Any recommendations for an entry level pattern kit? I would prefer all wood and no retracts. I am considering Bridi's Super Kaos .61 built from plans. Any other ideas would be appreciated.

Boxer is a great plane. It's a scratch built wood, sheated foam wing and I think I saw some short kits being offered. I'm sure some one can fill you in on the details.
Sparky

if you go with a Bridi design, i would go with the utter chaos. it has a larger wing and longer tail moment that makes this plane fly alot smoother.

I agree with the above. Go to bridiradiocontrol.com and buy a Killer(side mounted engine) or Utter Chaos(upright engine). They have a little more wing area then the Super and the kits are ($75) cheap. There's still plenty to do, no interlocking construction etc. Just good old fashsion balsa kits of good flying airplanes. If you move on in pattern the Chaos will make a great practice airplae.

The Escape is my favorite Bridi plane. Little bigger than Kaos and they fly better IMHO.

Have any of you any experience with the Bridi UFO? I have one about 1/2 built that I haven't touched since 1983. Will probably finish it ---someday.

I live within an hour and a half of Joe Bridi's shop so I drove down there and picked up a prebuilt Killer Kaos. After a lecture about putting my YS 91 on it, and seeing that the YS wouldn't come close to fitting, I bought a Saito 72. Gotta get the custom cut 2.25 inch Tru-Turn spinner for it and it'll be ready to go. The plane is light and should come out around 6-6.5 pounds. He has a lot of stuff in his shop and his airplanes are real nice. There were some prebuilt Utter Kaos's (sp?) there and they looked nice too. But the shipping will get you with a prebuilt as you are in Colorado.

Here's a Boxer that I'm building for next season:

http://www.bestweb.net/~lieber/flying/boxer

It's a scratch build (from plans and templates), not a kit, but worth considering if you like building.

--Derek

Derek,
Liked the use of the Builder's squares on the fuse. Great Job should fly as good as it looks. Pete

Hey, nice photos, Derek! I wish more people would post construction photos of their Pattern ships. The details of these designs are interesting.

I agree with the Boxer option.. VERY well thought out design, and they fly GREAT.

-Doug

The Kaos and the variations all fly well. The Diry Birdy also flies very well. There are several options like the Boxer, Escape/Geat Escape, XLT which all fly well, but have foam wings and stabs. They can certainly be built with fixed gear.
I've flown patten since 1974. I competed with Dirty Birdys back in the late '70s. 3 years ago I built another one from an origina kit, but with fixed gear and all monokote, OS 61SF. It Flew great - until the elevator servo died. I bought a new kit from Joe Bridi and they are very nice and a great deal for the $$.
If you want an all balsa kit and don't mind spending a little more money; MK still kits the Curare. MK kits are some of the best all wood kits in the world (THE best IMHO) and fly great. There are still some Magic kits available and the Skymaster .60. The only problem is that you have to get them from Japan or Singapore and shipping is a bit expensive. Depending on the kit, it will cost beween $150 and $250. If you're interested I can email the web addresses.
You can also get plans for many great flying pattern ships:
RCM has plans for the Kaos, Dirty Birdy, UFO and Loaded Dice
MAN has plans for the Curare, Arrow, Deception, Compensator, Atlas, Intruder and some others.
Good luck - nothing flies better than a pattern plane.
-Will B.

Thanks for the many great replies to this question. Can anyone tell us where to obtain the Boxer kit or plans?

The designer is Gus Ozols.

His email address is [email protected]

He doesn't have a web page, but he will email you a pdf (adobe acrobat) file that has literature for all his planes.

--Derek

About 3 years ago, I bought a beatup dirtybirdy for almost nothing, sanded, covered, flew it with an OS61SF and just got hooked to that plane. Had alot of stick time on that plane. Crashed it a few times, but kept on rebuilding it all the time and after every repair, it still would fly OK. On Final repair, it got so bad and oily, that even covering will not stick to the plane. CA'd the oily parts and then covered it. Still kept on flying great, finally the tail got alot weak with all the oil and started getting flutter. Recently bought a UFO at a swap meet and got that flying, it flies beautiful also. Since 1998 have flown about 30 different types of planes, but still the best is Dirty Birdie 60.

What about the Phoenix 5. My first pattern and loved it.

Sorry guy's but I have read in the K-Factor that Gus pass away.

They were not sure if the plane would be carried by someone else.

