BRIDI'S BEST DESIGN
 

WICH ONE WOULD YOU CONSIDER THE BRIDI'S BEST AIRPLANE DESIGN?

I KNOW THERE WILL BE MANY DIFFERENT POINTS OF VIEW, BUT TO FOCUS ON THIS, LETS PUT IT SIMPLE, WICH ONE FLIES BEST?

I'M A FAN OF BRIDI'S PLANES AND MANY OF HIS PLANES NEVER MADE IT TO MÉXICO?

SALUD.

RAFA

RE: BRIDI'S BEST DESIGN
 

IMO, the Super Kaos is the grandaddy of all the modern pattern ships, so this would be his break through design that had a real impact on pattern airplane design.

As for his designs which are no longer in production, I would say the UFO was state of the art for it's time period in the early to mid-seventies. The Dirty Birdy, also of this time period, which is still in production was/is excellent.

As for kits still in production, the Escape and the Great Escape are excellent, and XLT is very good. The Great Escape is designed to be flown with a moder 1.20 four stroke and with plenty of practice will compete in up to Advanced class.

Regards,
GPB

RE: BRIDI'S BEST DESIGN
 

I would have to add only a "Hearty" AMEN, to GPB's comments and opinion.

When the plans came out for the Super Kao's it was the plane of choice at most contest. Many many "scratch" built and original designs, used Joe's wing form and moments on "their" design. As the pattern changed Joe continued to experiment with his other so named designs, but they all had their roots in his Super Kaos. The last two I built (over 20 yrs ago) I did build a diamond shaped horizontal Stab, AKA: Jim Kirland design. For me it made the elevator must softer around neutral therefore Smoother. Today this "feel" is programmable on these modern day radios, in the old radios we simply had to lengthen our Sticks to get this feel. JMHO

Tony
BPA #2
Boling,TX

RE: BRIDI'S BEST DESIGN
 

I got the copy of RCM that has the Super Kaos in it (5/73), so I decided to glue one together.

I chose to build up the stab a la the UFO with symmetrical ribs and 1/16" sheeting, instead of the flat version on the plans. I also smeared a little bit of epoxy/microballons on to blend everything in nice and smooth.

It will be my "everyday" practice plane this spring.

RE: BRIDI'S BEST DESIGN
 

The Escape is still in production?

RE: BRIDI'S BEST DESIGN
 

As far as I know, it is. Blue Jay picked up most of Bridi's modern designs, and to the best of my knowledge, the Escape, Great Escape, and the XLT are still being made. There is also a 2 meter version of the Dirty Birdy. Do a Goggle search for Bridi kits by Blue Bird. It will take you to the website. I have the DB 2 Meter kit, and the wood is excellent, and is selected very precisely for the intended component. Prices are IMO, very reasonable.
Regards,
GPB

RE: BRIDI'S BEST DESIGN
 

No Escape or Great Escape listed, the XLT has been out of stock since last June or so...Prices are very reasonable, IMO.

http://www.bridiairplanes.com/


Mark

RE: BRIDI'S BEST DESIGN
 

Who here has built his Mama Mia?

RE: BRIDI'S BEST DESIGN
 

My post led me to take a look at the website, and by George, you are right! It seems like the Escape and Great Escape were on the website when I purchased the DB 2+2. Low demand can cause kits to be discontinued, or maybe they don't like cutting foam wing cores! :D

RE: BRIDI'S BEST DESIGN
 

Using the Internet Archive we can actually go back in time and see the way their site appeared in July of 2004. At that time, 2 1/2 years ago, these were the kits they offered:

http://web.archive.org/web/200407080...gar/index.html

BTW, if you don't already know about the Internet Archive, it's a lot of fun. Just paste a URL into the field under "The Wayback Machine" and you can see what web sites looked like in the past:

http://www.archive.org/web/web.php

RE: BRIDI'S BEST DESIGN
 

That looks like the Dirty Birdy 2+2 from Bluejay... I've thought about it as a great sport plane, just haven't got there yet.


Mark

RE: BRIDI'S BEST DESIGN
 

Good point, Mark. It very well could be. Look how small the (60?) cylinder head looks in the photo I posted. The plans are available from Bill Northrop Plans Service, a.k.a., Model Builder Plans.

RE: BRIDI'S BEST DESIGN
 

Dave,

Go to the archive and pull up the link for the XLT. Tell me if something doesn't look right to you.

RE: BRIDI'S BEST DESIGN
 

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I think the Dirty Birdy was Joe's best accepted design. They were being campaigned in the Eighties, long after their introduction. It was easy to build straight, which always helps in popularity and good flying characteristics. It flew well with muffled engines or engines equipped with pipes and it flew well with the gear up or down. What's not to like?

Still, my favorite Bridi design is his Trainer series models (fully symmetrical airfoil). They were campaigned in fun flies for many, many years by lots of folks. I even won a pre-novice event flying one against Tipos, Curares and Dirty Birdies. Honest! Easton, Pa in 1981.


Ed Cregger

RE: BRIDI'S BEST DESIGN
 

I wish I had known about the Bridi trainers when I was starting in r/c. Maybe I did. Were the Tower trainers licensed versions?

