Eric Clutton Sharkface

Thanks! The budgie is actually a decal I found online.

I have heard of "Willie" wing graphics but can't find anything on it , But the plane looks really nice colors match good and that's a pretty golden bee on there . Hope it fly's as good as it looks .

I'll make a SWAG about the name "Willie" used on the Shark Face.
I have met and talked with Eric Clutton numerous times at the Southeastern Hobby Show at Perry, GA. over the last 10 or 12 years.
Every time he's there he has his pet Parakeet sitting on his shoulder or his hat. It's free to fly and does but it always flies back to Eric's hat or shoulder !
I believe he called it "Willie". Maybe every Parakeet he's ever had was called "Willie" ? Who knows ?
I'm planning to go to Perry in a few weeks and if He's there I'll ask him.

TEE BEE, Was that a kit or scratch built from plans ?
I've never seen it for sale anywhere and Eric has never sold kits that I've seen at his Show space.

FWIW Steve...........

Free Willie! Wasn’t that a Movie about a whale! That’s a neat story about his parakeet (budgie) they are smart little birds!

Nothing to do with the Shark Face, but I love Budgies. Amazing little birds. Had pets as a kid.

Oldenginerod wrote:Nothing to do with the Shark Face, but I love Budgies.  Amazing little birds.  Had pets as a kid.

Awesome video Rod! I had one as a family pet to. Had free range inside the house, he never got “outside” loved to take baths in a saucer of water, and sit on my shoulder or head as I drank my morning coffee. I think he died of cancer from all my second hand smoke. Taught him to whistle the theme song from “Bridge over the River Kwai” he’d also tell the dog to “get out- get out “. Neat memories. Thanks!

Steve nailed it. The first time I met Eric at SMALL, Willie was on his hat or shoulder most of the weekend. When I finally decided to build a Sharkface, I already knew it would pay tribute to Eric's bird(however many Willies there have been over the years). Last year, some guy in the UK had some laser cut Sharkface short kits for sale on ebay. My plane is a hybrid built partially from that kit and partially from scratch using the plans available from Outerzone as a guide. I made a few small structural changes to keep it light and strong and added an elevator. Somewhere, I've seen a plan for a Sharkface II that shows the elevator option and I think a bit less downthrust built in.

I still toy with the idea of building another one later with some changes. Since it won't be a rudder-only model, it won't really need all that incidence and downthrust. I want to build it with zero incidence, downthrust, and dihedral. Add ailerons and use a hopped up .049 with a 1oz fuel tank for longer runs. Maybe a throttle for 4 channels. At that point, it can't really be called a Sharkface any longer. Straightface?

That bird [bleep] scared the hell out me long time ago and still don't like it Thanks   TeeBee sounds like a plan , there must bee a lot of room on the inside for 3-4 channels servos ,, sharks belle .  That's really cool you and 66 Malibu  ahd met Eric ! I have a friend that has a Patriot and another big ass bird thats pretty cool to talk with Wish i could go to Small but an't happening this year ether Anyway should bee cool

I love that model, especially the bird like vertical stabilizer and rudder. The color scheme resonates too along with the decal. Very nice put together. If it flies as good as it looks you will have an all-round winner.

I had a Love Bird, same mannerisms as related above. Loved my dog, not the other way around. Been told about here before.

I watch the Birds, not for the crows but for Tippi Hedren and the lovely sounds that that Aston Martin DB5 makes while being driven on California's Coastal Highway. Bought the DVD from Turner Classic Movies.

Bob

Troy, That's a terrific looking model! Love the colors!! Best of luck flying it!!!

Thanks guys! I've put all the finishing touches on it and am just waiting for time away from work to align with some decent flying weather. That hasn't happened for a while.

Marleysky wrote:

Oldenginerod wrote:Nothing to do with the Shark Face, but I love Budgies.  Amazing little birds.  Had pets as a kid.

Awesome video Rod! I had one as a family pet to. Had free range inside the house, he never got “outside”  loved to take baths in a saucer of water, and sit on my shoulder or head as I drank my morning coffee. I think he died of cancer from all my second hand smoke. Taught him to whistle the theme song from “Bridge over the River Kwai”  he’d also tell the dog to “get out- get out “.  Neat memories. Thanks!

Funny, I've had nothing to do with Budgies for years and yesterday we were returning our grandson to his mother after a visit and their Budgie had escaped. I had to chase the thing around the back porch until it got tired and I could catch him and return him to his cage. Cleaver little thing had managed to slide open the cage door by itself.

Coincidence? Maybe not. Hmmm...

Tee Bee wrote:

I still toy with the idea of building another one later with some changes.  Since it won't be a rudder-only model, it won't really need all that incidence and downthrust.  I want to build it with zero incidence, downthrust, and dihedral.  Add ailerons and use a hopped up .049 with a 1oz fuel tank for longer runs.  Maybe a throttle for 4 channels.  At that point, it can't really be called a Sharkface any longer.  Straightface?  

Just take it easy on us Slow Movers once you get it built!!!!

Flew the Sharkface today.  The Golden Bee/Tee Dee hybrid was a little disapointing once I got it running.  It just couldn't gulp enough air with the stock venturi to turn up the 5x3 prop well and those first couple of flights were pretty short.  After switching to a 6x3, it ran very smooth and happy but not with enough gusto to do loops from level flight or to make much headway into the very strong winds I was flying in.  I then mounted up an old Black Widow that someone gave me a couple of years back.  It was ungunked and restored last year with new gaskets, o-rings, fuel line, etc. and stored away until today.  With a 6x3 prop, it ran much stronger than the gold engine and allowed the plane to fly with more authority in those howling gusts.  The winds caused a couple of close calls with terra firma but much fun was had trying to keep it under control.  At about flight 10, I heard a bad vibration which sounded like control flutter.  I was able to land it soon after and discovered that 2 of the 4 elevator hinges had broken!  On my .010 and .020 models, I usually use mylar hinge material made from old floppy discs.  This was the first time I've tried it on an .049 plane.  I'll have to cut and rehinge the airplane with heavier duty CA hinges before flying it again.  Lesson learned.  I look forward to getting it repaired and trying it out on a calmer day.  I also have a couple of hotter tanked .049s to try out on it.

Anyway, here's some video of a fool flying a Sharkface in too much wind:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQjSROfiKQk&feature=youtu.be

Nice flight TeeBee. You really tackled the gusts excellently with fast reactions!

I would give it a try with a COX 5x4 prop too. Would also make sure the engine gets enough air between the firewall and backplate. With wood firewalls and after multiple mounting bolt retightenings the backplates in my experience tend to sink into the firewall and restrict the aitflow to the carb. I usually countersink or even drill a hole in the firewall area facing the carb air intake to avoid it.

I just going to say GOOD SAVE and fling ability on your behalf I thought you were going to own some property on the sidewalk there for a sec. That Gb may benefit from resizing the intake air hole . Thanks for taking us along !

Thanks guys. Agreed that the GB with the hotter top end needs more airflow to reach it's potential. The stock backplate(with screen intact) is definitely a bottleneck. Drilling the venturi out is easy enough but I'm not sure how to remove and replace the spray bar safely. Not to worry, as I've got some other engines on hand to try, including a Venom II. I had actually selected this one for the maiden flights to keep the speeds down a bit for trimming the plane. Turns out, with the wind, I needed more speed to fly safely. The Sharkface flies and controls better when it's moving faster. I've got a busy work schedule again for the next week or so and then will have to find some time to rehinge the controls with more strength. Seems I had flutter issues which broke the weaker mylar elevator hinges. I will also seal the gaps with covering before flying again to help eliminate future control problems.