H5487

The GP Slow Pokes seem to be well liked for sport flying but what about the various Clancy "Bees"? (Big Bee, Speedy Bee, etc.)

w8ye

My Feedback: (16)

I feel the Slow Poke is a more modern take-off of the Clancy "Bee".

I have four Slow Pokes but have never seen a Bee fly.

BuzzBomber

My Feedback: (4)

I have a Ladybug(original kit version of the baby bee) which was originally powered by a Cox .020 and now wears a small outrunner b/l on its nose. It is very nimble for a rudder/elevator ship and can do some aerobatics I've not been able to replicate with other planes. It does have some handling quirks due to being so short coupled--ie, it tends to "tuck" at high speeds and gets VERY pitch sensitive at high speed, but it's very fun to fly. A good friend has had a few versions of the regular lazy bee in the past; he loves them and reports they fly similar to my ladybug.

simhatus

HI

I have a lazy bee with a enya .15 engine. It is great fun to fly especially on a calm summers day.

Simon

dom4615

I also have a Lazy Bee with a Magnum .15 engine. I've had it for about 5 months and it's a very fun plane to fly. I did not build it so I can’t tell you how they are to build. I purchased my used and it was an ARF. It performs very well at slow speeds and it can be launched from any patch of grass or by hand. I’ve got about a gallon a fuel through mine and since I usually fly at 1/3 throttle on the .15 engine, that’s a lot of flying.

The lazy bee is very stable and surprisingly tough. This past weekend I flew mine into a power line on my brothers farm. It shattered the prop on impact and the plane tumbled approximately 30ft to the ground. The only damage was a busted wing tip that I repaired in about 45min. And of course the 2 hours I spent cleaning all the mud out of the engine. The bee is now back in the air.

I would highly recommend the Bee to anyone who is interested in flying. One thing I will say is that a .10 size engine would be plenty because I almost never use full throttle with the .15.

JustErik

I've got a laser-cut Speedy Bee (midwing variant) kit waiting in the wings to be built. It's gonna get a little Magnum 4-stroke on the nose. Other planes keep cutting in line! One of these days I get to it.

bbbair

I have built and lost three Speedy Bees - they are fantastic flying AC!
IF you understand their limits. []

I bought one second hand - it couldn't get off of the ground until I burned off half of a tank of fuel. [:@]

Once I moved the servos forward and recovered it with lighter material it was great! (know the maximum weight that it can lift)

I powered them with an OS .20 - too much power!! I snapped the dowel on one and had the wing depart from the fuse. [&o] The next bee had a larger dowel, this time I had the horizontal stab (1/8" balsa) develop flutter, it snapped off. [X(]

Keep your power within design limits, beef up key points as you see fit, watch your weight and you will had lots of fun with a Bee!

JustErik

Thanks for the tips, bbbair! This will be my first bee of any sort, so I'll take any guidance I can get.

slick95

That is a cool plane! I might have to add one of those to the collection.

SLICK