Bird of Time

Thread view:

Enable EMail Alerts

Start New Thread

Thread rating:

Vegasfan - 31 Dec 2006 05:25 GMT

My son got me a Bird of Time ARF for Christmas and I must say I'm
impressed with the quality of the packaging and the overall quality of
the kit. The covering had only some minor wrinkles but it was still
better than I could have done it.
The wing is HUGE. This is my first pure sailplane. I've had a few
smaller electric powered sailplanes that were fun to fly but I'm
expecting much more out of this one. I'm going out of town on business
in a few weeks so I'm going to try to get it built and test flown before
I leave.

Reply to this Message

MK - 31 Dec 2006 09:33 GMT

So, how are you going to get it up there?
mk

> My son got me a Bird of Time ARF for Christmas and I must say I'm
> impressed with the quality of the packaging and the overall quality of the
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> much more out of this one. I'm going out of town on business in a few
> weeks so I'm going to try to get it built and test flown before I leave.

Reply to this Message

Robert Reynolds - 31 Dec 2006 16:22 GMT

> This is my first pure sailplane. I've had a few
> smaller electric powered sailplanes that were fun to fly but I'm
> expecting much more out of this one.

"Electric sailplane" is somewhat of an oxymoron. A big sailplane with a
4 oz/sq ft wing loading bears little resemblance to those other planes
with motor assist and a halfway decent glide ratio. The only trick is
getting it up in the air.

I'm not a sailplane expert. I had a friend who used to fly them, and
when I took a whack at it I realized how much skill is involved in
keeping one up in the air. I need to build that Paragon I've been
wanting to build for years.

You'll have to let us know how you like your Bird of Time once you get
it in the air.

Reply to this Message

Vegasfan - 31 Dec 2006 17:03 GMT

I bought a Hi-Start. I plan to take it easy for the first few flights
until I get the hang of using it. There's an experianced sailplane flyer
about an hours drive from here and I will have him take it up first and
trim it out and give me some tips on flying so eventually I can fly it
on my own property.

>> This is my first pure sailplane. I've had a few smaller electric
>> powered sailplanes that were fun to fly but I'm expecting much more
[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
> You'll have to let us know how you like your Bird of Time once you get
> it in the air.

Reply to this Message

Jarhead - 31 Dec 2006 17:07 GMT

| My son got me a Bird of Time ARF for Christmas and I must say I'm
| impressed with the quality of the packaging and the overall quality of
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
| in a few weeks so I'm going to try to get it built and test flown before
| I leave.

My $.02 worth.

I bought one over a year ago and installed spoilers in the wing for RES
flights. The spar does not have vertical grained webs installed, which I
corrected. ( The instructions do stress high start launches and
discourage winch launches.) See here:
http://www.dynaflite.com/techsupport/dyfa0500tech.html

I also used a 90° bellcrank in the tail centered in the round port for
elevator control. The standard size servo is mounted up front with the
rudder servo.

On my third test flight the fuselage broke just in front of the tail
while landing. Inspection showed that the glass cloth was not "wetted"
with epoxy. I contacted Tower Hobbies and eventually received a new
fuselage from them.

When I finished the new fuselage including a plastic tube for the
antenna I filled the fuselage from just in front of the bellcrank to the
wing trailing edge with spray foam that is sold for sealing against
drafts around windows, doors, etc. This added at lot of strength to the
aft part of the fuselage with little weight penalty. According to my
scale the flying weight is right on the 60 oz. advertised.

The first flight with the new fuselage was in 15 to 20 mph winds using a
medium duty high start. The plane flew great and I tested the spoilers
at altitude for the first time. They worked fine with no nose down
pitch. I increased the rudder throw to all I can get since it was a bear
to make the crosswind turn when landing.

With these changes the airplane is great.

Signature

Jarhead

Reply to this Message

aileron37 - 31 Dec 2006 17:39 GMT

I built one several years ago
http://hometown.aol.com/aileron37/page2.html You will need a medium or
heavy duty Hi-Start, if that is the way you are going to launch it. Not
that it is very heavy, it`s just a big bird. I also towed mine up with
a 1/4 scale cub and a few other tow planes. Mine liked to get up and
"fly", more so then just "float" around, so keep the speed up just a
bit and you will loose less altitude in the process. However mine was
covered and painted and may have been a bit heaver than your film
covered one. The BOT is known as a floater on landing though not
totally necessary spoilers are a big help. I built mine that way and
they are fun to play with and helpful on a short field. As Jarhead
said, set rudder throw to all you can get, I also set pitch up on expo
for my personal taste.
rick markel aileron37@aol.com

Reply to this Message

Jarhead - 31 Dec 2006 20:12 GMT

| | My son got me a Bird of Time ARF for Christmas and I must say I'm
| | impressed with the quality of the packaging and the overall quality of
[quoted text clipped - 38 lines]
|
| With these changes the airplane is great.

Here is a forum link for the BOT:
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=611904 I meant to put
it in the last post but couldn't find it in my favorites.

Signature

Jarhead

Reply to this Message

Model Forum / Radio Controlled / Air Models / December 2006

Bird of Time