rainedave

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but, I shot the base color on the little Dirty Birdy (37.5" span). I'll add some color and spray the canopy black, then do a couple of glossy clear coats to finish it.

dbacque

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That is so cool! I'm a huge Dirty Birdy fan and love 1/2A but I've never seen one of those.

Was it a kit? Symmetrical airfoil? Wanna sell it?

Dave

rainedave

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Dave, I just scaled down the full size plans and built it out of balsa. So, yes, fully symmetrical airfoil. I sprayed it with Brodak dope. Let me fly it first and I may be willing to let it go. I can't decide whether to make it fly sort of fast with an AME .061 or make it into a rocket with a Norvel .074!

treedog

Looks like a fast lil sucker Rainman

soarrich

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That's cool!

Remby

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rainedave;
Very nice job! Always been one of my favorites from the older days.

Couple of questions, how is the ballance? Some of these are known for being tail heavy. Also, are you going for landing gear, or the old tried 1/2a skid?

I have the Global plan scaled down to 36", it shows a built up tail group. Are those on the Birdy you have there built up or sheet? How is the weight?

Super looking so far!

build light

I had the kit and never built it because the tail feathers were solid sheet. Add to that the wood was not very light. I could not see any way it would not come out tail heavy and then wind up with what I was estimating about 2 ounces of nose ballast. []
If I remember correctly it was 3/16" thick balsa! No wonder it had such a reputation!

I wish I still had the thing. I could easily replace the wood and add lightening holes to boot. Still might be better to just build them up with sticks.

Dave, Beautiful plane!

Robert

digital_trucker

Ayup, stick frame and sheeting will be lots lighter (stronger and more rigid too).

RickT57

Been a lurker for years and never posted lol. Am curious where that plane came from and i'ts history
Rick

Andrew

The plane is a Joe Bridi design that was published in RC Modeler magazine in June of '75. Specs were 64-1/4" span, 688 sq. in., .60, 5 ch., built-up balsa and plywood.

rainedave

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Thanks for the comments. I love building scaled down replicas of famous airplanes. .020 Replica was always my favorite SAM category (which reminds me, I have a 36" Peerless Panther that I should convert to r/c).

My DB is actually built to the .60 size plans: built-up stab with ribs and then sheeted with 1/32" balsa.

With the engine in the nose, all servos and pushrods installed and the 370mah NiMH pack (1oz) right behind the tank (at the fuselage former next to the wing LE) it balances dead on and weighs 17.75oz. The Berg Mircostamp rx will probably bring it up to 18oz even.

The only changes I made were a hollow balsa shell canopy and no landing gear (although I installed gear blocks and ply rib doublers in the wing if I ever do add gear). Other than that, it's just like the full scale version, including the microballon wing fillets. Bridi never over-engineered his planes, so using light wood and going to the smaller rather than the larger scaled wood dimensions results in a pretty light model. For example, when I scaled down the plans a spar might end up .3125" thick. Instead of going up to .375 (3/8) I'll go down to .25 (1/4).

I will fly it first - hopefully next week - with the AME .061. This engine is at least 2 to 2.5K stronger than my AP Wasp which flies my 1lb Sun Fli IV just fine. If I feel it's under powered (which I doubt I will) I made the nose big enough for the Norvel .074 to drop right in. I'll just need to move the rx pack back an inch or two.

rainedave

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Welcome, Rick! For more on the Dirty Birdy - and others of it's ilk - search for it in the [link=http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/forumid_379/tt.htm]Classic Pattern Forum[/link].

Remby

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rainedave;

Hope you post some photos of it when you are going to fly , really is a good looking plane.

These were made into kits for 1/2a size by a few companys, was even a ARTF with a fiberglass fuse! A foam wing version, and SurFlite(?) had a all built up kit , i think that one had the sheet balsa tail group.

Those were the 1/2a days, and it's good to see them still being born.

rainedave

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Thanks Remby. I added some black dope. Next I'll give it a couple of sprayed on coats of clear to get it nice and glossy and protect it a bit more from nitro.

RickT57

Thanks guys. I should have recognized it. Been a big fan of his KAOS model since then.

rainedave

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I got all the servos hooked up including the throttle. I'll remove everything one more time, clear coat it and it will be ready to go.

Remby

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Lookin Good!

Try and get a few in flight shots, would like to see them. Your colors made me think of the Bengals!

I noted before you were going full house, that was the reason on the landing gear question. The old days, these were mostly dead stick landings. This would be perfect for small retracts.

Kewl !!

rainedave

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After flying my 16oz Sun Fli five or six times yesterday with it's AP Wasp, I decided that the AME .061 just won't do on the DB. Today I installed the Norvel .074.

AUW is about 21oz with a wing loading of 12.9oz. I've never flown an .074 before, so how do you think this plane will perform given those numbers? Thanks.

Remby

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rainedave;
Like a red rocket!

Nightstalker

Hi David - I can't wait to see how your mini DB flies with an .074. Speaking of Norvel .061's and .074's, there is a post in the Vintage forum from 12/31/06 entitled "Which Engine" and the guy is asking about which engine to use in a plane called "Impulse" from a set of MAN plans. I suggested that he repost it in this forum as you guys have much more experience than I do with Norvel's on small planes. The Impulse is kind of a shoulder wing Falcon 56ish looking trainer ('cept tail dragger) with an AUW of 26 oz, 46" ws and 12.3 oz/ft^2. I told him that the .074 Norvel (if he can get one) would probably be ok. Hope I didn't give him an inaccurate reply. I mentioned you and da Crew as a source for good 1/2A info. Again, this is posted in the Vintage forum.

Oh, and even though I'm in AZ, can I be a member of the CC sorta like a Southwest representative? Other than me and my Dad there isn't really enough interest out here in 1/2A to start an AZ Crew - just me, my Dad and a lot of hungery cactus!

Thanks - Todd

rainedave

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Todd, that sounds about right for the .074.

The DB is more or less ready to fly. Man, was I lucky with this one. The blue tape on the wings marks the CG according to the plans. With the battery in place it balances dead on the tape. This rarely ever happens with my models. Two ounces of fuel will put it on the safe side for the first flight.