This has got to be one of the prettiest sport planes. Designed by YT International the Bendix Special is suitable for IC 0.40-0.56 two stroke or 0.70 four stroke or electric equivalent. Comes with a comprehensive hardware accessory pack, fuel tank that now come as standard with a petrol compatible fuel bung across the range. The film is Oracover (Profilm), very nicely finished.

I have an SC 0.70 four stroke, which when fitted inverted and slightly angled should allow the exhaust to fit down tunnel in the centre, then most of the engine and exhaust should be hidden.

Looks good, cant wait to hear about a flight report!

Very nice looking airplane. I'm just a bit prejudice to those wonderful racing monoplanes and pursuit planes of the 30's, and those wonderful WWII birds, so, I'm looking forward to more photos and a flight report as well. Just wish they made a larger version, like 70-80 inch wing span. That would look nice sitting next to my 82" wingspan GBY!

Life has shown me that, "Experience is a hard teacher. She always gives the test first, and the lesson some time later!"

The build is pretty much straight forward, the only deviation I made from the instructions was regarding the engine positioning, by installing the engine at an angle the head is easily accessible for cooling and attaching a glow clip, less likely to flood and the exhaust runs straight down the central duct under the fuselage.
Just the elevator and rudder servos to fit and the battery for balance.

The weather warmed enough today to allow a test flight, I still have to sort a pilot out, but nothing to stop it flying.
Powered by an SC0.70FS turning an APC 13x7 she lifted off the ground we ease, power was immediately reduced to about 2/3rds which was more than enough for general mucking about. The test flight was pretty much an non event, she flew superbly, all manoeuvres where effortless even the pro hang and torque rolling, the stall turns are exquisite, she needs a touch of down elevator inverted, the rudder movement was only about half of what it should so a bigger horn will sort that and improve the knife edge, the big elevators means she will turn on a sixpence. Pottering around or flat out a real darling of a plane to fly that drew loads of favourable comments.

Made one slight alteration, I painted the exhaust channel in the fuselage with glass resin to seal and fuel proof

This is a great fun plane and the two piece wings make transport really easy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-4zW...lcp&playnext=1

I've got one of these coming next week. I'm going to try a RCGF 15cc gas/petrol engine. Thanks for sharing the photos.
Carl

Kinverflyer beat me to the punch with the review. I must say he is right. This plane is one of the prettiest ARFs I have seen in a long time. The golden age looks grabbed me at first sight. I received this plane two weeks ago and was very impressed with the ARF. Hardware was better than I expected from a typical ARF.

I did toss the oily cheap pushrods and the tail wheel, but I used everything else. Below are some mods to the plane I did for personal preferance that other may find useful.

First, I really dislike exposed servos and I dislike them even more exposed and placed all the way back in the tail. I decided to mount mine internally closer to the CG and use pull-pull wires. Here's a pic of the location inside the fuselage.

Elevator: First I used the G10 control horns provided with the ARF (really nice, better than typical plastic ones by other kits). I shaped the horn so that I could use it for a double sided pull-pull setup.

After shaping the horn, I cut a notch in the elevator and a groove for a reinforcing wire bar. Everything is epoxied in and was extemely secure.

Next, I enlarged the hole in the side where the horn and elevator can slide through.

Rudder:
Same as the elevator. I used the exhisting G10 horn and shaped appropriately. Drilled holes for a guide tube for the exit holes in the side of the fuse. When Elevator and Rudder are finished, everything looks clean and tiddy and fairly scale to a period plane.

Also, I cut off the tabs for the access hatch and re-glued them inside the fuse. I attached strong rare earth magnets so that it canbe detached easiler than unscrewing with bolts like the kits has. Much more convienient and secure as well. I also added a Sullivan tailwheel that is much better than the supplied one.

AUW with a huge battery is 5lbs, 14 oz. For power I used a Turnigy NTM 42-38 750kv motor with a 4000 mah LIPO and a 14x8 Master Airscew S-2 Scimitar. Amp constant at full throttle was 45A and 670 watts at 14.8 volts. More watts with a fresh battery. I like to check with a low battery so I know what the minimum power is when I'm ready to land.

BTW, check your servo mounts in the wing. While testing I had one come apart and I had to re-glue it. Would have been catastrophic in the air.

Hope this helps.

Thanks so much for all the photos it helps greatly in planning my install. I hope to start mine shortly.
The 15cc RCGF engine arrived today and I'll post some photos soon.

I dunno, a .90 in a smallish .40 size plane?

Tx Bird yes valid concerns. I'm basing this on that the rcgf 15cc can swing a 13-8 at 11000 rpm. Based on Kinverflyer's SC0.70FS turning an APC 13x7 at about the same rpm I think it would work. With ignition and muffler, the 15cc weighs 6.6oz more than the .70FS so I'm hoping to make this up with a 2-3 oz fuel tank and use micro metal gear servos. It should be a fun design challenge.
The whole system will run on a 5.5 oz A123 battery with an IBEC. Stay tuned ...

Looks like it will fit. The side muffler will stick out but maybe a wrap around will keep it in the cowl...

Its got a pretty short nose and a long tail, it might balance out ok with the gasser, as long as you can keep the overall weight reasonably low. I'd have to think about not using those CA hinges though.

I am interested to see if your theory works, it would make a great alternative to oily glows.

Kinvenflyer,

Well, the build is on the bench now and so far so good. I'm mounting all the things that can't be moved and I will shift the the rest to see what weight and balance will emerge...

photos when I have some more progress...

