M. K. Bengtson Fokker DVIII 55” Assembly Instructions/use And Care Manual - page 7
Fokker DVIII 55” Page 6
Copyright© 2006-11 M. K. Bengtson All Rights Reserved Rev 07/11
Hollow out body to make it as light as possible
Dummy Spandau Machine Guns.
Make from 1/8" balsa core
Sandwich 1/16" balsa on stock area
Add round spacers, and dowel
Attach copy of vent pattern shown
Balancing The Model
Balance the model at the point shown. It is best to position the
battery to do this operation.
FLYING
The model should ROG on grass, pavement or hard surfaces. Let
the model gain altitude slowly off the runway. Applying too much
up elevator at slow speeds risks a stall. Make your turns gently as
tight turns risk tip stalling in any model. Don’t expect the elevator
to make the model climb. Think of the elevator as a device to
change the attitude of the model. The wing and airspeed
ultimately make the model climb. Often down elevator applied at
stalling can avoid a major crash. The most important details for
proper flight operations are:
1. CG location. Tail heavy models never fly well or at all.
2. Down and right thrust
3. Straight and non warped wings.
Here are some excerpts of Edi's maiden flights.
“Well, it was only light wind today, so took family and plane to the
airfield. The new motor [Ed note: Edi used a custom made CD
ROM motor] is definitely playing in a different league than the 6:1
geared 540 (although I think that a 3:1 geared 540 or 600 should
be just fine). Flies with authority now. I had to trim about
everything, as always when I maiden a monoplane. But then she
behaved just fine, flying very slow and lookingbig and scale in
the air. She didn't even complain about my rather rough landing
with a nose over.
In the Air
The pictures are taken from the second flight. For a monoplane,
she is surprisingly (at least, to me) draggy due to the thick high-lift
wing - I'd imagine a Fokker Dr.1 that size would behave similarly.
“
Finished Model Detail
“So to sum it up: A typical WW1 plane: draggy, slow and easily
affected by the wind, needs some concentration on the ground.
Should be OK for everyone with a proper airfield and with some
aileron experience (this is not a trainer). Fun to build, looks great,
flies just as great and very well-behaved - a typical M.K.
Bengtson design. “
Finished Model
“Nice weather today so I just had another flight. No crosswinds. I
plucked up my courage and did some acrobatics. Loops, turns
are just OK, rolls are rather crisp and take up an insane roll rate
at the end. Really flies a lot like my Dr.1; I just miss the other two
wings. With no crosswinds, the landing was a nice float on the
runway”