I had a Great Planes Super Skybolt ARF and it was an excellent plane that served me well for many many enjoyable sundays.

In a moment of madness i sold it when i needed some cash and now after almost a year without it i really miss it.

I'm thinking i might get another but thought i'd ask here if there was anything better.

I'm not a fan of Ultimates and don't do 3D. I want a plane that does aerobatics well, that could possibly be suitable for entering in the sportsman class of the local pattern comps.

My skybolt was a nice size for transporting to the field fully assembled but this time i'm thinking i'd like something a little bigger, up to about 1.20 2-stroke power.

Is there a bipe that fills my needs? I'm also thinking of a great planes Venus II, but i really like biplanes or sports-scale models.

"Better" is a subjective word.

Some might think the Ultimate is better, some might think a Sopwith Camel is better.

But I've flown a lot of bipes and I like the Skybolt best

Pretty tough to beat in its class,nothing comes to mind for your needs [:-]

I don't know much about bipes, but I do know the Ultimate has a long tail like a pattern ship.

The Venus II is a real treat to fly.

I think GP is re-releasing their Pitts and Christen Eagle bipes. They are larger than 1.20 size but look pretty nice. I have the Eagle sitting here waiting to be finished but something else always seems to come first.

Not really, the Skybolt has a longer tail moment and it makes it a smoother flier

Both the Pitts and Christen Eagle have very short tail moments and are much less stable that the Skybolt.

I have the Skybolt and I really really love it, but have to say that I believe it could also benefit from a longer fuselage for improved stability
Everything is relative and subjective of course, I've never flew the Ultimate, and was eying it for a while... Glad to hear those positive inputs for the SkyBolt.

Yah that's true. Just trying to think of some sport/aerobatic bipe ARF's out there. Sure seems like we need more of them.

I was looking at the Great Planes Ultimate 1.60 bipe. It has a 65" wingspan and a 72" fuse lenth. Also the CG .90 size ultimate has a longer tail than wingspan. Not sure about other Ultimates, but if this is 'scale' than they should be the same?

IMHO this one is "better" because of it's size....

[link=http://www.horizonhobby.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=HAN1100]Click me![/link]

Sure, if you've got $3500 kicking around

And BTW, I've flown both and I'll take the Skybolt

Give me a 150CC Skybolt and I'll be VERY happy!

Better yet, just give me the full sized plane.

Actually a nice 50cc Skybolt would be very cool. It would still a reasonable size and relatively decent cost.

Fuse length and "moment" are two totally different things-you obviously don't understand that so I wouldn't make suggestions based on ignorance.

In our hobby, the word "moment" is often used to describe the relationship between the wing and stab.

Forgive me for being "ignorant" on the scientific definition.

I think he may have been refering to gaRCfields statements. Regardless of the intended recipient though, the point of these types of discussions is to learn and it isn't very cool to insult someone who may be wrong or who you may think is wrong.

Ok, I'll take TWO please!

A 50CC would be very sweat and I'd be right in line to buy one.

I love the idea too!

The use of the word 'moment' is correct. A 'moment arm' is the perpendicular distance between a force on a body and it's center of rotation. Planes with a longer tail are more stable because the plane has to work harder to overcome the moment created by the forces (air/wind) on the tail.

I suggested it on the GP site.

Joe, I also have had a Venus 2 for 2 years but last year I got a GP Ultimate and the only time I fly the Venus now is when I don't have time to put the Ultimate together. It doesn't take long but the Venus stays assembled and it will fit in my truck ready to go. Go ahead and get one with a 50 cc gas and you will not regret it. Although I have never flown a Skybolt, there is a guy at my field that brings his trailer full of planes every weekend but usually only flies his Skybolt. I talked him into getting an OS 120 AX for it last year and he smiles every time he flies! If they had a 50cc size Skybolt, I would have to try it!

Hey Minnflyer, have you ever flown a GP 160 Ultimate? If so how does it compare to the Skybolt?

Sorry, but I haven't flown it. However I CAN say that you're comparing apples and oranges.

An Ultimate of the same size as the Skybolt will be more responsive and less stable - it's just the nature of the beast. A Skybolt will be very responsive, but more stable than an Ultimate of the same size.

Bigger planes are more stable than smaller planes, so comparing any large plane to any small plane is just... Um... weird

The words "Tail Moment" were used in exactly the right way.

The TRUE source of ignorance was pretty obvious.

More along the lines of staying with the thread, I'm starting to put together my SIG Sun Dancer Bipes (small and large), I'm thinking they'll be really nice flyers so I thought I'd throw the name in here.

Jim

I think someone urinated in Gilmore's Cheerio's this morning []

yeah, definitely a got-up-on-the-wrong-side-of-the-bed thing going on there......

If it were a woman being that way I'd probably already be discussing sanitary products.......

I think we'll all weather it SOMEHOW........

Urinated in his......***SNERT!!***** kinda funny, actually!

Yeah...DEFINITELY getting off-topic here now!!

Bipes....gotta remember....BIPES.....good flying BIPES.....Urin.....Nope....nope.....BIPES....Cheer ios......Nope, nope.....BIPES...

Jim