Clown Story

"It takes a big man to fly a little pink airplane".
This Flying Clown is pink because I was almost out of dope. So I mixed what I had left to get enough. I never thought the guys at the field would think the color was funny. But I guess some of them did. It turns out that pink is a great visibility color. For some unknown reason it is easier to see against dark backgrounds than almost any other color. The high visibility factor turned out to be an unanticipated benefit.
I built this plane in 1998. The first time I flew it the darn thing nosed over on landing and cracked the fuselage right off behind the wing. That discouraged me so much that I hung it up in the basement for about three years without touching it. Finally one winter, I put some glue in the joint and some carbon fiber veil cloth over the joint to fix the plane. While it was hanging up on the wall waiting for spring another invisible crack from the first days flying cracked and the fuse came apart again. So I glued the new crack. Then I put long pieces of 1/4 in. wide carbon fiber strips between the rear of the wing and the tail. Then I covered the whole rear of the fuselage with carbon fiber veil cloth once again. I have nosed over on landings many , many times since then without any more breaks or cracks.
One of the other guys in my club had the same experience the first day he flew his Clown. It upset him so much he smashed the whole plane and threw it away.
Another guy in my club has one of these Brodak Flying Clowns that lands perfectly on it's wheels every time instead of nosing over like mine does. After asking him about fifty times how he lands his without nosing it over, he finally told me.
The kit landing gear can not be used if you want good landings. The original PDQ-Matt Kania plans show the original landing gear pattern and installation. If you make and install gear exactly like the original gear, the landings are great.
Hopefully someday I will replace the gear on this Clown, or make a new Clown with original gear.