Build a WW1 Fighter replica for less then the price of a sedan!

[linx310]

For the past year or so I have noticed a lot of WW1 planes flying around my local area and thought it was the CAF.

Well come to find out it is some locals who bought replica kits and put them together in their garage. You can't even tell they are kits. And they disassemble for travel on a trailer.

These kits uses modern materials and engines and are much safer and perform better then the originals, and depending on the type of engine you use, or whether you buy original gauges or use replicas, cost around $12k-$40k. They are considered LSA due to the weight so the license renewal is a lot easier.

The basic kits cost about $6k-$8k, the engine, depending on whether you go for a VW engine ($1-2k) or an expensive Rotec Radial really dictates the cost. They even sell the kits in stages so you can build a stage while saving for another.

There are some forums with lots of people taking pictures of their builds.

The Sopwith kit they have looks amazing.

http://www.airdromeaeroplanes.com/sopwithcamel.html

Video
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/506566...me_aeroplanes/





IMHO this beats buying a SUV any day!

[mriddick]

A Bleriot XI monoplane ultralight would be the bomb.

[Penguin]

Cool I thought the WW1 Biplanes were pretty cool when I was a kid.

[Guns Network Staff]

Give me a Nieuport 28 any day.

[Mark Ducati]

Yes, those kits are impressive.... IF, you're not afraid of flying like me!

I'd be too afraid of crashing... what's the glide ratio like for one of these? Could something like this use one of those emergency parachutes (like on ultra lights) that you can deploy in case of pilot error/stall/or other complication?

Sure, more fun than an SUV... but the SUV is a lot safer.

Usually when you hear some horror story death about one of these, its because the knucklehead building it lost some simple screws and ran down to Home Depot for a quick replacement... only the replacement is weaker steel.

[a-kmanator]

They are cool. Not to long ago I was having trouble sleeping and flipping channels I came up some old silent movie from the '20's called "wings" that had some real WWI planes in action...needless to say..I didn't get much sleep that night...
http://youtu.be/-sP0sVKdbb0

[Prometheus168]

Hmmm....... linx.... you have a project!

Rusty

[mrkalashnikov]

Extremely cool.

When I was a kid my favorite models to build were WWI biplanes. I've always wanted to fly in a real, open-cockpit airplane. Would be great to build a 3 wing Fokker like the Red Baron piloted.

[American Rage]

The greatest bi-plane of all:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing-Stearman_Model_75


And the only plane I actually dream of flying.



Rage

[Dr. Gonzo GED]

I've always wanted a Focker DR1 Triplane just like the Red Baron!

[mriddick]

Looks like the DR1 and VIII don't have alot of wire bracing, if I was buying one of these I would not want wire bracing so those would be the ones to get IMO

[1 Patriot-of-many]

Looks nice for the price, I'd rather have a more modern repo for that price, and I'd be on it.... Say A P51 or P47

[raxar]

hours and hours of playing this

http://youtu.be/lupk2oqy4JU

[Krupski]

Give me a Nieuport 28 any day.

Late 1980's (1988 or 1989) I had the privilege of flying a Curtiss JN-4 "Jenny" biplane. It had an OX-5 V8 engine with open exposed valve train, clacking and clattering, and we floated along in that beautiful airplane flying around 65 MPH indicated.

That's what I call FLYING! The smell of gasoline, aircraft dope, leather and warm humid air and grass, all blended together... floating at about 200 feet up and 60-65 mph.



That's a JN-4... not THE one I flew, but that's what they look like.

It's the only airplane I've ever flown that I liked BETTER than a Piper PA-11 Cub.

[Krupski]

Yes, those kits are impressive.... IF, you're not afraid of flying like me!

I'd be too afraid of crashing... what's the glide ratio like for one of these? Could something like this use one of those emergency parachutes (like on ultra lights) that you can deploy in case of pilot error/stall/or other complication?

Sure, more fun than an SUV... but the SUV is a lot safer.

Usually when you hear some horror story death about one of these, its because the knucklehead building it lost some simple screws and ran down to Home Depot for a quick replacement... only the replacement is weaker steel.

Airplanes like that are powered gliders. If the engine quits, you just leisurely glide around, looking for a place to land. If you can find some thermals and know how to use them, you can stay up longer.

A ballistic parachute is only needed if something on the airplane BREAKS (like those dumbasses on TV who pull 2 or 3 G's flying an inside loop in an ULTRALIGHT!... POP! The wing snaps!).

[Krupski]

The greatest bi-plane of all:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing-Stearman_Model_75

And the only plane I actually dream of flying.

Rage

A PT-13 Stearman... you absolutely HAVE to fly one of those. It flies and handles like a jet. It's got so much power it's scary... and the airplane is stressed for more G's than your body can take. I flew a PT-13 in the mid 1970's and is was a load of fun. Only "problem" with it is it's very touchy upon landing... you really have to stay on those rudder pedals and brakes to keep the tail BEHIND you.

[Krupski]

I've always wanted a Focker DR1 Triplane just like the Red Baron!

I wonder what a DR-1 handles like with the original LeRhone engine (where the whole engine rotates)? The gyroscopic force must have made handling a real problem... along with that tiny vertical stabilizer / rudder. The DR-1 looks really cool, but I'd be afraid to fly one.

[L1A1Rocker]

hours and hours of playing this

http://youtu.be/lupk2oqy4JU

I was thinking this:

[Dr. Gonzo GED]

I wonder what a DR-1 handles like with the original LeRhone engine (where the whole engine rotates)? The gyroscopic force must have made handling a real problem... along with that tiny vertical stabilizer / rudder. The DR-1 looks really cool, but I'd be afraid to fly one.

It was an absolute terror in it's day against planes with more conventional engines.

[Krupski]

It was an absolute terror in it's day against planes with more conventional engines.

I heard that the pilots of the DR-1 had continual...um... loose stools... due to absorbing castor oil spewed by the engine. The thought of loose stools, long hours in the cockpit and high G turns is rather scary.....