Anyone have the specs handy for this plane? Sheldon Hobbies has the kit available, but Bridi's web site doesn't have the plane listed.

Joe Bridi told me it is an escape with a little wider fuselodge and was designed for a 90 4 stroke whereas an escape was designed for a 60 2stroke. The Escape, Great Escape, & XLT all look similar and are great flying airplanes.

Hi Richard,...

I am currently building a Joe Bridi Great Escape. Actually the building part is done, and I'm in the process of covering it!!

The specs as you are looking for are as follows:

Wing span 64 1/2 inches
Wing Area 777 squares
Fuse Length 66 inches

Definitely!! If you have the opportunity to purchase one of these airplanes,... "Go for it!!" Although I have not flown mine yet, I'm not worried, as I've talked to a number of guys who have reassured me that this is a great flying airplane!!

One of the differences between the Great Escape, Escape, and XLT that I've noticed is the G.E. has no sub-fin as the XLT and Escape have. The G.E. is also a true midwing design, as there is as much fuselage side area above the wing as there is below the wing. Whereas the belly pan of the XLT is noticeably shorter and the Ecape has little to no belly pan (based on what I've seen from an example in static display at the WRAM show a couple years ago).

Also, the stab on the XLT and Escape have a straight trailing edge with the XLT stab having anhedral. The Great Escape stab is double tapered and has quite a bit of thickness to it. Very nice stab/elevator design!!

In fact the moments and dimensions of the Great Escape are very similar to that of the Boxer 60. I have plans to both and overlaying the G.E. plans on the Boxer 60 I was amazed at how similar in size, shape and dimension (but that's just my opinion).

I will try to post a picture of my Great Escape in the near future if you are interested, as I did some modification to it for an inverted 91 Surpass installation with a flex pipe and silencer routed inside and open tunnel built in that deep belly pan!!

All for now,... feel free to contact me if you need more information or additional convincing, ha!!

Sincerely,
Steve Teerlinck
Monson, Massachusetts

In my original message I mentioned that I was building a Joe Bridi Great Escape with an inverted mounted 91 Surpass. A few other modifications that I've made include building up a full trutle deck after the fiberglass canopy.

Also,.. I'm using a conventional tail dragger setup with retracts. These alterations have produced a very up-to-date modern looking pattern plane.

In these pictures, with radio gear installed, the plane weighs in at six pounds six ounces. I truly believe the finished ready to fly weight will be less than seven pounds!!

Sincerely,
Steve Teerlinck
Monson, Massachusetts

Here is another view of my GE.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or need additional convincing to pursue a project like this for yourself!!

Sincerely,
Steve Teerlinck
Monson, Massachusetts

Steve,
That is a good looking plane! Sheldon Hobbies has the kit for $119 plus shipping. I'm still thinking about it. Please keep me posted on your plane.
Richard

Did you move the wing up to mid-mounting or was it like that in the Kit?

I am getting ready to order one of these and had couple of quick questions hopefully some of you can answer.

1.) What all comes in the kit as far as hardware goes? I assumed it was just the balsa and ply, but someone mentioned some hardware and a fuel tank. Does it come with these? What about a tailwheel mount?

2.) If I modify it similar to Steve's, what size spinner would work the best to blend into the nose with a smooth curve?

3.) Would a pair of standard sized Spring Airs fit in the wing or do i need to buy a set of slimmer retracts?

Thanks for any and all information you guys can provide,
-Scott-

I bought one of these several months back from Joe Bridi along with the last of his Dirty Birdys. It was $75 for the GE plus $25 shipping for both kits from CA....what a deal but I believe he is sold out now.
This kit is foam wings and stabs with built up balsa & ply fuse. It is mid wing with a deep belly pan. All the material in the kit seems of good quality. The plans show different views of main gear placement as tri or taildragger. I am thinking of taildragger with gear strut mounted on fuse with wheel pants.
The only other mod I would make is to add the turtlekdeck for better knife edge. Keep it light and it should have more than ample power with my OS .91 FX on a pipe or if you have the bucks you might consider something like the new YS 110 in a 4 stroke for awesome performance.

Hey Guys,...

Please accept my sincere apologies for not get back to you all sooner. Just as your questions and inquiries concerning my Great Escape were coming in, my computer went hay-wire. I ended up having to reformat the hard drive and re-install all the operating software. Now that I'm back up and running and On-Line I'm just now getting around to your questions.

Scott,... I still have your original two emails. In fact I had just spent a half hour answering your questions when everything crashed. Sorry I never got a response back to you sooner.

