J-P

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As I'm waiting for some decent weather in France to maiden this new BJ PARK monoplane, I take this opportunity to post some pictures from the shipping to the first flight.

The first time I saw this plane was at the Italian WORLD FAI/F3A Championship in 2019.

Specification: Design by BJCRAFT
Wingspan 1880mm
Length 2000mm
Wing area 60.0 dm2
Stabilizer area 16.0 dm2
Spinner diameter 82 mm (Contra Drive Ok)
C.G Wing Root from L/E 220-230mm
Net weight (ARF) 2100 g
Weight 4800g EP



























J-P

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After various experiences with DHL, FEDEX and UPS, I asked BJ to really secure the shipping boxe, asking him to take in account the fact customs were opening the crates, but never closing them back properly.

So BJ sent me these pics just before shipping the plane to France.






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J-P

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So, have a good flight EPILOGUE .....

With such beautiful and clean jets, my BJ plane was supposed to arrive 3 days later ...

J-P

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Always a pleasure to see the UPS truck arriving ....

Did something survived ??

J-P

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Be positive :

It's an EPILOGUE, they sent the right plane at the factory, and delivery was on time ......

So let's keep opening the box 🥸 by the time the driver is waiting to see what the damages are ....and decide if this crate must be sent back .....or something can be saved

ted32776

Enjoyed your post....till the last three pix, ugh! I've had similar experiences here in the US. Hope the parts are ok.

Bubblehead575

I had an Element delivered last year that was a total loss. Fuse was crushed and only one wing and stab survived. Fortunately Mike at F3A had another he could ship within a couple of weeks.

J-P

My Feedback: (1)

Can you believe it ?
As the fuselage was moving in the crate, I was expecting to have it broken or highly damaged.
In fact, lucky I was, after inspecting every single part I found nothing ...
Just later on, I found a light hint on the fuselage, a small crack on the paint ....that's all ...

INCREDIBLE

So the way the packaging was done prevented the damages to the crate and protected the plane parts.

I don't know who is to blame, but the fact Customs open the crates on a regular basis to check what is inside but don't close them back properly don't help.

Thanks BJ for inserting a piece of wood in the cross section of the crate, this avoiding the sides to crush the fuselage, when the top cover no longer hold them.


Here are the weights of the different parts right out of the box

FUSELAGE 1042 g
RUDDER 88 g
T 98 g
CANOPY 90 g
L STAB 83 g
R STAB 81 g
STAB TUBES 13 g
MAIN WING TUBE 62 g
R WING 307 g
L WING 308 g
LDG GEAR 105 g
WHELLS + PANTS 47 g
WINGLETS 18 g

TOTAL 2342 g

J-P

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As I'm flying off a very bad grass runway close to PARIS, I will have to reinforce specialy the landing gear plate and the bottom of the fuselage.

So I will weight again the fuselage after the job done.

I had a very bad experience last year, when a repaired Falcon Landing gear leg damaged after a few hundred of landing on this grass runway broke ....

Morality do not repair ldg gear legs, change them, it could cost you a lot more .... a plane !!

J-P

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Let's start with some reinforcement of the front part of the fuselage with a 5 cm wide glass cloth

- motor mount aerea
- bottom of the fuselage
- fuselage around the landing gear box

I added too some carbon fiber at the ldg box / fuselage junction

I noticed on other BJ planes the canopy was very light , and decided to reinforce this part for more rigidity.

The increase in weight is 10 g for the canopy

J-P

My Feedback: (1)

The landing gear box is strong enough for flying off a concreted runway, but when from a grass runway in bad condition, I think some reinforcements are needed.

A friend of mine who lost a wheel after takeoff did finally a no wheels landing on a grass runway without damaging his SUPER FANTASISTA BJ plane ....

So I keep on using 1,5 mm carbon plate to reinforce the ldg box, and a 0,75 mm one on the gear legs .

I'm not using inserts, but bolt from the top the retaining screws with nuts, having access through holes in the bottom of the fuselage.

