BOT ARF is here!
 

Received my BOT arf today. Really nice! Already has some weight in the nose. All visible wood is laser cut. Even comes with a bag of shot to add more weight if needed. There is no bellcrank in the tail. They want you to put a servo there. However, the hatch is already cut out so it would be easy to install a bellcrank and put the servo in the nose. Otherwise the servo needs a 30" extension. Tip joiners are ply/aluminum laminate with alignment pin near the trailing edge. Tinted canopy with wooden base. Can't weight to fly it! The book says to use a standard histart since it is a lightweight.

BOT ARF is here!
 

What is the weight before equipment is installed but properly balanced?

Is it pre-covered?

BOT ARF is here!
 

Some picture please. :)

FlyingPig.

BOT ARF is here!
 

I looked at it yesterday.... If I were into TD, it would have come home with me!
Beautifully done!
This example was orange/white, witb black pinstripe.
And I'd use the tail mounted servo.
Much more positive control.

BOT ARF is here!
 

EC121

Which BOT ARF are you talking about? Please, be more specific. Sounds interesting.

BOT ARF is here!
 

I ordered the BOT from Tower Hobbies. You can see the picture there and at Dynaflite"s website. I haven't weighed it yet, but it is supposed to have a wingloading of about 8oz or so. FYI the slots are already cut for the hinges. They give you a piece of hinge material, and you can cut your own whatever shape you want. I was going to put a bellcrank in it, but on the way home from work today I remembered that I have a spare Hitec HS55 micro servo. The book says that you only need a 15oz servo because it has a flying tail that is aerodynamically balanced by the whole surface moving. Probably still have to have a pocket full of servo gears to rebuild the little servo. You can strip those little ones just by looking at them. The fiberglas was perfect and not a wrinkle anywhere on the covering. White and Orange.
I wasn't going to order it, but Tower had a limited quantity remark by their price. Thought I'd better go ahead and get one even if I only put it in my project inventory with the Multiplex ALpha Club glider. But I'll probably go ahead and assemble this one.

BOT ARF is here!
 

It's a Dynaflite Bird of Time (BOT) ARF. 3 meter span, the plane kit has been around for ages but the ARF is brand new.

Don

BOT ARF is here!
 

I am glad to hear the news as I had my LHS to order one for me.

Hope to get it tomorrow and will be flying it by Sunday, with any luck.

BOT ARF is here!
 

Any more updates? How's it fly... wings strong enough for winch?

I'm this close >>>>!<<<< to buying one. Always loved that wing shape.

BOT ARF is here!
 

Funny you should mention it, but we went to the field this evening to fly my buddy's BOT arf. He is retired so he had more time to work on it. DOesn't take long to assemble, but it still takes time. I was working or flying when I should have been in the shop.
Plane flies great. He has a winch, and the plane will stand a reasonable winch launch. NOT a full pedal, but it will get as high with a bumping launch as a full pedal launch. So much wing doesn't need a full pedal. All you have to do is get it moving, and it will climb just fine. Need to watch it in a headwind. We had a launch or two where the wing got tested a little more than it should, but it stood the test OK. CG came about right. He had to add a little lead, but not much. We moved the hook forward, but couldn't tell the difference. Turns near the ground were good without trying to drop a wing from slowing down in a turn. NIce slow glide with the wings turned up. Looks really good. Evening(5-6pm) air was neutral, but we got some three minute flights for trimming. I am going to try a bellcrank in mine to get some weight out of the tail. Mini servo might actually be lighter but I'm too lazy to install a servo and solder the lead to make it long enough. I don't use extensions in order to reduce the chance of a bad connection. Might be a little slop in the linkage, but if I pay attention, it will be minimal. After all how much control do you need in the elevator at 10mph. I can drill the holes for almost zero tolerance around the pushrod.
Anyway the thing is well worth the money. We also had it hit the ground a little hard while throwing it to test the balance. A couple of good dorks. It took it in stride. No damage!! Canopy can just be taped on. Clear tape doesn't show up enough to matter. We operate using the 50ft at 50mph rule. If you can't see it at 50/50, who cares.

