RE: Good Second Plane
 

Funny how there were planes that were so good they are still with us today after decades. The big difference they were kit or plan built before the herd went to the ARF. Fun Fly events were held at most every club so we had planes like the Hots, Up-Roar, Dazzler and so many profiel planes with the same wing design. Class C pattern planes were for those of us that wanted to build and fly something the pros were using so the herd went to the Kaos type of planes so we could start flying with persision. When the herd wanted something that looked like a full scale persision plane the Extras and Sukhois were top dog.
I still have a Hots, a 2 meter pattern plane from the 80s, a class C Daddy Rabbit, an Extra and I have another Sukhoi on my bench. Getty Up Cowboys, I still run with the
herd!:) Some planes are just classics and will be built and mentioned for decades to come. I like them all but I really like the ones that Mr. Bridi designed.

RE: Good Second Plane
 

Funny you mention Bridi.......my first plane was a Bridi trainer with a K&B 40 in it. The plane is long gone but I still have the box. My son restored his (also his first plane) and is in the middle of restoring his Chaos.........not a current Chaos but one of the originals. He and I also flew the Sweet Stik's together.......sometimes we'd wait until everyone had left the field and would have contests on how many touch and go's we could do on a tank of fuel or on a windy day just point them into the wind and fly standing still.................good days...........and like you said.........they were all built. I don't understand the "I don't have time to build" attitude. This is a hobby and I built even when I had a young kid and I was working overtime........I just made the time for some quality relaxation. I guess some people live to work..........I used to work to live and was always happier that way.

RE: Good Second Plane
 

As a kid I built my planes at night while watching TV in the living room. When the daughter was an active toddler it was after she went to bed. Today it's in my shop as the mood strikes me. Building used to just be a relaxing hobby, something to do to unwind during those stolen moments.
The OP seems to be asking about the foam ARFs though but I'm not 100% sure. Last week a guy came out to the field with a small [not so small] B-25 electric and gave it the maiden while the wind was blowing. It flew great!! Landed easy. It was from Nitroplanes. I'm not a fan of there junk but this one impressed me. The fellow used his own motors but you can get it RTF.
The Bridi designs are alive and well. I just built one of his Dirty Birdy's and liked it even more then the Kaos. I had my first mid air with it on the second day of flight. It's a bit more work to build it then the Kaos but it is a better looking and flying plane. You can look them up on the Blue Jay web site. The prices haven't gone up very much either. For 100 bucks you can get a complete kit. It's old school building and not for the faint of herd.;)

RE: Good Second Plane
 

Gray Beard...........where do you get the "current" Bridi designs???? I'd really be interested after I finish my 4*, Venture 60 and BUSA Sopwith Pup.

RE: Good Second Plane
 

Just buy the kit from Blue Jay. I think the Dirty Birdy was right at about 100 bucks. Like I said, the prices haven't gone up much. If you want plans then just look into MAN plans. They were sold through MAN and I think RCM so you can still get them. Just google Blue Jay.

RE: Good Second Plane
 

Hey greybeard I am in the process of building the Dirty birdy and it is a hard build. I am wanting to put a 91 4 stroke in it and the fuselage has to be adapted to fit it. Firewall had to be moved back and the fuselage had to be widen to accept the engine. Guess it was really made for the 60 2 stroke.

RE: Good Second Plane
 

Yep, back in the day of the Dirty Birdy, the mass production proliferation of the 4-stroke was note even a dream for most modelers. That was the day of the hard running tuned piped .61 2-stroke. And the pattern planes of that era love to fly fast. I had a club member who tried to fly a Bridi Deception like his IMAC Extra 300. After I talked him into keeping the throttle at full he realized how well the plane actually flew.

Hogflyer

RE: Good Second Plane
 

I used the SK .91 two stroke and used a shoe horn to get it installed, that and a sanding wheel plus I didn't taper the nose as much as normal. Because it's a build you can come up with a lot of ways to do it. The class-C was limited to a .61 as I recall. The plane was designed for speed before the turn around pattern came about. The DBs I have flown will out perform the Kaos in the knife edge every time. Looks really cool with retracts. One of my spring airs isn't working so I went with wire gear. The build is normal for the times. No photos of part A slipping into part B. The instructions just call for a piece of 1/16 X 3 sheeting but don't say what length to cut it from. Just a lot of thinking needed for the build.

RE: Good Second Plane
 

Maybe I should have gone with the engine mounted sideways.

RE: Good Second Plane
 

Hey Irish.. how goes it?

CGr.

RE: Good Second Plane
 

Hey CG, other than the rain, sleet, hail, tornado, everything is going great. Went out this morning but winds were gusting to 25mph, made it a hand full. How are things your way? Still going to Europe?

RE: Good Second Plane
 

We've had a somewhat middle of the road weekend. A lot of low ceiling stuff, fog and some sunshine in the afternoon... but not a lot of wind. Wouldn't you know that when the wind is down, the darned fog is in.

We had some real hot weather last week.. high 90's low 100's would you believe. And, with that came the wind.. it was really windy. Combine that with the heat and humidity, well, southern NJ was not very pleasant for anyone that wanted to be outside.

I'm headed to Florida on Wednesday for a few days... perhaps going down ther to cool down a bit??? ha..

CGr.

RE: Good Second Plane
 

Gene, it didn't mater much, I still had to mount the engine and there was no room for the GP mount so I had to use my grinder to make the mount fit. Then I made the cowl fit the engine, sort of built it around it and hogged out the inside of the cowl. It was tight. I only have one plane with the engine mounted upright and there is no way to deflect the exhaust so it is a real slime ball at the end of the day. I pretty much never mount an engine upright. Side mounted makes for a better shot at the throttle too.

RE: Good Second Plane
 

I was wondering if anyone here has a hawk sky or one of the copies of it and has upgraded to the recommended alpha 400 3500kv brushless motor upgrade. I only ask because I upgraded to it since I have gotten the hang of the stock motor and I am almost afraid to hit full throttle with it and me holding onto it. It just seems like too much power, it's pretty loud really powerful. Any input on this? Anyone done it and flown it with that upgrade?

RE: Good Second Plane
 

If you go to the bottom of the header bar there is a great web site just for electrics called Watt Flyer. If it can be done with an electric motor there it's talked about there. A super site and great people.;)