Bipe Flyer

Hi Rog,
I got your PM, but I see you asked the same question here, so I'll just answer you here.

IIRC the kit came with wheels, and I think I went up a size. The main thing that helped with flying off of grass was to move the landing gear ahead a little bit. Here's a pic, looks like about 2.25" to 2.5". It originally had a Norvel AME .15, but that engine wants to spin a small prop fast, so I swapped in an OS .25 for more pull.

flyinrog

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Thanks Bipe gotta few more ??'s for you or anyone else that knows, what would be the futaba equivalent of an HS-81 ,dont wanna go with the tiny draganfly servos on this thing except maybe the throttle,,and I dont think the little great planes parkflyer rx would be the best, but I think its good for 1000' ,not sure I would want to keep a biplane in that close...and what prop you have on that .25?, oh do the ultimate decals come in the kit? nice cover job btw...Rog

oh what is your setup a/e/t?

Bipe Flyer

The Futaba equivalent of the HS-81 is the S3101. I stripped the gears on an HS81 on the elevator, so I replaced it with an HS205. You probably don't need the extra torque, but metal gears on the elevator might be a good idea. Definitely go with a full range RX. I used a Hitec 555. I found that an 8X6 worked the best. A 9X5 or 9X4 gave more thrust, but the 8X6 gave faster recovery from flat spins and blenders. Yes, it comes with decals.

Remby

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Bipe Flyer;

You got another good looking plane there, as always. Any video of that one in the air?

Bipe Flyer

Sorry, no video. I gave the plane to a friends son, who has been rebuilding if for the past couple of years. [:@]

flyinrog

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Bipe what size tank did you have? my friend says he wants to put in a 4 oz tank ,but my exp with the ace SS line is that wont fit...so how long will an OS .25 run on a 2 oz tank? or can you shoehorn in a 4 oz?...thanks..Rog, I have a few slant 2 oz tanks around here...somewhere

Bipe Flyer

I used a 4oz in mine. You'll only get a couple of minutes with a 2oz.

flyinrog

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I didnt know this but it comes with a 4 oz tank and ALL the hardware, great kit, have an OS .25 FP to go in it. Banjoairplane and I are building them but I am trying to get my stuff ready for the reedy race,,only 6 weeks away!![X(], I have 2 racers never flown and plan on trying them tomorrow....or thursday...Rog

KidEpoxy

This may be a bit late in the game, but don't put an AP15 in the Ace Ultimate unless you just had surgery and are trying to avoid all excitement. It flew, and that was pretty much the best I can say about it... besides it looking clean with the rear exhaust.

BANJOAIRPLANE

[X(]Make sure to line up the cabane struts with the pre drilled holes before gluing on the doublers.Don't ask.This is a neat looking little airplane,can't wait to finish and fly!

cuica

I've just finished making an All Star Bipe from scratch - put an SC 12 in it and tried it out today.

It is a little on the heavy side, with full house radio, and there was no way the 12 could get it off the ground... It just trundled along, mostly going round in circles - not much rudder authortiy - and there was no danger of a takeoff at any time.

Do I need to put in a .25 I have knocking around, or is the problem just that I built it too heavy (about 1200 grammes).

Not really sure how I could have made it much lighter, as the radio gear and the engine account for most of the weight.

Any thoughts appreciated.

50+AirYears

I got mine from an estate sale, partly built Ace kit, with foam wings. With 3 standard servos (Futaba S148s), 500 MAh battery pack, and HB .15, I got off the grass field in about 75 feet (23 m). Weight was about 2 1/4 pounds (1.1 kg?). Had a 2 ounce tank in it. Pretty good aerobatics for a plane it's size. I originally drilled it for a Fox BB .15, but after talking with a couple people who had had that same plane, also added a pair of holes to put in the HB first. Everybody previously I'd talked to told me they'd tried flying them with larger engines like Enya .19s and Super Tigre .23s, and had severe problems with torque rolling into the ground at lift-off. With the slightly lower power HB .15, the plane was easy to fly. The copy of the plan I have shows that the recommended engine range is .09 to .19, and if I remember the original RCM article, they were flown off asphalt, 3 channel, with Cox Tee Dee 09s.

Based on what I was told about the snap rolling tendency, I kept the HB with an 8-4 prop. That gave me around 12500 RPMs on the ground. The Fox I'd originally intended to use regularly gave over 14800 on 10% nitro, same prop. I might have had the Torque roll with the Fox.

I had a lot of fun with my All Star for about 3 years till I dumb-thumbed.

cuica

Thanks for this 50+Airyears.

Schu

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I used a OS .15 for a while - plane is heavy and does not track very well - I used full up elev. to start to get the rear off the ground then ease off the elev till it could gain speed and then more elev again. It was a bit of a pig on the ground, but
was fun in the air. I then went to a OS .25 for great fun in the air - you will need to use some struts to hold the wings apart or they will touch each other when you go crazy in the air.
Have fun

cuica

.40 size Allstar sounds great! What wingspan did you use? Thinking about it I have an old Merco .61 kicking about somewhere....

mocgp

I'm building the All Star (straight wing version) for electric power. I re-engineered the fuselage since I didn't need some of the structure that was either over-designed or "beefed" for glo power. I replaced the top front block with formers and 1/8" sheeting, which saved a "ton" of excess. The airframe is ready for the innards and weighs just under 13 oz. (without the landing gear). It's set up for a Park 480 and 3S2100mah, which will add another 12 oz. or so (including 3 servos and receiver) but it could end up light enough to use a Park 450. Judging from the posts in this forum, it seems that the stock kit was just way too heavy for it's size and suffered from excessive wing loading.

50+AirYears

The JPEG file for the All Star bipe I have shows a 34" upper, 32" lower wing, 320 square inch total area,26 to 36 ounce weight, and suggested 26 to 36 ounce weight. Mine with the foam wing was a couple ounces heavier than recommended. I rarely had any problems taking off from grass with 2.5" wheels. Just hold full up elevator, don't snap the throttle open too fast, gently steer with rudder, ease in neutral elevator as speed comes up, then let it lift off when it's ready.

Like I say, after talking with several other people locally who tried this plane with larger engines, I decided to use my mildest .15, and was not disappointed.

Oh, I think I balanced it about 1/4" ahead of the recommended cg point.

somiss1

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I have a kit that construction was started already. The wood was the heaviest that I've seen! When I build it, I'm using the kit wood for patterns only. This is an airplane that must be built light to fly well. Plus, don't use full size servos. Hitec 82 MG servos would be a good servo to use. AND-put a scarf on that pilot to blow in the breeze!!!!!

049flyer

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The Ace Simple Ultimate is still available here: http://miniglowplanes.com/

skaliwag

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Do they actually have them in stock?

Toysareforkids

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I still have a Ace All Star bipe in the box yet. I bought some 20 years ago and don'tknow ifI'll ever get around to build it.

Pat