I found this MAN pull-out plan in a pile of old papers. Anyone here ever built Randy Randolph's Bee-Tween? I may have to cut some ribs tonight.

Dave,

I kept those plans for years and never did build it. I think it's a great looking simple to build plane that would be alot of fun.

Later,
Tim

I have built one - powered with a TD .049. - flies nice!

Paul

Is there a way to get a copy of the plans? Looks great!

chad

I built the BeeTween .049. GREAT flying plane! Surprising how well it would fly inverted, even with all that dihedral.
I scaled it down and put a .020 on one. Engine was finicky, but it flew really well. I still have that one. I also scaled one up for .09, and it was also a great flyer. Check the horizontal stabilizer on the plan, it isn't quite centered, one half is longer then the other.

I HIGHLY recommend this plane. Very stable, nice glide, but will still fly inverted, also will do rolls, loops, etc. I had full size radio gear in mine years ago, and it handled it fine. I might just build another with throttle and small radio and battery gear. It would probably thermal.

Had a BeeTween several years back. Had a Black Widow on it with lots of throw on the controls. Flew well except when pulling a high-G turn, that single spar on the wing bottom folded like an umbrella. Exit one BeeTween. Strongly suggest that 3/16 or 1/4 inch top and bottom spars be substituted for the half height single bottom spar with full depth shear webs to 2/3 rd span. Or a full depth spar with 1/2 depth cut outs in top of spar for ribs with 1/2 depth cut outs in bottom of ribs to fit together. Also found like many of Randy R planes that the nose could be extended by 1/2 inch to ease tail heavy condition.

Easy to build. A sure start today with a 5x3 Cox prop and a film can tank and it would be a real fun flyer. But change the wing spar.

Jim H

Me too!

Robert

'Bee-Tween' plan was included in M.A.N. magazine Nov 1997.

I have it -- let me see if I can get it scanned into a usable format. Probably be first part of next week. If not, I'll try to get a Xerox -- should fit on 4 pages.

I went ahead and scanned it and pieced it together in Photoshop (just got back from Asheville).

I have no problem "sharing" it with people. But MAN might! What are the RCU guidelines about this sort of stuff? My copy did come as a free pull-out in the issue that I paid for, and I'm certainly not selling it. Personally, I consider the 1/2A forum a club, so it's being passed around for club use, right? Any peculiar RCU policies, BMatthews?

In the mean time I'll get the file size down so it's feasible to email.

The Bee-Tween looks like a good candidate for the CS061 R/C , should make a pleasant model.
Stewart

Oh for Goodness sake! Here we go. I have too many projects going as it is, like my money-pit UFO:

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_4017336/tm.htm (Check out Post #81 for some funky balsa bending)

There's just something about those darn Randolph plans. How could I not start cutting...

Hi Everyone!

My dad and I both have been flying for over 10 years. I was a little sceptical of the small 049 planes after having some of the "Simple" models such as Simple citabria and simple Cub. My dad and I both built one when the article came out. We were both pleasntly suprised. It really does handle like a much bigger plane.

I would highly suggest this model if you are looking for something small, stable, and with ample power.

Since building the first, my dad has built one with ailerons and half the dihedral. Have not flown it yet but I bet it will be a blast..

I am building another and thinking of putting a Electic motor and a li-po battery in it.. Any suggestions on sizing the electric motor to the plane?

Dean

I know I'm going to get booted out of this forum for this. I promise to put a Norvel on the nose when they become available again. Or, maybe that underpowered CS would be just right for this plane.

Anyway, yes Dean. I have a GWS direct drive 400 with a 6x3 prop that I will try in this design.

All I've done so far is water shrink the tissue. A few coats of Brodak clear butyrate will shrink it even tighter and give it a nice glossy, fuelproof finish. I think I'll leave the fuse bare and just dope it so the wood will show clearly; maybe a red tissue arrow down the side to spruce it up. It's such a simple design I feel like it should just have a basic, simple color scheme.

OOPS!! Sorry guys.. I did not see the main name of the forum! I was searching on Google and it lead me here..

That looks Great! You must have some years of scratch building under your belt or a great attention to detail. My bare balsa frame always looks a little rough, but even the bare balsa looks teriffic!!

