kilmerelrc

My Feedback: (8)

Hello,

I have a Butterfly that I started about 1 1/2 years ago which was put on a shelf and now I am ready to finish it. I am at the point of covering the plane and am in a crux about powering it. I am torn between glow power and electric. I have been flying electric for a few years now and do not have any glow field equipment any more (field box, panel, starter, etc) but I like the thought of glow on a fairly large plane.

I would like plenty of power to climb (and get out of trouble if needed) but would like to power down and float around for a while which is why I am thinking electric with a folding prop. In addition, I will be flying (and landing) in a rough pasture field and am considering hand launch with a non-wheels belly landing (I may consider building a skid plate or skid runners on it).

Any thoughts on electric motor, prop and battery? If I went glow, I would probably go .25. What are your thoughts on belly landing.... or should I stick with the landing gear and a little over-sized tire?

I will not be using this plane for any soaring competition, just lazy circles and maybe some training.

Thanks.

thailazer

l owned a Butterfly years ago and enjoyed the times flying it. I am not keen on electric power but I do think the Butterfly would be a great candidate, and sure would make set up quick and easy. My Butterfly had an OS 19 and seemed almost overpowered with that. Electric power on the butterfly would be fairly hassle free!

kilmerelrc

My Feedback: (8)

Thanks for the reply. I am leaning towards glow quite a bit. ..

skylark-flier

My own Butterfly has been flying on an old OS.26fs for many many years. She spends most of her time just barely above idle - 4 ounce tank gives me hour-long flights. I fly from grass exclusively - she's always had trike gear with 2.75" wheels, outstanding in the rough stuff.

All my planes are still glow. Shoot, all my planes are still 72MHz. However, if you've already gotten rid of your glow equipment you'd probably be better off going electric on the Butterfly - modern support would be great, I'm sure.

kilmerelrc

My Feedback: (8)

That is great! Is your nose wheel mounted through the engine mount? Also, could you give me the rough measurements on your rear landing gear bracket? I have thought about making it a tricycle setup. How far back from the firewall is the front of your landing gear bracket?

Sorry for all of the questions......

skylark-flier

Hey, no problem with the questions, no problem at all. Forgot to put it in the first note, but that OS.26fs turns a 9x6 prop. Nose gear is attached behind and directly to, the firewall. Hatch on top of the fuse gives access to that and the fuel tank, along with the steering & throttle rods. You can see one of the hold-down screws just behind the engine. Main gear is .40-size fibreglass so she sits rather high. Just be sure to give her nose a bit of a lift - if you set the gear so she sits level at the wing saddle she WILL nose over at the field. I keep the nose strut extended about 1/2" longer than "level". This plane was built in 1981, not sure whether the fibreglass struts are still around or not but several of my planes (all dating from the early 1980's) have them - they're great! I'm 100% sure the modern aluminum .40-size struts would be just fine. Here are a couple better pics of that set-up:


This particular Butterfly was "purpose-built", which is why the trike gear. On the left side, under the wing, you can see 4 holes - they originally mounted air sampling equipment, and later mounted a camera. Because of the weight/drag of the extra equipment, trike gear was more stable overall. Now, 30+ years later, gear is gone but I've never filled in the holes. Nostalgia, I guess.

Bax

My Feedback: (11)

For electric conversion, this should work nicely:

GPMG4620 RIMFIRE .15 35-36-1200 OUTRUNR

The Butterfly was intended for a .10-.20-size glow engine, so a .15-size should fill the bill. Just keep the airframe weight down as much as possible.

soarhead-RCU

I have had a old Butterfly from a Craft Air Kit for many years (terrible kit by the way). It has been powered by a Enya 19, a OS25 and now a OSFP15. The 25 was way too much power as the plane is too big and draggy to really gain anything from the power. Last year my son-inlaw was deployed and I borrowed his Eflite 15 and ESC while he was gone. For batteries I used 4 cell 2300ma A123's from a Dewalt tool power pack. Fit in the nose tank area and balance was right on as the nose had rotted off several years ago and I extended it 1.5 inches when I repaired it. The 15 was ideal and had more climb than the OS15 has. With the 2300ma pack it will fly as long as my neck would take it, at least 25-30 minutes. This spring I think I will go back to electric with a cheap Hong Kong 15 size motor. Way less mess and crawling around for a old guy than with a IC motor...It's a great old plane and I should fly it more.

Bob M.