Daniel D.

flywilly,, what is mk's web site? i thought they were long gone!!id love a few curares!,,jeff

Derek, great looking Boxer! I have one as well and have been flying it for 6-7 years now, and just love it! I started with an Enya120R 4-stroke and lately have put in a ST2300 with a custom header and the long Bolly pipe from Falcon Hobbies. the pipe sounds great and I am still trying to find a good prop for the engine with this setup. Do you have any drawings of your elevator setup? I like what you have done!

I have a full set of the plans and templates for the Boxer60 and the Boxer 120. If it turns out they don't produce the plans anymore I could be talked into copying them for someone who is interested.

I've always wanted to see what it would look like with the fixed gear from Falcon and it looks sharp! What sort of ground clearance do you have when it rotates? I've been thinking about going this route and removing the retracts so I can use a 4-channel radio and free up the 6 for another scale plane.

Anyways, thanks for the inspiration and idea about the elevator. My next one will incorporate something like that!

Hey Jeff and anybody else who's interested,
You can get MK kits from Singapore Hobbies. Their website is at:
www.singahobby.com

I've ordered from them and they're very reliable.
-Will

PS MK is still very much in business producing some great, all balsa kits. THey make a 2 meter Extra kit that was designed by Quique Somenzini as well as a .90 sized version. Lots of other kits, too

Hi Sean,

[ I sent you email but it didn't get through. Here's a copy... ]

I'm enjoying my Boxer very much. I've got just about 100 flights on it now and am learning a lot
about precision flying (and how to use that rudder !).

I don't have any drawings of my elevator gizmo, but I'll tell you what: I'd be willing to make up
a careful drawing in trade for a copy of the templates (I think there were either 2 or three
sheets) from your Boxer 120 plans. I should have made a copy of mine before I cut them up but I
never bothered. I was going to order another set from Gus, but then he passed away... I'll pay
you for copying costs and postage. Does that sound ok?

With regard to the ground clearance of the Bolly landing gear, I have about 3 inches of clearance
below the prop with the fuselage level (in takeoff attitude). I'm using a 15x11 prop and 2-3/4 or
3 inch wheels (I can't remember exactly). The ground tracking is excellent and the gear is very
durable.

Regards,

Derek

Derek,

Got your email. The first thing I did was make a copy of the plans and templates. I will inquire about pricing to copy the plans and let you know what I find. I have had a number of people ask about them and am a little leary about copying stuff from them for copy right reasons.

On the same note, I think as long as I don't make any money from it it would be a nice tribute to Gus to keep his plane flying. If someone starts to produce and market the plans again I will refer people to them. This is a wonderful aircraft and hopefully they will continue to keep the line going.

The Boxer 120 comes on 6x 30"x42" sheets as follows: 1a=fuse front half, 1b=fuse back half, 2=wing plan, 3-5=templates.

The Boxer 60 comes on 7x 24"x35" sheets as follows: 1a=fuse front half, 1b=fuse back half, 2=wing plan, 3-5=templates, 6=templates & details.

I'll let you know what I find from Kinkos, and maybe look around to a few places.

Cheers, Sean

Sean,

I sent you a private message, but you may have not received it. I am interested in a few of the plan sheets to the Boxer 60. I have some of the sheets, but I need 3,4,5 and 6 to complete the set. Too bad you do not live near me, I can copy plans at work for free (as long as I slip them in with work . Let me know, I would really like to build this plane this winter, and I have not been able to find a complete set of the plans,

Thanks
Greg Morris

Although I'm a fan and friend of Joe Bridi's...the "Boxer" is too cool...for school...kitted in 60, and 90 size...I'll take a couple...

But for an "entry-level", easy to build kit....and for $75., The Great Escape kit is pretty hard to beat. I really don't think scratch building ones first pattern plane could be considered entry level. The XLT, Escape, Great Escape, ect. from J.B. all have balsa sheeted foam wings, and can be set up as a tail-dragger if you like....

With the ease of building mainly the tail feathers, and the fuse, nothing could be easier. As a tail dragger...main retracts are easily installed. I have "stocked-up" on Joe's kits...and my next "build-em-up" is gonna be a hot rod "Killer Kaos" with an O.S. .60FSR (old style).

My latest plane "up" is my first venture into the pattern world....a "Big Dirty Birdy". (few exist).
Super Tiger 1.8 up front...
Pay no attention to the old, ugly man, with the beer gut.

where is the website for joe bridi and his designs?