Jim_Purcha

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Joe Bridi must have redesigned the Sun Fli 5 at the same time he made kits for Kraft Radio Control: 4 Seasons 40 and Vagabond. Similar shaped tail sections.

Jim


Bridi Vagabond

vertical grimmace

My Feedback: (1)

Just finishing up my Sun fli 5.......finally! A couple of mods, but I am excited to fly this thing. It just looks like a great flying plane. OS .65 AX for power, Robart retracts. Mine is a taildragger. Maiden flight hopefully within a few days.

EscapeFlyer

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Very nice!!!!

Brian

vertical grimmace

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Thanks, Crazy I got the plans mailed to me from a fellow RC universe member back in 2010, I have been building so many other planes, and this one just kept getting pushed back, This airplane is really mainly for practice, to keep my flying skills sharp. Maybe if there is an SPA event around here, I will enter an event, but most likely not. I modified it so much, it would probably not be legal anyway.

crankpin

My Feedback: (15)

Looks good.

Crank

vertical grimmace

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After reading why the Sun fli was crashed in this thread I was reminded of the importance of thread lock on the servo screws of metal gear servos! I will do that for sure with mine. I find that most of these old designs build nose heavy. I did not put my servos back, so I had to add lead. Got it balanced perfectly now, and I thinkI needed about 2 oz. Mine came in right at 7lbs.but now It is right there with the OP's Sunfli. Should get the maiden in tomorrow.

vertical grimmace

My Feedback: (1)

It flies! What a smooth airplane. I had no issues in flight. Only slight elevator trim. Need to make a couple of adjustments with the landing gear, but overall, this is exactly what I was wanting when I began the project. I think this is one of the best flying planes I have ever had. Today was a good day!

immelman50

Hi Vertical G,

That was me that mailed you the plans and I am very pleased to see your finished version. It looks great!

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do mine. I think mine is about 10 years old now and probably should be stripped and recovered. They really are great flying. I think I told you that you wouldn't be disappointed and I'm glad you aren't. As far as SPA, I've seen some pictures of much more radical modifications that what you've done in contest photos, but I really shouldn't speak to it, not being a member. Mine has a couple modifications , too. I cut an airfoiled stab and elevator. I don't know how much difference it makes but I do know that it's smoother to fly than a Killer Kaos I had with a flat stab . They are very very similar airframes.

I have a Dirty Birdy, a Calypso and a couple later turnaround style pattern planes ( Runarounds), but I fly the Sun Fli V more than any of them. I just put new bearings in the OS 61 FSR so am good to go once the snow melts around here. I can't wait and the first one up will be the Sun Fli V!

Blue Skies!, Chuck

vertical grimmace

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Well Chuck, thanks again. Gonna go fly her again tomorrow. I am also gonna send a copy of these plans to another modeler who has asked for them. I also think I am gonna practice the Sportsman pattern, and enter the one event we have here this summer. This thing should do good in that class. Mainly though, I just wanna keep my flying sharp. Planning to enter the Scale Nats this summer as well. Time to get some stick time!

immelman50

Good luck with the sportsman pattern meet and in scale at the Nats! Your Sun Fli will do well in sportsman.

I flew mine in intermediate at several competitions ( turnaround) and despite it being of the classic era, it was competitive. Naturally it would have been more competitive in a classic or SPA meet. I had it there as a backup to a more fitting turnaround airframe that had a problem so flew the Sun Fli V and didn't feel at a disadvantage at all.

I'm glad another modeler is getting a chance to build one as well.


Chuck

tgwhitley

Did Sun Fli 5 have usual Bridi color scheme? Any photos of Joe's Sun Fli links appreciated.

Thanks

Tim

Mr-Punk

My Feedback: (2)

Hey VerticalG! Your Sun Fli looks great! Glad you finally got her done and flown. Story sounded alot like my Kaos. Bridi Bluejay Killer Kaos 60 kit with mechanical tail dragger retracts took me only one year and 8 months to complete lol. But hey it fly's great much like yours I'm sure. I've never flown a plane that tracks so well or is this solid in the air. I'm just your average sport flyer though. Mine too came out nose heavy with a OS 61 FX and with 2 ounces in the tail is 7lbs just like yours. I've been wanting to move the battery back in the tail so I can remove the weight and maybe get it to flat spin. Here's a couple pics of her.