Funny comment about the Norvell.. I got my first Norvell in a LMH-100 Helicopter (hope "Helicopter" is an ok word here! ) and was very impressed.. It ran great and the only thing I had to do was change the number of rings under the glowplug depending on the season! What distributers on the net have Norvell? I don't remember seeing it in TowerHobbies.com? There are not many hobby shops in my area anymore that carry anything other than cars or electric park flyers.

The Bee-tween is a great model.. By far the best .049 model I have ever flown. Again, HIGHLY recommeded...

I would love to hear of any other .049 models that people have had good results and performace with..

Thanks!

Dean

It looks a lot like the Cox Mantis ARF that I got off theebay....Rog

Thanks Dean. The whole thing can be built from your scrap balsa box. It's great being able to build a model without spending a small fortune on hardware and covering. I used the floppy disk hinging method.

rog, I always thought the Mantis looked more like a scaled down Astro Hog, but maybe I'm thinking of something else.

I have built one and am building my second for my wife.. It IS a very inexpensive plane to build. I have used lots of scraps from my other Scrath built project that is on the table (a .20 size "New Era" from RCM Plans). I did monocote hinges. Covered the Elevator and horizontal stab together with the elevator fully deflected.. did the same on the opposite side.. Has lasted way longer than I expected. I will not be building in the cockpit area this time. It just adds to the build time and makes a place for oil to collect.

I'm debating adding strip ailerons and making the vertical stab/rudder all one piece (aka No rudder control). I may put less diehdral in this one too.. It's almost too stable!!!


Dean

Dean, you need to post some pics if possible. It never occured to me about the cockpit collecting fuel and oil but I can see that it would. Mine has just a little bit less dihedral than the plans call for, maybe 1/8" each tip. A while back I started joining all my wing halves by making the root ribs on each panel thicker, like 3/16" or so, glueing them perpendicular to the board like the other ribs and sanding a bevel into each one. I just like this method better than glueing the root ribs at an angle to form the dihedral. On this plane I didn't quite sand enough bevel so I got a bit less dihedral. Anyway, I can't wait to fly it.

Ask and you shall receive!! This is my first Bee-Tween.. It has 2 Futaba Micro (Back when micros were still 1" square and cost $50 each) and a 4N cell Receiver pack. The Texaco .049 on front did fine.. My dad's has full size servos and performs amazingly well too.. I'll send you picks of my dad's aileron wing when I can get a pic of it.. The second pic is of the nasty cockpit area.. It has not yet lead to fuel soaking, but it is looking nasty and is hard to clean!

Very nice Dean! It actually looks kinda fast. Those lines make the wing look swept back. I like it. The red lightning bolt down the side is along the lines of what I was thinking of. Something just to give it a little zest. Are you hand launching yours? Is it tricky with the wing in the way?

Mine started out with Gear, but it ripped out in a hard grass landing and I found it to be more of a problem. It would catch in tall grass and flip the model over on it's tail. So I left it off and I am happier with it that way. Handlaunching is not to bad. If you are good, you can underhand it, but I don't do that often, or recommend it!! It is odd holding it so far back to launch, but it's not a problem..

THe biggest problem is ripping covering on the bottom of the wing.. I need to add some sort of clear plastic thicker than monokote to the first few rib sections from the leading edge to the spar. Do you know of any good material to use as "skid" protection to put on top of monokote?

Best thing I know that is widely available is the 3M Clear packing tape. It is a bit thicker and heavier than the cheaper other brands but even those would do a lot in that department.
Because it is clear it is hardly noticable as well.

As for the underhand launch you could actually make a skid from 1/8" lite ply and mount it underneath so as to have something to hold comfortably for launches. It would reqiure a little thought as to mounting but it has been done by many others in the past, removable wing or no.

Robert

This is my scaled down .020 size Bee-Tween.
I had to add some lead weight to the nose to get it to balance.

WOW! An .020 version! That's amazing! I have never seen anything fly with an 020 other than a hankercheif and a few control line models! What's the wing span and how does it handle?

How Micro did you go on Servos, receiver, and batery? You have my attention!

Dean