Sincerely,
Steve T.
Monson, Massachusetts

Steve,

I liked what you did so much that I ordered a Great Escape. I plan to put a trusty Saito 91 in it. I was very impressed with the low weight you achieved. Did you make any mods to reduce weight? How about wood? Some of the wood in my kit seems pretty heavy for its purpose. Did you exchange any wood for contest grade balsa?

Lem

Steve,

Thanks again for any info you can provide when you get everything up and running at 100% again. Also, if you get the chance to snap a few more pics, I would be interested in some close up pics of your cowl mods, front and side would be useful.

Thanks again,
-Scott-

Hey Guys,...

I just finished covering the fuselage to my Great Escape. And as some of you asked for a picture or two as the project continues I'm posting this photo of the completed fuselage.


Now I'm feverishly trying to get the wing covered for the first pattern contest of the season in District 1.

Signed,
Steve T.
Monson, Massachusetts

If I recall correctly,... someone was interested in the inverted engine installation on the Great Escape as well as the pipe location.

Below is a photo of the O.S. 91 Surpass with flex pipe mounted in my Great Escape. Hope these photos help and provide necessary information for those of you who are taking on a Great Escape project of your own.

Signed,
Steve T.
Monson, Massachusetts

Steve,
What kind of header and pipe is that on your OS? Does it help performance or is it solely for keeping things quiet?

I am using an O.S. header and flex pipe on my Great Escape. Both pieces should be available from Tower Hobbies. Let me know if you are interested and I'll do a little digging to get O.S. part numbers or Tower stock numbers.

The only hard part would be to find a silencer to fit on the end. The silencer I'm using is an old O.S. silencer which (to the best of my knowledge) is no longer available.

An easy cure for this whole setup would be to use an Hatori exhaust header (the one for the Y.S. 63) fits the O.S. 91 perfectly along with a MACS pipe. I purchased this setup as well, for my next 91 Surpass powered pattern bird. I don't have personal experience with it, but is has been said its a nice quiet setup. Once again, specific part numbers available on request.

Yes,... the flex header and pipe do NOT add anything to the performance of the engine it just makes it very quiet and keeps all the exhaust and fuel residue aft of the wheel wells and retract mechanism.

Signed,
Steve T.

Steve
I have a question about the flex header & pipe.
What is the procedure for installing and/or removing a one-piece wing ( I assume the great escape is a one-piece wing) wiht the pipe under the wing.

I have a new 90 size pattern plane wiht a one-piece wing. I am goping to put a YS 91AC on it & I have a header and pipe. I'd like to use it because of the same reasons you mentioned.

But how to put the wing on without disturbing the pipe set-up?

Thanks for the help.
Eddie

Eddie,...

That is a very good question,... as I ran into a "big" problem with my Great Escape due to the very deep belly pan and the flex header extending into the wing saddle area.

As I'm sure you know,... all exhaust headers have a silicone coupler to attach the silencer. This coupler allows for easy "tools free" removal of the silencer. However the problem arises when this coupler (or joint between exhaust header and silencer) is in the middle of the wing saddle area. It makes for threading the wing into position a nightmare.

The solution I found was to angle the fuselage former (behind the wing) back wards!! The fuselage former at the wing trailing edge is angled rearward. This allows the leading edge of the wing to slide in above the exhaust header and then the trailing edge has clearance to drop into position.

I hope that explanation helps,... hope that answered your question. Sure wish I had a photo to show what I mean. Its a real simple fix, just a mouth full to try and describe, ha!!

If you have any more questions or need additional explanation please don't hesitate to contact me.

Signed,
Steve T.

Steve,

Your plane looks great. I am very interested in the final weight that you get. Also, did you replace any wood? I bought a kit and the fuselage looks like it may be overbuilt with 1/4" wood.

Thanks,

Lem

Lem,...

I did change the wood of on my Great Escape fuselage; however not for the reason of keeping it lighter. Since I was modifying the shape of the front end I cut out new fuselage sides from contest grade 3/16 balsa. The wood in the kit was pretty good 3/16 balsa as well. I will admit, a few pieces were on the heavy side and I'm sure using contest grade fuselage sides does save some weight.

I weighed the entire plane before covering and came up with six pounds six ounces. Hopefully I can achieve a finished ready to fly weight of under seven pounds. Even if I can't I'm sure its not going to be much more than seven!!

I'll keep you posted. The wing is just about done, yeah!! The I can get all the equipment back in and get a final weight for you.

Signed,
Steve T.