Anyone building (or built) a Bridi XLT? I'm about half way through building mine and wondering if anyone has any suggestions or tips on fitting the horizontal stab in this bad boy...???

Any other tips/comments on building the XLT welcome too.

Keith

Ain't gravity a *itch!

If you have not already sheeted the wings, replace the 3/32" balsa with light 1/16". Built to plan,
those old Bridi pattern wings are so heavy.
Keep the weight down & these fly pretty well. What are you planning for an engine?

Scott

I'm almost completely done with mine. Just need to complete the radio and Robart retract installations. I stuck with the 3/32" balsa sheeting for my wings, but used contest grade balsa and a sheeting process that keeps the weight down. I planned to use Monokote for covering the airplane so I wasn't too worried about the weight. It still came out pretty light. As far as the horizontal stab install I followed the instructions and just made a template using the plans and measured and cut the opening very carefully. It still was some work to get it glued in place but I shimmed it to the the exact incidence that I needed and then CA'd to lock it in place. Once that was completed I mixed a dry batch of epoxy and microballons and worked it into the gaps and smoothed it all out to permanently lock the stab in place and it made for a very solid installation. The engine is an OS FX61 with a MAC tuned pipe. Here's a couple pictures of my bird...

tschuy... I'm jealous... wish my XLT was that close to done... Looks good!
When you cut the openings did you cut the fuse to let you put the stab in from the top or the back? or did you just slide the stab in from the side??

I'm gonna try one of the new super tigres in mine..... ????? I've heard good and bad but I figure for the price I'll give 'em a try. Going with the .90 ringed.

I cut a hole through the side and slid it through the opening that I cut. Worked pretty slick but spent some time playing around with shims to get it lined up perfectly. Incidence is set per the plans at 0 degree's. Nice thing about the Bridi kits is that he gives you the perfect longitudinal reference by having the fuselage top flat. I just measure from the plans and found the center point for the horizontal stab leading and trailing edges to be 1". So I cut a template to the profile of the stab root and transfered those same measurements and traced the outline on to the fuselage sides and then started cutting carefully.

Thanks for the comments on my XLT. I mainly built it to get some pattern time and get proficient with the maneuvers. I'm getting started with turbines and was looking for an airplane that I could fly the speed of heat with yet be very precise. The XLT filled the bill for me. Will let you know how she flies when the weather improves a bit and I finish getting the radio gear in. I used Robart pneumatic retracts and stuck my airtank just behind the trailing edge if the wing and glued it to the fuselage bottom skin. The FX-61 is heavier and longer then the older engines that were being used in these airframes so there is a known issue with it being a little nose heavy so I wasn't too worried. I also went with installing ailerons out in the wing panels (use one servo for each aileron) and mounted those just behind the retract mount plates. I actually used the plate to hold the front servo screws and then cut and inlaid 3" long piece of 1/4"square basswood stock for the rear servo screws.

boy...that brings back some memories.

I flew both the XLT and Escape in pattern in the mid/late 80's. Rossi 61 RE in the XLT, and a CMB RIRE .60 in the Escape. Both planes flew great. Both equipped with tricycle Rhom Air gear.

As noted, the big trick with these it to keep them light, especially if you are using a 60 engine. My XLT came out a bit fat (built stock from the kit) at about 8.5 lbs.

When I build the last Escape, I cut my own wing cores (one piece cores - cut the ailerons out instead of having the wood ailerons), used 1/16 sheeting, and hollowed out a great deal more wood. That plane weighed just at 7.75 lbs. Flew a good deal better, especially with the (then new to the sport) lower rpm/slower/bigger prop FAI type combination.

Both were monokote covered. Of note... monokote is pretty heavy. Some colors are heavier than others. I know of some builders who were capable of a glass/paint job that came in lighter than a monokote finish (I was not one such builder ) .

I just bought a robart incidence meter.... since the horz stab is not flat (anhydr) will the robart meter still work ok to check the incidence?

I'm not putting retracts in mine... $$$ just a poor man here.. lol not to mention our field is a little on the rough side. Decided to go with conventional tail dragger, I did the same thing with the aileron servos.

Bit the bullet and cut the holes for the stab about an hour ago.... now that i'm drenched in nervous sweat I think I'll go to bed

The robart incidence meter will work great for you so long as the top of the fuselage is perfectly level too.

No worries about the stab holes. Just remember to take your time and get it the tips level with the top of the fuselage and set the incedence at 0 degree's. Again use balsa shims to help get it into position (Zap it with CA) and then lock everything in with a batch of epoxy.

Good deal with the gear setup. It'll keep the airframe lighter.

Good luck....

Thought I'd step away from the horizontal stab and start the tail fin and rudder tonight... when I grabbed the 1/2" stock to start the tail fin I thought I accidentally grabbed a 2x4... lol... wow that stick is HEAVY! Think I'll get some lighter stock to replace it...

I ran into one or two pieces in my kit that were like that. From what I've been reading at this site about these things, you've got to build them light. But don't go too light with that stick because you'll want some meat to hold up to the stress of the hinges.

What hinges are you using on your XLT? I'm going to try the Robart hinge points... never used them before but they look like they'd work pretty good for the XLT.

I used the CA type hinges from GP. I've had great success with them over the years and have yet had one fail on me. One airplanes that will fly the speed of heat, I'll actually will pin them with a toothpick just for precautionary reasons.

Cheers,

What about the foam core vs the CA... hmmm... wont the CA declare war on the foam???

Not if you use foam friendly CA :-).

Cheers

ahhh... I forgot about foam friendly CA.... never worked with it before, is it just as strong as regular CA for wood to wood joints too? or should you stick with regular CA for wood to wood joints?

Work's just as good, but it's twice as expensive.


Going to take it up for it maiden flight not this weekend but next weekend. Will share photo's of the event.

Cheers,

MAN where are you guys getting these old Bridi kits?? I have had a super kaos 60 and a dirty birdie back in the 80s. is someone stil making these or are you scratch building them? there is a guy at our field that still has his kaos with retracts he built it when i was about 6 years old. i bet it has a couple of thousand flight on it . he retired it about 4 years ago . 30 years of service isnt bad the only reason he retired it was it needed recovering and it was done in silk so he decided to leave it alone

Here you go, check this out:

http://www.bridiairplanes.com/

Well ILL be D@^%! i thought they went out of buisness

I just happened to get lucky and stumbled onto a guy who had this XLT kit and a killer chaos kit (never even been opened). So I bought 'em
Think the same guy has an escape too... think I might snag that one too.

Good luck on the maiden flight Tim.... can't wait to hear how it goes.

Keith

I've ordered an XLT kit from these folks and it was at my door within a week. The kit came with some great wood and the foam cores for the wing and horizontal stab were great...

Cheers,

I built this XLT back in the mid 90's. OS 61VF, B&D retracts. Lost before its time. My wife bought me a replacement last Christmas. I love flying this plane.

Nice XLT you have there CAM2... can you tell us a little about how it flies??? stall characteristics, landing habits, etc...

Also... do any of you guys have close-up pics of your servo set-ups in the fuse... I'm planning on pull pull on the rudder... Been scratching my head about the elevator... ('couse I've got a ways to got yet... )

Finally got the main wing bolted up this last weekend. I'll try and post some pics soon.