Bridi RCM Trainer Rebuild
12-30-2017, 03:59 AM
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Bridi RCM Trainer Rebuild
I've been eyeing this ad on Craigslist for a while. It was a guy selling some old planes mostly broken and used up hobby junk that we all have plenty of. One plane caught my eye. It looked rough and old but the symmetrical cut in the fuse and the fin and rudder shape made it a no brainier.. a Bridi RCM Trainer. I've been wanting one of these for a while. He also had a 4 Star 40 that someone had framed up. I picked them up and some he insisted I take some old junk fuse's for the gear in them, but I don't think I'll be using the Aristocraft or World servos in the future. I'll rob the wheels and control horns if they seem ok and toss em. So for 60 bucks I packed my car and came home.
Once I got it home I peeled back a little covering in the center of the wing and noticed a crack.. I turned it upside down put a little pressure and CRACKK...
Well someone didn't put glass cloth or a dihedral brace it it. No biggie it will make it easier to reduce the dihedral, If I decide to. It has some really old radio gear.. "Orbits"
It will get stripped, checked out, updated and recovered. I will change the wing to a bolt on as well. I'm contemplating changing the tail to one like the Great Planes Trainer 60. Has anyone flown both the RCM Trainer and the GP versions and would elborate? I may also change it to a tail dragger or a least make provisions to do so in the future.
I have a OS 61 FX I'm thinking of putting in it. Currently it has worn out Enya 40. I'm sure it's the 60 size because it's 51" lg with a 59" WS. It weighed 5.6lbs. So if I can keep it around in the 5-6 lb range should be a rocket with a strong 61.
Once I got it home I peeled back a little covering in the center of the wing and noticed a crack.. I turned it upside down put a little pressure and CRACKK...
Well someone didn't put glass cloth or a dihedral brace it it. No biggie it will make it easier to reduce the dihedral, If I decide to. It has some really old radio gear.. "Orbits"It will get stripped, checked out, updated and recovered. I will change the wing to a bolt on as well. I'm contemplating changing the tail to one like the Great Planes Trainer 60. Has anyone flown both the RCM Trainer and the GP versions and would elborate? I may also change it to a tail dragger or a least make provisions to do so in the future.
I have a OS 61 FX I'm thinking of putting in it. Currently it has worn out Enya 40. I'm sure it's the 60 size because it's 51" lg with a 59" WS. It weighed 5.6lbs. So if I can keep it around in the 5-6 lb range should be a rocket with a strong 61.
12-30-2017, 11:01 AM
#2
Back in the bad old days and since then, I've had several of the GP trainer 60 version, both taildragger and tricylce. One had the fuselage destroyed and when making a new one, I changed the shape of the vertical fin and rudder.
The only difference in their behaviour, other than ground handling between taildragger and tricycle, came from the engines installed.
I used both a Webra 61 Blackhead and an OS 61 FSR ABC. Flight performance was good with the Webra and spectacular with the much stronger OS.
Because of the thick airfoil, it's capable of solid, well mannered slow speed flight. When you use full throttle with the stronger engine, things can get very lively and exciting. The performance envelope is quite large.
You should also know that the wing design for both versions does not use a dihedral brace. The center section of the wing is glassed.
Mine all used the GP designed bolt on wing. That's a bit of a pain, requiring the alignment of 4 bolts. A much simpler way to do it is the modified method used on the updated version published in one of the last issues of RCM magazine. You can find that plan on-line. Try Outerzone.
It's really a good design and performer. Enjoy!
The only difference in their behaviour, other than ground handling between taildragger and tricycle, came from the engines installed.
I used both a Webra 61 Blackhead and an OS 61 FSR ABC. Flight performance was good with the Webra and spectacular with the much stronger OS.
Because of the thick airfoil, it's capable of solid, well mannered slow speed flight. When you use full throttle with the stronger engine, things can get very lively and exciting. The performance envelope is quite large.
You should also know that the wing design for both versions does not use a dihedral brace. The center section of the wing is glassed.
Mine all used the GP designed bolt on wing. That's a bit of a pain, requiring the alignment of 4 bolts. A much simpler way to do it is the modified method used on the updated version published in one of the last issues of RCM magazine. You can find that plan on-line. Try Outerzone.
It's really a good design and performer. Enjoy!
12-31-2017, 10:22 AM
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I've been working hard on it. I wish I could just work on airplanes for a living. I have been very productive this last week off work. I completed a recover on my Daddy Rabbit pattern plane, and installed recievers in 3 more of my fleet to get all my powered planes on my Aurora 9.
I got it all stripped and opened up the wing center. I flattened the dihedral it to only 1" under one side. Plans call for around 2 1/2". I poured 30 min epoxy in the slightly opened up center joint. Then I notched the center rib to allow for a dihedral brace that I epoxied to the rear of the spar. I also e glued a lot of the joints throughout the wing. Who ever built it was very sparingly with the yellow glue. I doubt it has ever flown. The wing was extremely weak. I'm talking it probably wouldn't hold 10 lbs. Pics don't show but I've added shear webs about halfway out the wing and re sheeted the center section. It's nice and stiff now.
On the fuse I'm going to saw off the cheeks and the hardwood engine rails. I'll then scab another piece of ply on the existing firewall and drill it to accept a Great Planes adjustable engine mount. This way I can use it as a engine test bed if I want to. While stripping the fuse I found that it had a bomb door built into it under the covering. Some of the sheeting wasn't glued down and was hinged on the front. I'm leaning toward ripping that out and putting a block in there and convert it to a tail dragger. I'm also leaning toward cutting the vertical fin off and moving it back and extending the rudder down like the GP Trainer. Talk about old school.. Look at the blocks of balsa for the cabin front and rear. 70's baby. It may have been built back then. I havn't found evidence of CA in it yet just epoxy and what looks like good ol carpenter glue..
I got it all stripped and opened up the wing center. I flattened the dihedral it to only 1" under one side. Plans call for around 2 1/2". I poured 30 min epoxy in the slightly opened up center joint. Then I notched the center rib to allow for a dihedral brace that I epoxied to the rear of the spar. I also e glued a lot of the joints throughout the wing. Who ever built it was very sparingly with the yellow glue. I doubt it has ever flown. The wing was extremely weak. I'm talking it probably wouldn't hold 10 lbs. Pics don't show but I've added shear webs about halfway out the wing and re sheeted the center section. It's nice and stiff now.
On the fuse I'm going to saw off the cheeks and the hardwood engine rails. I'll then scab another piece of ply on the existing firewall and drill it to accept a Great Planes adjustable engine mount. This way I can use it as a engine test bed if I want to. While stripping the fuse I found that it had a bomb door built into it under the covering. Some of the sheeting wasn't glued down and was hinged on the front. I'm leaning toward ripping that out and putting a block in there and convert it to a tail dragger. I'm also leaning toward cutting the vertical fin off and moving it back and extending the rudder down like the GP Trainer. Talk about old school.. Look at the blocks of balsa for the cabin front and rear. 70's baby. It may have been built back then. I havn't found evidence of CA in it yet just epoxy and what looks like good ol carpenter glue..