Peace,
J

vertical grimmace

My Feedback: (1)

Thanks, Mr. Punk. I have gotten a lot of flights in the last week on my new Sun Fli. I sure love it and it is exactly what I wanted. The actual time I spent building this model was minimal, it just took a while to complete as I had so many other projects going on pushing it back. I snuck a 1/4 scale triplane build in there, a Sr. Kaos, I got about halfway through an Andersen 1/5 TA 152, and I also started a Ziroli Stuka!

One thing of note, I am not really happy with the sound of my engine. I wonder if maybe I should look at some pipe options? I have been running a 12-6 APC prop.

The way the wing was built, this thing is really clean, and it is not the easiest plane to land as it carries a lot of energy. But, it has a great stall, and it has to be very slow before it drops a wing. The spins are really great. Very easy entry, and they are very consistent. Takes about 1/2 rotation to recover after neutralizing the sticks. Mr. Punk, try increasing your elevator throw, to entice the stall before your spin. If you can get a good snap roll, you should be able to get a good spin.

Mr-Punk

My Feedback: (2)

Thanks Vert.. You can call me Jimmy. It wasn't that much work to build it. The retracts took a bit to figure and rig them. It like yours kept getting put on the back burner though. Some hobby stuff, some life stuff. If I would have worked on it regularly it should have been a 2-3 month build for me.

Now I gotta put new bearings in my engine on the Kaos. Seems I may have forgot to run it dry and after run oil it maybe once. Last time out It was making a whirring sound. It's been hangered till I get my bearings. When I tear into it I'm gonna make a hatch toward the rear and put a new 6v battery back there. Hoping to remove the 2 1/2 ounces of lead and move the cg further back. It feels nose heavy in the air. It has enough elevator on high rate to force it into a high speed stall (snap) at cruise speed by pulling full up. But in a normal spin it spins more nose down than my other sport planes and won't flatten out when crossing aileron. It just falls out of the spin then. I'm hoping a more rearward cg will improve knife edge flight too. But then again I don't have near enough time on it yet. Probably less than 20 flights. I have a little trouble slowing mine down too. The Kaos has a pretty fat wing though. Probably thicker than your Sun Fli. The 11x10 APC prop might have something to do with that.. It has a flat final.

The moments on your Sun Fli really look nice stretched out like that. Looks like some slope sailplane adapted for pattern.

Peace,
Jimmy

vertical grimmace

My Feedback: (1)

Well, I kinda stretched the wing a bit. Stock it is supposed to be 65", but mine is 71". All of the other dimensions are stock. All of these series of planes used an NACA0015 airfoil. On my Sun Fli, I kicked that up to 18% as well. So my airfoil is thicker than stock. My Sun fli is just so clean, that it carries energy really well. This has to be bled off in the approach, and I am now getting used to it. Everytime I fly it, I try to shoot as many touch and goes as I can. My Killer Kaos was a little easier to land for sure. I have had this thing out 3 out of the last 4 days, and I am getting more and more happy with it each time I take it out.

Try flying your Kaos inverted to see how much down elevator is needed. It should be minimal. This will tell you when your CG is correct. It should spin very well. I loved spinning mine.

Mr-Punk

My Feedback: (2)

Yeah it needs more down than it should inverted. I've got a pretty modified 4-star that would climb inverted hands off if pitched nose up when I had it pretty tail heavy. Boy would that thing snap and spin great, sometimes unintentional. lol But that thing was a blast with the 46ax with macs pipe. That little AX really responded to the Macs pre-tuned pipe setup. It turned an 11-6 MA 15K on the ground. I flew it with a MA GF 11-8 @ 13500 on the ground. It picked up over 1500 on the pipe. I'm wanting to put a tuned pipe on the 61FX in the Kaos in the future.. Though I've really been drooling over the Novarossi speed13 rear exhaust would put the pipe right down the side. That black Novarossi tuned pipe would look cool. I'd like to know how the 65AX runs on Macs black muffler or a different setup? What prop? I'm curious.

What setup did you have with your Killer? I'm open to any tips. I know I'll get it set up and flying nice this season. Way too many people love the Kaos series for it not to be a blast.

Peace,
J