#gaszy

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With thanks to photographer Ray Barber, here to kick off 2019 are four pics of some familiar FRED “faces” spanning almost for decades form 1979 to 2007.  The first one is, of course, Eric Clutton’s own G-ASZY back in its “FRED Baron” days, and G-BGFF, G-OLVR, and G-BMFF are no strangers to this site.  Happy New Year to Clutton FRED fans everywhere!  Cheers, Matthew

Photos:  All four photos shared courtesy of Ray Barber.

[cluttonfred]

Happy birthday, FRED!

Eric Clutton and Ernie Sherry’s original Flying Runabout Experimental Design (FRED) first took to the air on this day, November 3rd, 1963.  So happy 55th birthday, FRED!

The original FRED sitting pretty somewhere in England circa 1972.  Photo courtesy of Tony Oliver.

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Mike Young, a British transplant living in Florida, is the current owner of Eric Clutton’s original prototype FRED NX4499Y (formerly G-ASZY.)  He reports, “I traveled from Florida to Alaska for some summer work and passed through Tullahoma.  Stopped to see Eric and we had dinner together. Presented him with FRED's old instrument panel.”  Mike also said to expect some pics of his progress in restoring and updating his FRED soon.  Cheers, Mike!

[cluttonfred]

Eric Clutton's FRED is a popular scale model subject, not surprising considering Eric himself is well-known in the model aircraft community as “Doctor Diesel.”  Eric has also been a frequent contributor of articles and plans to model aircraft magazines over the years.

Here is a lovely, ongoing build log by model aircraft enthusiast Linsday Todd describing his project to design and build a radio control model FRED from scratch.  Check it out to follow Lindsay’s progress for inspiration to build your own FRED, large or small!

Eric Clutton FRED | Model Flying

Photos from the thread and site linked above.

[cluttonfred]

Tailplanes, levers and trim, oh my!

Following our happy birthday exchange earlier this week, I received a note and a photo from Eric with some interesting points about FRED’s tailplane settings and how to sort out elevator trim for hands-off flying.

Hi, Matt!  I was sorting through some papers last week and came across a letter from F.I.V. Walker.  [Editor:  F.I.V. (John) Walker was vice-chairman in charge of engineering of the Popular Flying Association (today’s Light Aviation Association) back in the 1960s and a key figure in that era of aircraft homebuilding in the UK.]  It must have got lost in my move over here because he says he hopes to catch me.  Anyway, it is about FRED. He says there is some doubt about his stability because I show on the drawings that the tailplane is attached at a greater geometric angle than the wing . This was no mistake because FRED is fairly short coupled and the tailplane operates in the powerful downwash off that cambered wing, so it is actually parallel to the airflow. I didn't believe the calculations myself at first, so made provision for changing the angle, but it was not necessary.

If you release the stick on FRED he drops his nose, so you need to maintain back pressure, rather like a Flying Flea, but it is easy to fit a spring in the elevator system under the seat to take this load away. I made mine adjustable with a Tiger Moth throttle unit screwed to the side of the fuselage just in front and below the throttle.  The Tiger throttle is a simple lever with  a friction disc and FRED trim could use that (like I did  or make a simple “cheese cutter” device [example here] which were very popular in the 1930s.  should be set up to take the static weight of the elevators at mid range [cruising speed] but is easy to override and with that spring trim FRED can be flown hands off all day. That tailplane angle is where FRED gets his non-stall characteristics, of course.  Maybe you can see from the above that I admired Henri Mignet and FRED is a more up to date version of his philosophy with the Flying Flea!

--ERIC

Photos:  The relative angles of wing and tailplane is evident in this pic of the prototype Clutton FRED G-ASZY in its original red and white colors back in in 1971 at Sywell, courtesy of R.A. Scholefield.  Detail photo shows the throttle and trim levers on G-ASZY (now N4499Y) in Tullahoma, exact date unknown, courtesy of Eric Clutton.

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R.S. Hoover on "FRED the Airplane"

The late Bob Hoover was a Volkswagen engine guru and homebuilt aircraft enthusiast whose internet sobriquet was R.S. Hoover to avoid confusion with the famous airshow pilot.  Bob passed away from cancer in 2010 but left behind a wealth of information in the form of his active participation in many online fora and in his blog, which his family has generously left up as a tribute.  Bob was generous with his time and helped guide many a new builder in tackling a Volkswagen aircraft engine conversion.

