I flew the Butterfly in North Idaho. One nice calm summer evening I hand launched it and managed to hit the receiver power toggle switch I had installed. Off it climbed on its own with full fuel for twenty minutes doing tight spirals upward. Then the fuel ran out and it started doing these huge 1 mile diameter circles as we chased it in my pickup truck. Luckily we had young eyes back then. It finally came down next to a highway, banked around a telephone pole, and landed better than I ever could. Total flight time was about 50 minutes and we were four miles from the launch point.

Great to see all you guys building and flying the Butterfly.

I've got one that has a K & B .20 on it. You take off with the wheels or hand launch, either way. Getting it down is the biggest problem. It wants to float forever. I used standard servos in mine and they worked fine. It's a nice change of pace flyer, slow and leisurely. Only thing I could suggest from previous experience with another powered glider, don't let it get downwind without power to get back to the field. (don't ask how I learned that!)

rryman I have a question regarding the endings of the towns names in your area .How come they all finish with burg did some one think it a good idea or what.
Have started the recover of the Bfly the Yellows on,had some dramas, the heat Iron gave up the ghost. so now using a 110V iron with a transformer on it (we have 240 V in Aus) I need to relocate the Transformer closer to the work table. A little harder that one would think due to the mess.Will put the photo on as soon as its finished.

......... I have a question regarding the endings of the towns names in your area .How come they all finish with burg did some one think it a good idea or what.
==========Well, apparently when they got tired of "burg" they started on "ville"-Linville, Charlottesville, Timberville,Farmville, etc. Go figure.

I'm getting closer, I glued the firewall today. :)

The engines in the picture are my new SC FS30AR and an old OS 25LA. The 25LA is my first engine, from 1998. It has survived several airplanes (I can think of four at the moment). It was very dirty on the outside, but the inside was shiny and compression is very good. I replaced the piston and liner a few years ago, and it probably hasn't been run very much since then. So i decided to clean the outside of it and put it to use again. The big question now is which one to use on the Butterfly. Time will show.

The second picture is a weather report, showing that indoor activities are preferred. :)

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=1947667http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=1947671

I joined the fuselage sides and glued the firewall in place today. :)
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=1949659

A question about the plywood fuselage bottom: Am I correct that I am NOT supposed to make any cutouts for the landing gear in the plywood plate? Should I just glue it in place as it is? (after beveling it to fit the firewall angle)

That is correct as I see it. The holes for the LG are in the sides of the fuselage, just above the ply plate in the bottom. Each LG leg is "threaded" through this hole, then sits inside the fuselage and is braced from the inside. At least that's the way mine is done, keeping in mind that I built mine in the late 70's, early 80's. They may have changed something since then. The last time I flew mine, I took the gear off, hand launched it and bellied it in for landings.

rryman,
thank you for clearing that up. :) The bottom of the fuselage is now sheeted, and I'm starting to think that this plane will fly after all. There's not too much work left to do, it's just getting around to do it... ;)

Here's the Butterfly I just recently built for my wife...

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=1964226 http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=1964228 http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=1964229

That is beautiful! I imagine with electric power, you can stay up a long time with a Butterfly.

Look's great Every one that has had one knows the pleasure it's giving .Great photosYours Paul T

Outstanding job on that Butterfly. Between the electric motor hanging out the front, and the super-light-weight spoked wheels, she really looks like she has no weight at all. Hope your wife likes it.

woodburner,
your Butterfly looks great! :)

Nice flying site!!!

Thanks guys... here are a couple more... and yes, she loves it even though she only has only two flights on it so far...


http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=1964470 http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=1964471 http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=1964472

Yesterday's late afternoon sunset flight...

http://youtu.be/mp-GruPRtCo

woodburner,
thank you for sharing your video!

At this time of year, I sometimes wish I didn't live as far north. We still have two feet of snow (and more to come)... ;)

Nice flight! You have a beautiful flying site there.

Yesterday's flight ... lucky shot!


http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=1968116

What kind of video camera did you record this with?

Very nice shot - very nice indeed.

The video's great too.

It's a Samsung ST150F , attached to the fuselage side with rubber bands...

http://www.samsung.com/au/consumer/c...EC-ST150FBPBAU

Hi guys! A Butterfly will be my next build, and it was sure helpful going through and reading up on all your builds, and there are some beautiful builds on there. I'm thinking of using a PAW .09 diesel on mine. I might have to lengthen the fuselage right from the start in order to avoid balance issues. Are you guys all adding bigger engines just for balance, or does it really need more power? Thanks,

Jeff

Hi RDJeff,
most Butterflies are a bit tail heavy. Although most people use a .15 or bigger, it should fly nicely on a .10 glow. Diesels are usually a bit more powerful than glow engines, so I think you'll be fine with your .09. Don't expect NASA-style takeoffs though ;)