I haven't had any luck contacting Bluejay models in Nebraska. Are they on vacation etc.? They don't answer e-mails either. Skip[]

I noticed that more and more of the kits are becoming temporaily unavailable also. I hope this is not the end.

Me too. When RCM Magazine went under the same scenario took place. I hope there hasn't been a major problem with the owners. They usually answer calls in the evening.

Almost all ther kits are out of stock. I hope they dont disppear.

Just got an email from them. They said they hoped to have the dirty birdy kits back in stock in the next 90 days. So it looks like they are still alive.

It makes me glad that I went ahead and ordered (and received) all of the outstanding kits they offered that were on my wanted list.

I too hope they are not fading into the past.


Ed Cregger

I just checked and noticed the Dirty Birdy kits are in stock again.

What is Bluejay's web address?
Thanks

Here you are
www.bridiairplanes.com/hangar/dirtybirdy60.html

Thanks,
What is the difference between the Dirty Birdy and the Kaos?
I have a 60 size Kaos with a .75 engine, great flying plane, would like to find another kit of one.

The Kaos is better at looping, while the Dirty Birdy is better at rolling. Figure out your weakness and buy the appropriate model.


Ed Cregger

The Dirty Birdy has better knife edge performance than the Kaos.

Oddly enough, IIRC, when the Dirty Birdy was first made available to the public, there were no knife-edge maneuvers in any of the patterns that I can recall. Knife-edge was still an exhibition maneuver displayed by the likes of Jersey Jim Martin with his infamous Banshee. The fact that the SPA has seen fit to incorporate point rolls and knife edge is kind of disappointing to me because many of the popular models of that era were not designed for that type of performance.

Of course, one can enhance knife-edge performance in even a doggy model by spinning a large diameter prop at fairly high rpm (10K rpm). Could this be why the .91 Pumpers on 30% nitro are favored by a knowledgable few? <G>

Ed Cregger

I just received notice from Blue Jay that my Dirty Birdy has been shipped vis UPS. I ordered approximately one week ago.

Gentlemen,

I just ordered one as well. I plan on getting a set of the new 60 size electric retracts from Lado-Tech.com to use in the plane (if they will fit), but I am still up in the air as far as the engine goes. I'd like to stick with a four stroke but I would consider a two stroke if I could put a header and a muffled tuned pipe on it. I just don't like the high pitch noise of a two stroke on a stock muffler. Any suggestions?

Fly safe and have fun!!
David

You will probably have to do a little modification to squeeze a four stroke in the DB. I've got a .65 two stroke in mine and that's about all that will fit with the plane built stock. It's not difficult to make it fit, just something to be aware of.

With the .65, standard muffler and fixed gear my DB is a fantastic flier. With a tuned pipe and retracts it would be a real bullet!

Dave

I was reviewing my DB kit from Blue Jay aircraft. Looks really good, good quality overall. Some of the wood is a little on the hard side, but that is what we used way back then. The plans I believe are the original plans ]'m not sure. Anyone know?
Has anyopne built the DB from Blue Jay before.
I noticed when setting the dihedral, the wing is placed upside down and a 3/8" space is between the table and the root rib. To me it seems more dihedral than I can remember when I built my first DB on or about 1979-1980 era. My Killer Kaos, I built the wing upside down with the wing flat on the table, all one piece. The dihedral was set by the taper of the ribs from root to tip.
Can anyone comment on this.

Thanks.

Orlando

3/8 in between the root rib and the table when the wing is upside down is what is called for in the original RCM plans. I was reading the original 2-part construction article the other day and thought that this was an interesting, if somewhat unusual, way to measure the dihedral.

Jeff
Skylane N9214G
SPA 243

cl, what you describe is exactly what's on the RCM plans.

David

I built one from the Bluejay kit and I've been flying it for a year now. I built it exactly to the plans and couldn't be happier. It's the only plane I take to the field.

You can see mine here http://tinyurl.com/2x8ceq , with a few notes on the construction.

The dihedral on the plans seems to be about perfect. The only snag encountered when building was a small issue with incidence that was easily correctable. Check my notes in the other thread, you may want to delay drilling of the wing dowel holes until you adjust the incidence. I had to plug mine and redrill them.

After a year of flying the plane I have done a little adjustment of CG and mixing. I've moved the CG back slightly from where it's shown on the plans (do start with the plan location though!) I've got it perfect for my tastes but the plane doesn't like to sit on the nose wheel with the tank empty. If I was to build another I'd probably move the main gear blocks back a quarter inch or so.

Knife edge is very flyable without mixing but to tweak things to perfect I've got 3% rudder mixed to ailerons and 2% rudder mixed to elevator. It now holds knife edge across the field with only rudder and point rolls are beautiful.

I do love this plane. You will too!

Dave

Dave,

I assume you mean 3% aileron mixed with rudder and 2% elevator also mixed with rudder.
Is the aileron mix with or against the rudder direction and is that an up or down elevator mix.

Ray

No, I've got rudder to aileron and rudder to elevator mixes set up. When I move the rudder a given amount, the ailerons move 3% as much and the rudder moves 2% as much. But the exact terminology of the mix might depend on the radio brand.

I'm not positive on the directions of the mix. I pretty sure that the rudder to aileron mix is left rudder to left aileron to correct a slight roll towards inverted. I'm not certain but I think the elevator mix is up elevator to correct a very slight push to the belly.

Both of the mixes are very minimal, I flew the plane for better than 6 months before bothering to set up any mixing. Flying knife edge without the mixes was not a problem. But it sure is sweet to have rudder only knife edge now!

Dave

Dave,

Yes we mean the same thing. The rudder is "master" and the elevator and ailerons are "slaves" with the elevator moving 2% of its maximum set deflection and the ailerons moving 3% of their maximum set deflection when full rudder is commanded and proportionally less for smaller rudder deflections.

Ray

4 pt rolls, 8 pt rolls, reverse knife edge, and slow rolls were all candidate pattern manuvers when I first started playing with pattern in 1978. Im pretty sure they predate that quite a bit too. Masters had a fairly large list of manuvers to choose from.

-----------------------


Believe it or not, those maneuvers (point rolls/knife-edge) did not become really popular until the FAI left behind maneuvers involving autorotation (snap/spins) and went to the very smooth, fast and jet-like flying style. Yes, by 1978 they were headed well in that direction. That was about the time that the rear exhaust/enclosed tuned pipe designs emerged, or slightly earlier.

The Dirty Birdy was around in the early seventies because folks did not take to the Super Kaos. The Super Kaos was kind of the pattern equivalent of the real world's first straight wing equipped jet fighters. It was an emergency measure that acted as a stepping stone to the swept leading edge wings with a straight trailing edge, or slightly swept rearward trailing edge.

Of course, this is just my opinion.


Ed Cregger