Time Pilot

Maidened my Great Planes BLT today. After flying the Slow Stick for many months, there was a moment of trepidation as I hand launched the BLT, not really knowing what she was going to do next.

All in all, it was a rather tame ride. Faster than a Slow Stick, not quite as manueverable, but all the fun. A larger vertical fin would have helped. Doesn't seem as predictable as the SS. I may have too much throw dialed in (a bit over the recommended throws) and the BLT just does some weird things once in a while. I'll work that out as I fly it more.

Some glitches in the building. The rudder horn didn't clear the fuse and had to notch out the fuselage. The vertical stab not aligned exactly right and needed quite a bit of trim to correct. Any first time builders should stay away from the recommended transparent Monocote as it is too thick and will easily warp your tail feathers. I glued the fin on aligning it with the top only to notice long after it was glued in that it was warped and not aligned at the bottom. Transparent Monocote worked well for the wing though.

Used a GWS 300 5.33:1 geared motor. Flew today with a 1047. Will try a 9070 next time out and a 1060 when I get it in the mail. And I don't know if this gearbox is quiet or the one on my Slow Stick is noisy, but could barely hear it in the air.

I do wonder how often Great Planes flew the BLT, though. On my second flight, on a low pass, I see my landing gear pointed towards the tail of the plane, off vertical by 20 degrees or so.

I thought I had bumped them off and felt stupid that I didn't see it, but upon landing, I see that the balsa that supports the gear got sliced by the wire when it was pushed back by the first landing. So, back home today, I moved the gear forward a bit, tilted it towards the nose a bit and added some hard wood supports.

The tiny wheels that come with the BLT are great for show or landing on hard or putting green surfaces. I thought I did well enlarging the gear by 33% but the BLT still nosed over in the grass. I attribute this to the heavier front end and hope that moving the gear will do the trick.

All in all, this is not an upgrade from a Slow Stick. I would recommend it to any SS flyer who wants to build a simple balsa plane that they know they will be able to handle once it's built.

I do not recommend it as a beginner plane for someone learning on their own, either. I know I would have crashed this BLT if this were the first plane and from what I've heard, they are not as crash worthy as the SS. And the additional hours put into the BLT make a crash harder to bear than on one you've spent just a few hours putting together.

And the cost? The SS is cheaper once you factor in the additional price of buying the kit, the covering, the motor, the gearbox and the prop. In fact, you could buy two Slow Sticks for the price of what you need to get the BLT off the ground.

If you are a beginner wanting to dabble in electrics, get a Slow Stick.

Anyways, thanks Matt for recommending a power upgrade.