Scale Soaring UK

Graupner Foka - I've just acquired this vintage item - was looking very sad on ebay from an estate sale
Did anyone on here used to fly one of these? - the kit first appeared in 1966 - this one is film covered about 1970. For a 50+ year old plane its survived quite well - just a couple of tears in the covering - couple of new servos & should be good to go again.
I've always liked the shape of the Foka - smooth fuselage shape & that swept back fin. This one is very much semi-scale - the tailplane is huge - and the wing chord is increased towards the tips. Rudder & elevator control & lots of dihedral - thats the way it was way back when.
I will get it flying & then decide what to do - a smaller tailplane is a must - ailerons & less dihedral would be good but would need some rebuilding & a recover. New scale sized wings maybe - future project.
Phil.

It flies ! - back in the air again after languishing in someones workshop for many years

15-20mph wind onto my favourite local Devon slope - perfect for some retro hanging-in-the-breeze slope soaring - very stable - but theres fun to be had putting the nose down (a lot) to get it moving about. Long time since I flew rudder/elevator - the way we were way back when. Music from the era to go with the video - Booker T & The MGs - Time is Tight.

Phil

https://vimeo.com/567959003

I remember test flying one of these for a guy called George. I can even remember which slope it was on. It seemed a very exotic machine to us in those days. I think I was flying a Veron Springbok around that time. Nice model.

Thanks John - good to know someone remembers these - I saw one flying on the Long Mynd way back in 1973.

After looking at some photos online and an old 3-view - I realised that the Foka had waaay too much dihedral ! Some heavyweight bending of the wing joiners & its now got about 115mm dihedral under each wing, instead of a crazy 180mm. Looks more like a scale-ish sort of glider now, instead of an old-skool R/E slope trainer. Hopefully it will fly better, without as much wobbling about. Some red electrical tape around the canopy edge has cheered things up a bit too. Still needs a smaller tailplane though

Phil

Phil
Does your model have a "plastic" fuselage as it looks very much like the Foka I have had in my workshop for 30+ years !!!

AEB

Hi John

Yes - its the plastic fuselage - a blessing and a curse - its a polyethylene type material, nothing sticks to it - previous owner has heavily/badly painted it, but its flaking off. Certainly seems to have survived down the years though. Some info & downloads including plan & original instructions available at Outerzone:

https://outerzone.co.uk/plan_details.asp?ID=6922

Phil