with a homemade pro-peller. No AMA number or other
>markings on the wing, but it does seem to have some brick
>colored dust and bicycle axel grease on it. There is no LG
>on the model. Must have been hand launched, or maybe a
>dolly was used. Looks to be well constructed, considering
>the materials used and should be a good distance flyer.
>Give me a call at BR-549, or email me at
> if you think you know this model.
> I’ll post pictures when I can find someone who knows how to
>develop film from my Kodak Disk Camera.
>
>Best regards,
>
>Clay
>
>Famous last words "Hey ya'll, watch this."

Oh, that's cute...a little Gary-tweaking...Do people really remember HeeHaw?
--Ray

Sure Do...He must have taken over Jr. Sample's used car business.

I don’t know what a Hee Haw is and I am not in contact with any Jr. Sample or used car businesses. This may explain some of the strange phone calls I get. People leave creepy messages like “Gloom, Despair, and Agony on Me….deep dark depression…excessive misery” or “Pfft, you was gone” (apparently from a free flighter?).

I’m just trying to find out who owns this plane. This could have been dangerous if any of my hounds had been in the yard.

>
>I’m just trying to find out who owns this plane. This could
>have been dangerous if any of my hounds had been in the
>yard.
>
>Clay

That must be my plane... WOW it flew all the way from Australia to USA..... please post it back to me... or just the engine.... ...
More seriously... you have Hounds ? I have Scottish Deerhounds... and You ?.....

Dave Moffitt

Finder’s keepers on the plane and the engine. I’m gonna’ attach the engine to a Barbie Car I got for my little girls and see if it’ll go faster. It only goes about 30 mph with the batteries and the kids are complaining it’s too slow.

As for the hounds, I guess I was exaggerating a little. They should really be called “Squirrel Dogs” and are mixed breed to say the least.

Best,

STOP IT, you're killing me!

>STOP IT, you're killing me!

Ron B.
F4Fguy

I member one time I uz standin out in a back lot an a arplane come rat down wure i wuz astandin an it most took ma hed off.Then thishere fella come runnin up all pantin an pufffin n sed it were hiz.an we had thishere rat good go round til he showed me hiz name rat dere on th arplane so i figgerd it uz hiz an giv it tuum.

Additional information:

After returning from work tonight I noticed one of the Squirrel Dogs, Rowena, acting a bit strange. She was running in circles in the yard around a post the wife uses to hang out the wash. It’s one of those fancy, single post, umbrella shaped ones with the lines in concentric pentagons to attach the clothes. It’s got a handle on it about mid-point up the post. Anyway, Rowena is running about 60 feet out from the handle, to her mid-point, doing about 6 second laps. She must have been going for several minutes at least. I figure her speed was well over 100 miles per hour!

Now, for the really strange part. Normally when Rowena is running, her front legs move in opposite directions from her hind end. I think this allows her to turn better. Today her front legs were moving in the same direction as the back ones. This seemed to make her sort of rise and fall while she was running but she did not seem to be able maneuver as good as usual. It’s almost like she’s linked up the wrong way around!

By this point I’m really worried so I call up our veterinarian, Dr. F.P. Twenty, to see if he has any advice on the set-up. He says he thinks she is a good dog “box stock”, and just let her run. I think she’s too restricted, penned up in the yard like she is all day. Usually from 9-4pm.

Well, the point here is that none of this started happening until I found this darn FF plane. Somebody please fess up, and not somebody that thinks this thing could have come all the way from OZ. If it had it would have been covered with traces of Lamington’s and meat pies, not brick dust and axel grease. And no, I don’t have a southern accent, at least not a real bad one!

Please help,

Clay

PS. If I decide to put the engine on the back of the Barbie Car, do I need a pusher prop, or can I just flip this one around backwards?

LAST EDITED ON Jun-29-04 AT 11:00 PM (CDT)
 
This just keeps getting better and better!!!!

George

Edit: Or is it worse and worse?

I got a message on my answering machine last night about “THE PLANE”. The guy doesn’t leave a name or anything, but swears this plane is his. He seems to know all about the thing and describes it pretty accurately, but of course he could just be getting all that info off of this post. Claims he doesn’t want anything returned but the tank, which he says is hooked up uni-flow on muffler pressure (whatever that is) and gives him a 20 minute run using a mixture of water and gas. HA! My Poulan Weed Eater has about the same size tank and I can’t seem to get 15 minutes out of it with water, gas, and those tablets! First time I ever wished I had that caller ID thing.

My Squirrel Dogs are really freaking out now. Rowena had a bad crash this AM running around that stupid post. If I thought dogs had a clevis pin I would swear that hers broke. She just went straight in with a total loss of control. I think she may have broken a few ribs, the dope. I'd get rid of the post but she would just find something else to run around, or maybe just fly away somewhere.

My other two pups, Ray and Streak are starting to be affected also. Now Ray is normally very predictable and just follows a set pattern, and very well I might add, from one day to the next. You might call it stubborn. Does not seem to matter who’s around or who’s controlling him. Last night he starts a big fight with Streak about who knows what. Ray is biting, scratching, and going on like crazy and just won’t give it a rest. Streak is holding his own, but mostly just standing there barking, ARF, ARF, ARF,……. Finally Ray gets him buy the nose, his weak point, and just about twists it off!

Of course all this caterwauling is just what I don’t need, after all the complaints I’ve gotten from my neighbor Wanda, who I might add has no interest in anything at all except drinking beer, NASCAR, complaining about my hounds, smoking cigarettes, and asking me if I’ve found a “church home” yet, whatever that is. If she calls the police one more time I’m going to find a firearms forum to start posting at. I’m sorry, but when I get worked up my grammar and punctuation just go to heck!!!

I can’t believe this is happening to me. When I get home tonight I’m burning this stupid plane, engine, tank and all. I’m sorry if you read this post and want your plane back, because it’s going to be gone, gone, gone!!!!!!! I don’t know how I’ll tell the little girls about the Barbie Car, but I never got an answer on the prop anyway.

Clay

PS Wanda is not bad looking considering her lifestyle.

Clay,

I think you've listened to one too many broadcasts of "Prairie Home Companion".

Funny stuff, I really like the name of your vet; might have to use that in the future, assuming Len stays completely crossed-up...

Thanks a lot, very funny.

Streak is holding his own, but mostly just standing there barking, ARF, ARF, ARF?

I barked that at the Brodak contest, and they just stared at me. Finally, they told me it was my turn, and I just picked up somebody's pretty blue Nobler, and had a go at it. ARF has a different meaning depending on how many legs you have and whether or not your thumbs work.

I found out that saying 'nice bitch' is also construed differently between the species. For the life of me, I can't understand why.

It
>looks like it’s made of scrap ¼” plywood and has a trim tab
>on one wing. Appears to be powered by a small 2 cycle gas
>engine with a homemade pro-peller. No AMA number or other
>markings on the wing, but it does seem to have some brick
>colored dust and bicycle axel grease on it. There is no LG
>on the model. Must have been hand launched

Boy, I'm glad I read this post. Sounds like you found my "Rambo" combat ship which was last seen in 1974 heading in the general direction of Nashville.
It was a really nasty ship, capable of running right through the other guy without slowing down but was not real maneuverable. Unfortunately on the day of the loss, I ran into an even badder ship that cut both lines clean as a whistle-I think it was made of carbon fiber and titanium and had a VW engine.
If it still has a red streamer on it, it's mine for sure. The streamer may have faded a bit through the years and I'm sure the AMA number which I always put on with a magic marker are gone.
If you don't mind, please ship it to me right away-I'll reimburse your costs if it's still in good shape.
Thanks!

>I got a message on my answering machine last night about
>“THE PLANE”. The guy doesn’t leave a name or anything, but
>swears this plane is his. He seems to know all about the
>thing and describes it pretty accurately, but of course he
>could just be getting all that info off of this post.
>Claims he doesn’t want anything returned but the tank, which
>he says is hooked up uni-flow on muffler pressure (whatever
>that is) and gives him a 20 minute run using a mixture of
>water and gas. HA! My Poulan Weed Eater has about the same
>size tank and I can’t seem to get 15 minutes out of it with
>water, gas, and those tablets! First time I ever wished I
>had that caller ID thing.
>
>My Squirrel Dogs are really freaking out now. Rowena had a
>bad crash this AM running around that stupid post. If I
>thought dogs had a clevis pin I would swear that hers broke.
> She just went straight in with a total loss of control. I
>think she may have broken a few ribs, the dope. I'd get rid
>of the post but she would just find something else to run
>around, or maybe just fly away somewhere.
>
>My other two pups, Ray and Streak are starting to be
>affected also. Now Ray is normally very predictable and
>just follows a set pattern, and very well I might add, from
>one day to the next. You might call it stubborn. Does not
>seem to matter who’s around or who’s controlling him. Last
>night he starts a big fight with Streak about who knows
>what. Ray is biting, scratching, and going on like crazy
>and just won’t give it a rest. Streak is holding his own,
>but mostly just standing there barking, ARF, ARF, ARF,…….
>Finally Ray gets him buy the nose, his weak point, and just
>about twists it off!
>
>Of course all this caterwauling is just what I don’t need,
>after all the complaints I’ve gotten from my neighbor Wanda,
>who I might add has no interest in anything at all except
>drinking beer, NASCAR, complaining about my hounds, smoking
>cigarettes, and asking me if I’ve found a “church home” yet,
>whatever that is. If she calls the police one more time I’m
>going to find a firearms forum to start posting at. I’m
>sorry, but when I get worked up my grammar and punctuation
>just go to heck!!!
>
>I can’t believe this is happening to me. When I get home
>tonight I’m burning this stupid plane, engine, tank and all.
> I’m sorry if you read this post and want your plane back,
>because it’s going to be gone, gone, gone!!!!!!! I don’t
>know how I’ll tell the little girls about the Barbie Car,
>but I never got an answer on the prop anyway.
>
>Clay
>
>PS Wanda is not bad looking considering her lifestyle.

Ron B.
F4Fguy

I'ud be obliged if yud stop tokin bout ma gal wanda lak at.SHe dun good las time a tuk er out duk huntin.a bet sheuz bettern yur rowena iz at scwirl huntin.she got me fiv duks an i dint havto shoot atall.she jist swum out an grabed um.serusly tho a think yur rowena s not sik.shes flyn tu hi an er feet cant kep up.steda takin er tu th vet yu otta takr tu th kiropracter an git er a justid so sheel fli strate.a heer thet doc ovur tu th tower kin git rid o grate panes.U cud mebbe tri sum akyoupuncher.a heer alot bout them pasiffic rim jobs.well i got ta go.wanda sez th beers cold.

Yallcumseeus y heeah

This must be one that FLEW THE COOP but don't keep singing a HURTIN SONG about it that PAIN PAIN WILL GO AWAY after all those BR5-49 references MY NAME IS MUDD so I'd better CHANGE THE WAY I LOOK and go to GEORGIA ON A FAST TRAIN!

Tony

Dan,

Now I am whole.

Clay-ton,

I want a TEOSAWKI like Busby has. I'm not sure what that is but if he has one, I want one.

Jim,

Had me going for a minute, but you never mentioned the “trim tab”.

Tony,

What?

I’ve got Deborah setting up the charcoal grill in Valhalla configuration for tonight’s ceremony. I will be wearing my Eric the Red outfit, complete with horn hat. Deb & the girls will be resplendent in hand woven wool jumpers and goat skin leggings. I might throw on the old Jr. Ringmaster just for good luck. I hope the weather doesn’t rune things.

Clay

“I said we’ll just call it Iceland, you idiot!”

You may be confusing me with Clayton Smith. I've had that happen before. I go south to kick butt at the Metroliners contest, and they report me to Stunt News as Clayton Smith. I now know how Rodney Dangerfield feels.

Actually, he feels like a wrinkled old geezer. Don't ask.

I can actually relate to this bidness of losing FF planes. My brother Dan flies FF (and is a force to be reckoned with, or so he says). I send neat engines his way, and he loses them. But sometimes he gets them back, and the stories are pretty cool.

But, Dan! My Holland Hornet? You lost it? Jumpin' Jimminey Cricket!

Clayton,

OOOPS. Duh! I guess I just got a little carried away, which is pretty uncommon really. So, now we are up to three Clay’s? That’s a little unusual, but as Rowena would say, “bitch’n man”.

Clay (all thumbs) Griffin

I was carried away once. By guys in white coats.

And you're right - three? Oh, well. Cool name, cool guys, cool sport - guess it plays alright.

Or, as my little guy would say (another Clayton), cool beans. With his thumb in the air, of course.