I found this plane at a yard sale this weekend, 52 inch ws, 46 inch fuse length, os 90 fs, futaba 3004 servos and R156f reciever, looks as though the plane has flown in the last year or so, the engine runs great and when I put my chrystal in it everything works. I have tested everything and checked all connections and wiring, control serfaces are all pinned hinges, fuse is covered in fabric and wings are monocote (appears to be) after dissasembly, inspection and testing this thing looks to be ready to fly. My question is does anyone out there know what this is, who made it, is this someones scratchbuilt, was it origionally a bipe and most important, any ideas on where C.G. should be? right now it balances on the LE of the bottom wing (inverted) The woman I bounght it frome knew nothing about it, (death or divorce comes to mind, I didnt ask) but the best part Is I got it for 75 bucks, I figured the engine was worth that! I dont plan on flying it until I get some CG input or Ideas. As always thanks to all in advance!

WOW you got a gem there, That engine is quite old if it's OS, I've seen pics but never seen one with the rear lifters on a OS, I think they changed them because too many people getting wacked with the prop with the glow plug pointing forward. (might be worth something to a collector) As for the plane it looks somewhat familiar but can't say for sure if it was a kit or not. (might be thinking of another kit) None the less that is a great find. actually the closest I could find was a Ace 4-120 Bipe Not sure what sizes they made but it does look alot like it just larger but you may have one of the smaller ones there

Dauntae

As a general rule of thumb ... to set a CG on biplanes, measure the length of the entire chord from the upper and lower wing by measuring the length from the leading edge of the top wing to the trailing edge of the bottom wing. Take 1/3 of the chord and measure that from the top wing. That's your CG point.

Most all bipes will balance where the rear cabane attaches to the top wing (With the exception of the Staggerwing). Lift it with your fingers just in front of that point. If it is level or slightly nose down, with an empty tank, you are safe. That engine looks more like an Enya 4-stroke. Nice find. Cycle the battery and Have fun.

The plane looks like a BelAir Biplane. It was a Northeast Aerodynamics kit in the mid 80's. I built the 40 size and loved it.

Bruce

Edit: Northeast still sells the plans for both the 40 and 60 size BelAir biplanes. You might contact the for CG data.

Its defininitely a Bel air. Just got off the phone with them and after sending them some pics, they identified as a bel air 60, got the the info I need from them. Thank you so much! I hope its a good flyer and not a handful[>:] But I figure if it was a bearcat to fly, It likely would have been in a bag years ago!

Great find. I built a Bel Air 40 last year, and it is a nice flying plane. My biggest gripe about it is the way the top wing attaches to the fuse, but it appears that yours is mounted differently.

On mine, the wire cabanes just slide into brass tubes inserted in plywood blocks in the fuse. It is not the most secure attachment, and you risk damaging the covering every time you remove the wing. Luckily, the 40 size fits in the car in one piece, but the 60 probably would not.

Good luck with it.


edit: These pics were taken before I soldered the diagonal braces onto the cabanes.

What a great flying plane!!! flew a half gallon through it today, engine is a little choppy, seems really hard to tune, (this is my first four stroke) transition is poor and it seems to misfire unless run wide open. Guess I will be doing some serious research, its supposed to rain for the next 4 days so I guess that will give me something to do. Fun day By the way with a 14x6 prop that things pulls like a tractor on vertical climbs! Imagine if I had it running right![>:]

[8D]

Capt,n

sounds like you have it rich on the low end

Turned out to be the glow plug, it had an os #8 in it so I went back to the F and that cured it, It also had been sitting around awhile so likely gummed up a bit too. put 3 more tanks through it yesterday between rain showers, then a mild prop strike dinged the tip , I likely could have sanded and balanced but the prop looks brittle so Its grounded until new one shows[:@] Went back to the cub today, they do fly a little different!!! keeps this newbie on his toes!!!