The after market carbon wheels pants need a special treatment too : an extra carbon cloth inside for rigidity, and a triangular hole on the rear bottom to evacuate the clay, and so prevent the wheel from blocking.

Frédéric Garnier

Frédéric Garnier

I used this method to strengthen the landing gear box and it is really effective.

Fred

J-P

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Before installing the nose ring for the ADVERRUN SINGLE DRIVE let's start with an incidence check.
With Stab set at 0 °, Wing incidence is + 0.7 °, down thrust -1.4 to - 1.5 °
The nose ring is a sandwich made from .75 mm carbon plate with the plywood part included in the kit.
Glued in position with epoxy bi components with the drive unit of the ADVERRUN

J-P

My Feedback: (1)

Installation of the rear engine mount.
An 80 g carbon cloth in sandwich between light plywood included in the kit.
Absorbing better vibrations than the all carbons parts I was using before.

Waking up a morning, I decided to have a fancy japanese style air intake ...
Took me some time, but happy with the result.

J-P

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I decided to install the Gator Wing Adjusters I got from MIKE at F3A Unlimited.

Weight is 15 grams or about 1/2 ounce for a pairThe 8mm hole fits over the 8mm studs on the front of the wing. You then slot the root rib on the back to allow the wing to move up and down.

Size is 1.25" (31mm) wide x .75 (19mm) high

Very simple, yet very effective.

The wing adjuster coming with the EPILOGUE is OK, but installed to the rear, so I prefer to have it install in the front, easier to adjust the incidence when needed.

But first I reinforced the fuselage sides with some extra glass cloth.

Not sure it's necessary, but the increase in weight is just a few grams, and I feel more confortable ....

A small 1,5 mm plywood is used between the adjusters and the fuselage to hold the 2 screws.

In the same way I just glued with 30 mn epoxy the rudder tray in place on the side of the fuselage, but used the same 5 cm width 50 or 80 g glass cloth, making a U with the fuselage.

Next step, air exhausts on the side of the fuselage.

The template coming with the kit don't take care of the fuselage former, and it's needed to space the holes to avoid damaging it.

ltc

My Feedback: (3)

Hello,
What weight fiberglass did you use for reinforcing the fuselage and LG block area? How many gm/sq meter or oz/sq yard?
Beautiful work !

J-P

My Feedback: (1)

I checked, and the fiberglass I used is 120 gm/sq meter

J-P

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I didn't used the horns coming with the kit, but the GO Models for the rudder
I'm using the same method drilling an 8 mm hole in the rudder to install a pre 3 mm drilled hard wood.
Hinges are the Blue Pro from RADIO SOUTH, special Cyano
I lightened the fuselage tail post
Easy to add a drop of CA on the stabs tubes inside of the fuselage and giving an endoscopic vue

papaone

Hello

Professionnal works , awesome
Claude

J-P

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Merci Claude

J-P

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I added 3 pics showing the air exhausts problem when positioned at the rear or the wing.

The holes must be positioned accurately.

Easy installation of the NISHIOKA tail wheel .

J-P

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The fuselage is quite completed.

With all the reinforcements, the increase in weight is 30 g , the motor mount 55 g, so starting at 1.042 g the fuselage now weight 1.125 g

I found pics of the wing incidence adjusters.

Time to start with the stabilizers.

I'm not using the horns coming with the Kit, but the Nishioka one's.

The balsa need to be hardened with thin cyano

Servos are FUTABA BLS 173 SVi

Some pics are not of a good quality, my old iPhone 5 don't focus properly .....

J-P

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Wings,

I installed 2 x FUTABA BLS 171 SV instead of the BLS 154, but the servo box is slightly too small.

Control horns and installation are the same as the ones for the stabilizer

I drilled and taped the wing tips to fix the winglets with a 3 mm plastic screw

rcprecision

My Feedback: (6)

With the SFG carbon wing tips, what is the final wingspan? Curious to know if there is a provisiosn to fly with the traditional wingtip vs the carbon SFG tips? I had a Chip Hyde Passport that was configured to utilize either wingtip types.