The fuselage looks a lot like a Sun Fli or Kaos with a "cabin" mounted wing. I wonder if anyone ever built one as a shoulder wing version similar to a Stik?

RE: BRIDI'S BEST DESIGN
 

I too built three or four of the .60 size Bridi trainers and thrashed them around as sport planes. Super easy and quick to build, a fuselage that could be used for a baseball bat, one of the best all around sport designs ever. I love getting them in Estates! Top dollar for Bridi Trainers on Ebay!:D

RE: BRIDI'S BEST DESIGN
 

Does anyone have plans for the Escape, or a kit the want to sell I had one in the 80's and loved it

RE: BRIDI'S BEST DESIGN
 

blue bird sells the xlt kit its the same plane as the escape it just doesn't have the anhidrel stab. for$100 dollers or so


gary

RE: BRIDI'S BEST DESIGN
 

Gary,

Careful with that. The XLT has been out of stock since early last summer. I have been on a notification list since then, waiting for them to come back in stock. Last I heard they were supposed to be available mid July, 06. Nothing yet...


Mark

RE: BRIDI'S BEST DESIGN
 

I did not know they were out!!!!!

By the way the XLT/Escape is the best flying Bridi design if you build them under 7.5 lb. I have flown most of his pattern designes. JMO.

gary

RE: BRIDI'S BEST DESIGN
 

I recently aquired a D B 2+2 and have not yet built it. It is a very high quality all wood kit with straight forward plans. I also have an US 1000 kit but I will be doing the DB first. Very nice ship with an OS 160 piped.

RE: BRIDI'S BEST DESIGN
 

I have an Escape Kit that I'm going to start building soon...I thought I'd get a "Working Copy" of the drawings done up and try to preserve the Originals...

I've not checked into having the drawings re-produced yet...I have seen comments in other threads stating Kinko's or similar outfits should be able to do it??

If it's possible...And you would like a copy...I could get an extra set run...P.M. me if you want..

Have Fun...

Chuck

RE: BRIDI'S BEST DESIGN
 

There are several design changes to the escape that I beleave Bill Cunningham hade done to try to remove some of the adverse pitch and role.


1. do not build the counter balance on the rudder
2. drop the horizontal stab 1 in.
3. extend the sub fin and rudder about a 1to1.5 inches


modifications I made on the xlt I have

1/16 in sheeting for the wings and stab(4-6 lb balsa)
I used nomex panels for the bulkheads and fire wall
I used smaller stock to build the rudder assy. then sanded to an airfoil shape
On the triangle stock for the fuse I laminated carbon fiber cloth and rounded the fuse on the corners a bunch much more than I would have if the carbon had not been used I would say the corners are no more than a 1/8 in thick
I sanded the nose down to 2 1/4 in (2 1/2 on the plans))
On the interior of the nose structure forward of the f2 bulk head I routed out the excess wood ( bridi kits are notorious for using blocks and instucting sand to shape)
Converted to tail dragger
For the wheel wells I did not sheet the inside of the I just esed Z-poxy to protect the foam
Placed fuel tank (16oz.) as close to the cg as possible talk about tight


my plane is at 7lb
If I would change servos to say a 9650 from a 9201 and went to a lithium batt insted of nickle cad I could save even more weight maybe as much as 6oz. maybe?


IMO 7lb is an ideal weight for the XLY/Escape


gary

RE: BRIDI'S BEST DESIGN
 

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I have heard that the Tower folks bought the rights to the Kaos, Super Sportster and Trainer series Bridi designs. Then, the folks at Tower had the gall to actually improve the Trainer series. The original Trainer .40 and .60 were difficult to set up so that they would snap roll and spin. The rudder placement and size was the problem. The improved Great Planes versions had traditional full length rudders with the rudder hinge line running to the bottom of the fuselage, instead of ending at the upper surface of the horizontal stabilizer. While I like the old, original versions for nostalgia, I actually prefer to fly the improved Great Planes versions.

Tower's folks are missing the boat by not offering these planes in ARF versions with bolt-on wings. They would sell three or four of them to me, two in each size, .45 and .60.

I've often thought that a 1.20 or 1.60 sized Trainer series ARF would sell well too. What a great utility model they would be, with lots and lots of applications from glider tugs, to flying test bed models.


Ed Cregger

RE: BRIDI'S BEST DESIGN
 

Thanks for the info, Ed. I learn so much on this forum.

We should set up a Classic Pattern Plane Wiki site - similar to Wikipedia - where anyone can log in and add info. For those not familiar with Wikis:

A wiki (IPA: [ˈwɪ.kiː] <WICK-ee> or [ˈwiː.kiː] <WEE-kee>[1]) is a website that allows the visitors themselves to easily add, remove, and otherwise edit and change available content, typically without the need for registration. This ease of interaction and operation makes a wiki an effective tool for mass collaborative authoring. The term wiki also can refer to the collaborative software itself (wiki engine) that facilitates the operation of such a Web site, or to certain specific wiki sites, including the computer science site (the original wiki) WikiWikiWeb and on-line encyclopedias such as Wikipedia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki