How Old - Pica Shoofli Bi
 

I've been searching through the site and on-line for a couple of weeks, but have not been able to find out the "age" of the Pica Shoo-fli Bi... Does someone know of a production list or a way to find the age of this Pica plane??

I have the kit and know it was a 1970's plane from Pica. But there are no dates referenced in the instructions or paperwork. There is no copy write or production date on the plans.

My club hosted a vintage meet this year and I was thinking about attending next year IF the Shoo-fli qualifies. I understand that a kit/plane must be at least 35 years old to be considered vintage. That's pretty funny, I'm well over "vintage" now:D

Thanks for any help…

RE: How Old - Pica Shoofli Bi
 

Hi, I Have been flying mine since 98, And i really ring it out all the time, HP61 PDP, 2 other friends of mine have them and we fly them 5' apart from each other the other member's get a kick out of it, It's the best bipe i"ve ever flown, Get that baby going, I made mine a tail dragger, The Tri -gear is so stupid looking, That kit's been around since at least 73' I'm sure, Let me know if you want some more info.:D johnc

RE: How Old - Pica Shoofli Bi
 

John,

Thanks for the feedback on the Shoo-Fli... I bought my kit as an "impulse" after I just crashed my Goldberg Chipmunk back in 1998-ish... I was going to put that 60 right onto the Shoo-Fli, but other projects came up...

One other person said a 72 4-stroke was real mild. You mentioned you can ring her out with the 61. So, for sport flying, should I be planning a 91 4-stroke or good 60 2-stroke?? What do the other 2 guys have on their bipes??

OK, two more - What is the "HP61 PDP" you mentioned??

Also, with regards to the kit being at least from 73 (that 35 year mark I'm looking for), have you seen anything printed that I could use as airplane documentation?

Photos of your plane would be great if you could post it here - I'd love to see how she looks..

Thanks..

RE: How Old - Pica Shoofli Bi
 

:DI found if you look online for (Air Trails Magazine) It says at the bottom shoo-fly 1960, I cant believe that, That's when i was born HA!, Sorry i ment HB 61, You can find them on MECOA.com, Very strong and reliable engines, My other 2 bud's have the same, With a 12X6 master airscrew, It will stay in a hover, I'll have to go through some disks to find it, I'll send one when i do. jc

RE: How Old - Pica Shoofli Bi
 

Hi!, Mine is the Yellow one, My friend Charlies is Orange, And the 3rd is White, All 3 have the same striping but in different colors.

RE: How Old - Pica Shoofli Bi
 

John,

Very nice looking biplanes with a very clean look... I'm excited about this project and now I'm very glad that I found the kit years ago.

I looked up the Air Trails Magazine - I found the “Shoo Fly” under RC Sport planes published in March 1960. However, I have also found a RC and Free Flight “Shoo Fly” in the AMA plans service, which I know are different than the Pica kit. So, I worry that the Shoo Fly may not be the same as the “ShooFli Bi” from Pica…

I’m going to go look for documentation on plans by Jon and Morten Tanger (names on the ShooFli Bi plan, RC-10) and find out what is out there. I would still love to have a "solid" reference for the plane.

RE: How Old - Pica Shoofli Bi
 

Yup, I looked on the plans and the box and manual, NO Date, When i saw 1960 i was kinda iffy on that, I remember when i was about 12-13Yo a club member showing us his new Bipe and it was a shoofly, Sometime when the Uglysticks started comming out, That was 72-73 somewhere around there, The First thing to change is the plastic L brackets holding the struts on, Go to metal ones.

RE: How Old - Pica Shoofli Bi
 

If you go to the Air Trails magazine (Index) click on RC SPORT and scroll down to shoofly I think that really is it, I have Air Trails mags in my attic from my Dads collection, I'd have to do a bit of looking, But if their's a March 1960 issue i should have it. jc

RE: How Old - Pica Shoofli Bi
 

John,

I'll keep looking for documentation on the Shoo-Fli. Don't go looking, but if you ever do see the box of Air Trails on a trip up, I would be very interested in the article.

I kept the Modle Airplane New Article from 1995 on the Skyraider I'm currently building and it was very cool to have it..

RE: How Old - Pica Shoofli Bi
 

I know this is an old reply but I built my first shoofli in the 1980,s, after having the kit for some years. I then changed countries and had to leavre the plane behind, but kept the plans. Built another, a trike version with an enya 75 four stroke. It bumbled around like a true old vintage, but would climb vertically if asked to. I had to give the hobby up about 7 yeqars ago and got rid of everything, including my shoofli plan. But now am getting back into the game and would love to build another and have tried to find a plan. I then stumbled on your correspondence.. Any chance that you still have the plan, I will gladly pay any costs to copy and mail it..
regards
Mike Newton.

RE: How Old - Pica Shoofli Bi
 

I believe the Pica one is from the late 70's early 80's; Pica is not much older than that because before it was Dave Platt. I think the earlier one is early 60's being a Kraft design; "Fli" being one of his design marks.

RE: How Old - Pica Shoofli Bi
 

Mike,

Thanks for stopping by. I do have the plan in the kit...

However, every time I have tried to copy plans so I don't mess them up during building they come out askew. Last time I even tried to have an engineering person scan the plans as a digital copy, but I found out (by folding the wing plan in half) that even that left the reproduction a bit off.

If you know of a way to get a straight copy, let me know and we could give it a try. Feel free to send me a PM with any ideas.

TFF – It does look like the late 70’s is the correct time. I just can’t seem to nail down a date or year.

We have a guy that CD’s a Vintage event at our club. I think we can agree the age of this kit is at least 30 years. But, I need to have a 35-year age to fly at his event… I may just have to wait the extra 5 years to fly at his event…[smile]

RE: How Old - Pica Shoofli Bi
 

Tom B.
Thanks for your reply. It doesn't bother me if the plans are a bit skewed, I can get all I want by measurement as I normally do not build over the plan. (I like to keep it so I transfer tyhe measurements to the wood.) All I really need is a full size rib profile and a plan that I know the scale ofn, and to get that I reuire only one actual measurement ie fuselage length or wingspan or something similar. Actually the whole bit of getting back into the hobby is to see if I can do it (build and fly again) as I have had Parkinsons disease for the last 12 years, whichb is why I gave it up, but now feel that I could do it again.
If youv'e got hte plan on a cd would it be possibleto send me a copy, or if it's not too big then email it?
You should be able to get a good copy by taking it to an office stationery crowd, don't know what they are called in the US, but the town I live in is pretty small (30000) and there are at least two places that could do the job. As I said I will happily pay any cost.
Regards
Mike N.

RE: How Old - Pica Shoofli Bi
 

Anyone ready to part with their Shoofli yet?

RE: How Old - Pica Shoofli Bi
 

If I am not mistaken, Jon Tanger was the owner of Pica. Also, not sure if Dave Platt worked for Pica, but his designs were purchased by Pica then kitted. Here is my version of one of the most famous, the FW 190 D9. This was a model for a new sport scale class, and won the nats event in the 70's. This is mine which is close to 16 years old and one of the last kits Pica manufactured. This kit was laser cut. DLE 20 gas engine for power.

RE: How Old - Pica Shoofli Bi
 

My Maiden was in Dec 99', Still fly it and is on the 2nd HB 61PDP Hold's a Hover with a 12x6 MAS.