AA5BY

What engine for a Das Box Fly bipe. The plane was framed up many years ago and I no longer recall what engine was recommended. Will a Saito .30 work?

Charlie P.

Wingspan? Weight?

w8ye

My Feedback: (16)

It was a RCM plane originally for a 20

Red B.

You have a Pilot Box Fly Bipe ?! Congratulations!
I had one for many years and it accumulated more than 300 flying hours before it met its demise.
It is many years since I last saw one so take good care of it. It's a real rarity. While my Bipe is long gone I still have the box in the attic. I enclose a couple of pictures of it.

The first engine I used in my the Box Fly bipe was a plain bearing Thunder Tiger 25 (generation 1). It is the worst engine I have ever owned, but it provided enough power to fly the Box Fly. Later on I mounted an OS 32F engine that was more than enough power. If you have a Saito 30 that will be just about perfect. Anything more is totally unecessary.

The Box Fly Bipe has ailerons on the lower wing only and wings mounted with rubber bands. This has an interesting concequence. If rolling at "high speed" the wing tips of the upper and lower wings may actually touch each other unless plenty of #64 rubber bands are used. It happened many times for me, especially after switching to the OS32F. Another thing to watch out for is the rather weak engine bearers. Mine broke several times so it is worthwhile to strenthening them by adding some gussets.

Other than that it is an easy flying, quite aerobatic aircraft that handles high winds extremely well. Please post a picture I would really like to se another Box Fly Bipe.

AA5BY

Red... I read your narration recently and it has served an inspiration to finish the das box fly. The plane was a gift from a student pilot and sadly I no longer recall which as it was sometime back in the seventies or early eighties. It was framed some time in the eighties and then stored many years in barn rafters. I've a couple of rolls of red transparent light covering that would be suitable and as mentioned a Saito .30 NIB. Also available is a Webra .32 NIB but thought is that it will fit a Sig Kobra also NIB that my grandson has been coveting flying some day.

The high time on your plane is amazing... and it is apparent in your words the affection that developed over that long flight time. It is sad sometimes when a very good flying plane goes out of production and is no longer available. I felt that way about a Southern RC Alley Cat from years ago. More recently I felt that way about an Ultra Stick Lite that crashed into the top of a very large oak tree. I immediately sought to purchase another and found it discontinued with a resulting commitment to a rather involved rebuild. When about finished, one more run of the craft was offered so a back up was obtained and the rebuilt is the most often plane taken to the field.

jaka

Hi!
It will work!
Had an OS MAX .25 in mine 30 years ago.

Red B.

The Box Fly Bipe has the highest flight time in my log book. And you are right, I really liked the little bipe a lot. These days when many fly big gas powered aircraft and 40-sized engines are considered too small for almost anyting one can think of flying I am amazed at how much fun I had with the diminutive Box Fly Bipe. I flew it almost every weekend during a 4 year period in the early eighties because it was the only aicraft I owned at that time. I couldn't afford another aircraft because of my rather limited student budget. Fortunately the only serious accidents were ground-loops which caused the engine bearers to break a couple of times, The landing gear was replaced three times because the piano wire legs developed cracks that caused them to break. I also had to replace a couple of servos because the pots and gear boxes wore out.

The end was swift and rather violent. During a low altitude flyby I hit a fence post straight on at full sped and the Box Fly disintegrated into many small pieces.

Good luck with flying your Box Fly once it is finished. I think you too will like it al lot.