Dynaflight Bird of Time

[bearcat]

This is a large-scale sailplane I'd love to have. But I would definitely want it powered, and I don't know if Dynaflight makes a powered version. If not, I could modify it myself.

I would want a kit version that I have to build up myself, even though I think it's available as an ARF too. Kim, this looks like your pretty little "Magpie" glider that you flew last weekend.

I see myself really getting into the sailplane aspect of RC flight. Although I do like speed and will have my fast planes too, I would like to have a large-scale sailplane in my "hanger".



SPECIFICATIONS
Stock Number: GPMA0570
Wingspan: 118 in (3000 mm)
Wing Area: 1070 in² (69 dm²)
Length: 49 in (1245 mm)
Wing Loading: 5.5 oz/ft² (17 g/dm²)
Weight: 41 oz (1160 g)
Requires 2-3 channel radio and 3+ rolls of Top Flite MonoKote® covering

Description:
Put your sailplane experience to use on a model that time has proven to be a winner! The unlimited class, 118" span Bird of Time pairs refined looks with superior performance-for example, its thin wing and light wing loading (5.52 oz/ft²) provide a super-low sink rate, as well as near-legendary lift/drag rate. Its engineered as gracefully as it performs: the slender balsa/ply fuselage tapers toward a full-flying stabilizer, while the 2-piece wing features a large, 1/4" wing rod and fully-sheeted "D" tube.

www.dynaflite.com/airplanes/gpma0570.html

$149.99 through Hobby Lobby

[bearcat]

Okay, I was wrong. I don't see it for sale at Hobby Lobby. Great Planes shows a kit or ARF is available and can be ordered through a hobby dealer, such as Hobby Proz in Albuquerque.

However, I've found a number of listings for both the kit and the ARF version on E-Bay for about $69 bucks average, on the Buy-it-Now price. I doubt seriously if Hobby Proz would even come close to beating that price. They list my $70 Easy Star for $189 bucks. Why would anyone pay a $110 premium for something they could buy online that much cheaper???

Hmmm. Not good for the local business.

[bearcat]

This is simply gorgeous.

[Lt Swiss]

Great Bird. Smooth...

What the heck is the building at 4:50?

Here's the website in Italy where this video was shot...
www.webalice.it/marcopattoni/

[bearcat]

That building at 2:01 in the 4:50 minute long film? Good question. Looks sort of like a silo that had been turned into a building. Who knows.

What the heck kind of radio was that kid holding? The size of that antenna was pretty impressive. So was the fact that the pilot looked to be all of about 8 years old. Talk about getting an early start.

You know that's the thing. Youth cures all fears. When I was young, building free-flight planes, I thought nothing of tossing it into the sky without any clue if it would survive. Teach a kid RC and he is similarly devoid of the fears that slow down our adult learning curves.
Interesting.

[bearcat]

RIGHT ON!!!! I ordered one!
$70 bucks for the kit, through Hobby Proz, and I'll be down there to pick it up on Feb. 3rd. Very cool.

They suggested some powering options. It's gonna take an absolutely huge 16x10 folding prop for this sucker. Wow. I'm also going to install spoilers. However, it's designed as a tail feather bird and I might keep it that way. I could put ailerons on it, but that polyhedral just looks so beautiful with those wings that I might like to keep it that way.

Wow, I can see where this is going. I'm really loving the sailplane aspect of RC flying. That thing is going to damn near fill up my office when I hang it up too.

It's not my next build though. I still have my 2-meter powered sailplane to build, and that one WILL have ailerons and flaps.

[bearcat]

Okay. I need a bigger work surface to build this thing. Look at the scale in this picture. The outer wing panels each are the length of my entire leg.

Idears?

[Lt Swiss]

Yikes! That's a big bird!...

[bearcat]

My wife thinks the man-cave is pretty cool, but she can't believe I want to build more planes. I'm starting to turn my office into man-cave 2. This Bird of Time will have to hang in my office because it's so big. Even then, it would have to go corner to corner and can only be taken out by taking it apart.

I don't want to make it the same old color combo that all the ARF's are, even though I think it's very attractive. On a wing this huge, I am thinking that some kind of transparent color would look very nice. I'm still considering color schemes, but if anyone has any idears, let me know.

I'm kinda thinking transparent orange wings, maybe with some yellow and maybe some red. Something that will really stand out when it's way up there. Plus I think this will be my first 2.4 gigahertz radio in this thing too. I'll probably pick up the kit at Hobby Proz next week, although I am getting tired of dropping so much cash down there everytime I'm in Albuquerque. (Sigh).

[segelfluger]

Hey Tony,

Here are some pictures of my kit bashed BOT. I basically bought the ARF with a fiberglass body, cut the nose off and installed a AXI brushless motor and made custom spoilers (orange rectangles) on the wing. No ailerons on this bird, but she soared great. This was Sept. 2006. This was when I liked to get as high as humanly possible. This was my second lost glider. I don't fly so high any more...

Curtis

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[segelfluger]

more pix...

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more...

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[segelfluger]

And one last one...

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[bearcat]

Thanks Curtiss! What amazes me is how utterly affordable this huge airplane is. In kit form it's $70 and the ARF is $149. Sure, for that price, it's almost not worth doing the kit. But I like the adventure of building it almost more than I like the flying part. Flying a newly built plane is a lot like starting an engine you built yourself for the first time, or maybe watching a baby take its first breath.

My plane's in, but I have to get myself down to Albuquerque to go get it. Not sure when I'm gonna build it, but I would love to have it ready for this summer. I'm still thinking hard about what color I want this plane. I'm kind of leaning towards using a lot of transparent orange.

So tell me, what did you use for a motor and prop size?
And was there ANYTHING you were able to salvage from your wreck?

[bearcat]

I'm gonna need a larger work surface!!!
Each one of those wing panels would fill up my dining room table WITH the leaf put in.

I think I've finally decided my color scheme. I want my Bird of Time to be different from everyone else's. So it's going to be red and orange. The fuselage and fin will be all orange. The horizontal stabilizer and wing will be mostly red. There will be some orange trim on the inner wing panel's upper surface, just to be able to tell if the sailplane is ever upside down. Otherwise, it'll be transparent red. The orange will be opaque.

Mine will have a motor turning a large folding prop in the nose. I know they make a pod for them, which is tempting, but I like the appearance of a motorized glider.

[bearcat]

Maybe I should use opaque red too. Transparent red is beautiful on its own, but may not look right with opaque orange.

Still thinking about that though.

[bearcat]

Picked up the BOT today. I think it's my next build. Gawd, how am I going to build that monster? Each wing panel is larger than my desk.

Thanks Curtis for answering all my questions I had today. I'll plan on plenty of motor for it. And increased dihedral to help stabilize the heavy yawing before banking.

Bought the Ultra coat too. I've decided. Everything that is orange on the ARF version will be orange on mine. Opaque orange. But everything white will be red on mine. On the wings and horiz stab, transparent red where there is no balsa sheeting, and where there is, opaque red.