Bob also had an eye for design and a passion for safe, simple, affordable aviation.  With that in mind, it's not surprising that he was a fan of Eric Clutton's FRED.  Today, November 3, 2014 marks the 51st anniversary of Eric's first flight in the original FRED (see 50th anniversary link at left for several articles).  On this special day, I am pleased to repost Bob's thoughts on Eric's airplane for the common man.  Blue skies and fair winds, Bob.

Cheers,

Matthew

F.R.E.D. THE AIRPLANE

F.R.E.D. is an airplane designed and built by Mr. Eric Clutton, who will sell you a set of plans, allowing you to build a copy for yourself. F.R.E.D. has a web site but I don't know its address. However, if you type 'F.R.E.D. the airplane' into your browser it should discover FRED's home and point you toward it.

I hold a set of plans for F.R.E.D. because F.R.E.D. uses a Volkswagen engine. Some of the people building F.R.E.D. want to use an engine having the propeller mounted on the clutch-end of the crankshaft. Eric chose to put the prop on the pulley hub and if you want to change things around you try and find someone who already has so you won't have to re-invent the wheel.

When you decide to build an airplane the normal path is often cluttered with the residue of those who have tried and failed. Mr. Clutton has not only tried and succeeded but the people who have purchased his plans have a surprising rate of completion. That isn't to say there aren't a few travails along the way but that is mostly because Mr. Clutton has chosen a path less traveled.

As a family of birds, airplanes have certain shared characteristics. The bird that most closely matches the F.R.E.D. is one having wide wings that are fairly short. In airplane lingo we would say that F.R.E.D. has a low aspect ratio. Aspect Ratio is nothing more than the span of a wing divided by its width. With F.R.E.D. we have a span of twenty-two and a half feet whilst it's chord is only fifty-eight inches, giving us an aspect ratio or AR of about 4.8:1 For comparison, most light-planes have aspect ratios of six or seven. Aspect Ratio can be important because it reflects how much Drag is generated by the wing to produce lift. A high asprect ratio means your design is rather smooth in aerodynamic terms, whereas a low AR says your wing generates a lot of drag. But I should also point out that all such things are relative. A low aspect ratio was one of the trade-offs Mr. Clutton chose to make, in order to come up with a design that suited his particular set of requirements, such as the ability to easily fold the wings, mount a tow bar, hitch F.R.E.D. to his car and tow him home, where his narrow width allowed him to be parked in a garden shed or a single-car garage.

The days when a city was proud of its airport have faded away. American pilots are forced to drive longer distances to even find an airport. And when they do, the cost of renting a hangar or even space on the ramp, is often several hundred dollars per month. Add to that the premium charged for fuel and we find that a large number of pilots can simply no longer afford to fly. F.R.E.D. changes all that. F.R.E.D.'s wings are easily folded by one person. The horizontal stabilizer is removed and a trailer-hitch replaces the tail-wheel. The owner-pilot need only drop the trailer hitch onto the ball and he's outta there. On his way to the airport, the owner of F.R.E.D. may decide to stop by the gas station, where F.R.E.D.'s ten gallon tank may need topping up. Ten gallons of gas will give him at least two hours of flying with a safe reserve and the emphasis here should be on the flying, because the more you do, the better you are.

With just one seat F.R.E.D. isn't for everybody. Indeed, it is just for you. Take F.R.E.D. out a couple of times a month and you'll be a better pilot for it.

Source: Bob Hoover's Blog - F.R.E.D. the Airplane

Photo:  The original FRED G-ASZY strikes a classic pose at Shropshire sometime in the 1970s.  I wonder if the little girl is saying, "Mummy, I want to fly in a funny little aeroplane like that red one."  Courtesy of Ted Griffin.

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Paul Tomlin's aviation photography site includes some great shots of the original FRED still in flight testing back on 4 April 1965.  Check it out!

I sent the same link to Eric Clutton and he had this to say:

Those photos look familiar.  I have very similar ones  -- one or two in my book on FRED ! They were taken in the days when the wings did not fold but had to be removed (that took TWO people ). I modified them to one man folding when I realised I was running out of friends .  ERIC.

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Here is a wonderful snapshot of Eric Clutton's prototype G-ASZY sitting pretty in glorious color at Sywell back in 1971.  Thanks go to R.A. Scholefield of Rainford, Lancashire for the photo.  Cheers, Matthew