With it's tip dihedral and long fuselage the Red Zephyr is a nicely different design with plenty of character. It was originally designed by Herb Greenberg in 1937 and with it's flat bottom wing section and large elevators it is another Old Timer that can handle windy conditions.
Over to Colin Buckle for a little story regarding the RED ZEPHYR
Proof (as if proof were needed!) that the RZ can handle a 'bit of breeze' came in 2002 when my pal Jim Turner took his own Red Zephyr with him when Liz (his boss at the time) suggested he do a 4 month tour to the Falkland Islands as part of his RAF duties.
Now we all know that 'our lads' like to run the flag up and make themselves comfortable while they are away from home, so Jim packed his Red Zephyr in an adapted 'pack up' case and persuded a freindly loady to find a place for it on an outbound flight so it would be there when he arrived.
After seeing how well the model flew some bright spark suggested that it should be possible to fly it from one of the airports on the island, Mount Pleasant, to the other, Port Stanley and as both of these airports are classed as international it may well be possible that this flight was the first flight by a model aeroplane from one international airport to another. That is unless you know different?
Anyway back to the plot! The flight was arranged and cleared by ATC and Jim found himself sitting in an armchair which had been put in the back of an open backed Land Rover and after fuelling himself and the model they set off on the trip which was around 40 miles. Now as this was the end of summer the wind was both 'fresh' and chilly and the model had to land about half way for refuelling despite the OS 40 four stroke only sipping lightly at the tank. However the flight was completed on the next hop and Jim and his pals raised £600 for a local childrens charity!
The picture shows Jim and his pals with the model at Port Stanley airport after arriving safely and just before they all retired to the Frog and Sprocket bar for a 'debriefing!
- Span 72" (1829 mm)
- Engine Size .40 2 Stroke , .40 4 Stroke
- Radio - 3 Channel
Home