Flying stab servo....
 

Just went back and read some review of spirit elite on the liftzone and found that they modified to use a pull-pull drive for rudder. This gave me an idea why can't we use a pull-pull combine with bellcrank for the flying stab. It should save lots of weight at minimize servo glitch too.

Just my 0.02 cents.......FlyingPig

BOT ARF is here!
 

The taper of the fuselage would cause the cables to come out too far up the fuse. The plane balances OK. A little weight could be saved by using a nyrod, but not enough to matter.

BOT ARF is here!
 

I am interested in the BOT ARF. I am wondering if I could piggy back it on my H9 1/4 scale Taylorcraft?

BOT ARF is here!
 

OK....
I did it. Finally got off the fence and bought the BOD. I was thinking of getting a full house, or a 3D plane, but I couldn't resist that wing shape.

Loco,
If I put my Spirit on a .40 trainer, you should have no trouble with a 1/4 Taylorcraft.

BOT ARF is here!
 

TomM,
How does your BOT look? Are they well made? Did you build your cradle or buy one? How did youset up your incidence?
Thanks,
loco

BOT ARF is here!
 

Does the BOT have spoilers??

BOT ARF is here!
 

Can't give you the details yet- I ordered it from Tower, should be here by Friday.
The cradle was made by a guy at my field for his Sig Kadet. Made from ply and balsa attached to the plane by double sided tape and one screw on each wing half. Very simple- I'll have to build one. 0deg incidence. Took up 2 meter ships effortlesly.

From what I know- no spoilers. But who knows....extra servo sitting around during some boring weekend.... ;)

BOT ARF is here!
 

Nope. The kit can be modified with spoilers and lots of people build them that way.

I would imagine the ARF would be kind of tough as you'd have to remove the wing covering. Not saying you can't do it but you may have to wait until you tear the covering the first time.

Don

BOT ARF is here!
 

My BOT ARF is on its way as I write this!

Look for a review of this one in Quiet Flyer magazine soon.

BTW, I flew my kit-built BOT for four years without spoilers, and never missed 'em. You can circle it in the space of a baseball diamond, so getting it down on the spot is rarely a problem.

Don Bailey

BOT ARF is here!
 

Hey Don B,

Did you see where WM has that Minimoa out now? WooHoo!!

Time to get a BOT and Minimoa ARF. (sheesh, do I actually build anything anymore?)

Don H.

BOT ARF is here!
 

Hi, Don,

Yup, at last it's on the shelves... but wait, is that a fully-sheeted foam wing I see? May not get me all 'goosey' after all. I mean, what'a a Minimoa without the translucent wings and the rib ridges in the fabric? May as well put landing flaps on it!

I haven't seen one in the flesh yet. Am I wrong about this?

BOT ARF is here!
 

A Minimoa with foam wings? Say it ain't so! I better go find an advertisement for it and check it out again.

Man, I hope not.

Don

BOT ARF is here!
 

Just came in today.
It's so easy to install a bellcrank instead of the micro servo.
The pushrod outer tube is already there! Just pull it out of 2 formers (it's held in with silicone glue) and re-install it into the lower holes- already drilled in the formers.
Pics to come.

BOT ARF is here!
 

I'll be watching for those pics! A little bit of weight saving in the tail balances with a much bigger weight saving in the nose.

What is that upper tube meant for anyway? The only thing I can figure is that you're supposed to run the elevator servos wires through it to your receiver.

I didn't like the all-white wing bottoms so I added some big dark spots. Here are some pics. (My server's down now but should be up soon.)

BOT ARF is here!
 

That's what I figured- for the wires- but you'd have to solder the connector on after you ran the wires through it.

Ran into a bug. In order to mount 2 standard servos side by side, I have to widen (Dremel) the cut-out in the plywood servo tray. Plus, being a round fuselage, the servos have to be 1/4" to 3/8" higher to have some bottom clearance. Then I'll either have to drill higher holes in the former, or just put a jog in the steel pushrods.

Nice spots- I'll have to try that or a broad stripe. I like you templates!