PA - airplane number:

ESCAPADE is one of my better airplanes. Built in 1996 I still fly it today. I’m not in the body builders class, so for windy conditions I prefer the 45 size model over the 60 airplane. There are contests in some areas where strong breezes are almost guaranteed. That’s when I take the Escapade with me. Also we have flight circles which do not allow full line length. Span is 145 cm ( 57 inch ), area 39,5 sq dm ( 610 sq inch ) , weight 1620 gram .

I like the Goodyear racer look with these beautifully streamlined “cheek cowls”, and Escapade is one of my designs in this configuration. However the engine is mounted inverted. These are fake cowls only, but they can be hollowed to provide additional cooling ducts.

There are two versions of undercarriage. A wide version with narrow wheels and big wheel pants, which sets the airplane on a shallow angle on concrete ground, and a narrow high version with big thick wheels for grass fields. The sheet gear is bolted to the fuselage bottom, the centre piece is covered with a small fairing. At present a Super Tiger 46 is installed. A 50 can also be used if the weight of the bigger engine is not a problem for CG location.

This design was published in “Aeromodeller” in 2000, and I still get photos of models built by other flyers today. The small collection below shows photos ( clockwise from top left ) sent by Ulrich Kappler, Germany; Clamer Meltzer, Norway; Malcolm Ross, Great Britain; Ingolf Steffensen, Norway; Wolfgang Gehrig, Germany; Clamer Meltzer, Norway ( electric drive ).