Cheers,
Carl

My slightly customized Bendix had it's first flight today.It took off beautifully. Very little trim required. Fairly aerobatic and fun to fly. On landing, I had to come off on the power almost completely for it to slow down enough to settle in. A bit of a floater. Stalls are straight ahead with a slight wing drop but can be recovered easily by applying power. Keep the rudder throws big if you like to do rudder stalls etc.I found it better to keep big throws on while flying and then had the rates dialed down to 40-50% for landing and takeoff with some40% expo for smooth controlability.

The Turnigy NTM 42-38 750kv motor with a4S4000 mah LIPO was plenty adequate. I used a 14x6 S-2 Master Airscrew prop. Flew little more than what a scale plane would, but if you want this plane to really jump off the ground for some "Hardcore" aero then I would recommend something with a little more punch.I'm plenty pleased with it however and will keep it. Battery, ESCand motor barely warm after multiple flights. The 4000 4S could get about 8-10 mins but could probably get more but I didn't push it. I would highly recommend any of the changes I outlined above in my other posts.

Number one on my list of changes would be the easy change to make the access hatch magnetic. A real pain to be unscrewing all the time. The consealing the servos and control hornreally added to the looks as well. AUW with the large battery was 5.8 pounds or 2.6 kg with no adverse effects on performance. Like I said, it was still a floater.

Remember to check those servo mounts!!!

Hope this helps, Cheers from the land of Smiles

Starmer,
Thanks for the flight report and I'm glad all went well.
Carl

Well I’ve got the RCGF 15cc gas engine installed on the airframe. I made 40mm/1.575� standoffs and this puts the carb about 10mm/.394� inside the firewall. As expected it is nose heavy but moving the battery rearward seems to offset this. The muffler will be the next challenge.

A progress photo.

With the SC0.70 my battery ended up in line the wing seat, sounds like yours will end up in a similar place.

I was able to do a balance mock up and the 5.5 oz a123 battery seems to balance the plane when placed just behind the cockpit.
So far I'm at 5lbs less wheels, pants, prop and spinner and muffler. The muffler that seems to work will be the jtec up/down square...one is on the way...nothing else barring a custom made slim Pitts seems to fit. This was going to be what made or broke this so I'm glad I've found a solution.

I think I can come in under 6 lbs and that's the goal...more as I have more news followed with pix.
Cheers,
Carl

No worries Carl. Mine is just a hair under 6 lbs (due to a large battery pack) and it flys beautifully.

Some more Flight Reports for those who care:  
I spent a couple hours last weekend (and several batteries) shaking down the plane and getting it "zeroed" in.  AUW is 6lbs but handles real light, especially at slow speeds. 

CG: Manual has CG at 85mm if I remember correctly.  I shifted the battery pack forward to the firewall to make it slightly more nose heavy.  Balances around 80mm.  The plane seems more happy.  Handles real smooth and stable but still has plenty of snap with full deflections.  Mild nose down while inverted. 

Stall:  This plane has a real gentle stall.  The day had about a 5-10 mph wind.  I took it up to altitude and pulled back the power with the nose into the wind.  The plane virtually stopped in mid air then slowly nosed forward and rolled to the left.  Roll was still controllable so the plane essentially elevatored down while I maintained attitude.  Adding throttle brought the plane right out of it.  With no wind, the plane drops its nose and left wing gently.  Nothing violent.  Once again, adding throttle brings the plane right out into stable flight.

Throws:  I originally set the recommended throws and they seemed to work fine.  Now that I have flown the plane several times I think I would increase the aileron throws to get a more snappy roll.  Elevator throw is more than adequate and I can do a tight loop.  Nothing more required.  Rudder I have at Max throw.  It provides good ground handling and the added rudder helps with Wingovers, Rudder stall turns and Knife Edge.  Speaking of...The Knife edge is really nice in this plane.  With a only a moderate amount of top rudder this plane flies very well on its side.  I did a couple laps around the field in a knife edge.  Just keep your speed up.

Ground:  The plane tracks well on the ground and the gear is spaced far enough apart that tight turns on pavement don't result in a scratched wingtip.  The fuse is long enough with a lower center of gravity so that ground looping wasn't really a problem for this tail dragger.

Power: The Turnigy NTM 42-38 750kv motor that I used with a 4S 4000 mah Lipo was plenty adequate.  Battery weighs about 1 lb and is a bit of an overkill and is plenty heavy, but I was able to move it around easily to help with CG.  Flight time is about 8-10 minutes.  I finally settled on a 13X10 S-2 Scimitar Master Airscrew prop.  If you want this plane to really jump off the ground like a "Raped Ape" then I would recommend probably a more powerful motor or 5 cells.  It has plenty of power for my needs and I don't plan on using the Bendix for 3D so it is good.  I'm plenty pleased and will keep the setup.  

Landing:  Like I previous stated, this plane is a floater on landing.  Even at 6 lbs which is over the advertised weight by 1/2 lb it flew very easily.  Wind was about 5-10 knots and I had to pull power all the way off and let the plane slow to a crawl before it settled down on the runway.  On my first flight of the day I was trying out different prop sizes and testing with a Watt meter.  I forgot to get a fresh battery (shame on me [X(]).  After 8 minutes while I was on an extended down-wind run I noticed my ESC soft cut-out (essentially no power).  Pucker factor was very high since there is a rice paddy pond on the approach end of the runway.  I slowly turned to line-up on final and held the nose just high enough to keep the airspeed up and not stall.  I was able to clear the pond and the plane settled down on the runway like there wasn't any problem.  About a 75 yard glide!  Needless to say I was sweating heavily.  This is a great plane!  I can't wait to get back out to the field, and for the cost of the ARF it is a steal.

Cheers,
Jason

BTW, I would highly recommend any of the changes I outlined above in my other posts. 

Great flight report, the weather over has been absolutely **** for the past 3 weeks and this week end is looking no better, it nice to hear some one is getting some flying in, I am looking forward to flying mine again.