A motorbiking Bee

[atmosteve]

Let me start by saying that my foray into the world of EPP gliders would have been a lot more uncertain without the resources of this forum and its member's advice, thanks everyone.

As my first, I found the Bee to be an easy, fun and interesting EPP combat wing to build. Most importantly though it had to break down so that i could transport it on my bike. Reading articles here and elsewhere i soon realised it was possible.

Here are a few pics of the process which are largely self explanatory. The joining spars are made from 1metre lengths of 6mm CF tube and 5mm solid CF rods and 5mm CF tubes as joining inserts.
Other than that the tapes that came with the kit were used for covering, and the overall build is 'lightish' to compensate for the spar weight and i would rather add strapping than pull it off when rebuild time arrives.



5mm CF arrow shaft tubes were extended into the existing spar tube holes by cordless drilling them an extra 8" or so into the wing section.


The four internal spar tubes and their cut out slots pre-gluing.


PU glue does its thing. This is the tricky bit; seperating the wings at the right moment in the glue curing, withdrawing the inner rod spars and blocking the wing tubes without foaming glue getting into them.


The model held up to a ceiling light, revealing the internal spar arrangment.


Strapping is a bit light to start with.



I had no 3M77 spray on at hand to use, so i used some Bostik spray and stick i had instead, it's a non-permanent contact. I'm not sure of the differences between the two but a little goes a fair way.


The two 6mm joiner tubes and between them is the individual wing strengthening spar. I have no idea why the pic became rotated.












And last of all, the integrity of the aircraft is given a thorough inspection from an expert. This flight engineer rejected the wing mounted whistles and buzzers provided with the kit by dropping them on the floor well before they got anywhere near the glider.

I reckon i have a bit to learn about this kind of modelling, so no doubt the model will have tear downs and repairs for improvements. I am always open to advice from you more experienced EPP modellers and flyers also.
All going well the wing will be seen soaring sedately over Point Vernon this weekend after trimming in a local grassy field.

[portfox]

you forgot the bike picture? What is it? etc etc

I'm another bike nut! 05 GSXR-750 Anniversary model. Both Paul and myself toyed with the idea of a bike safe glider, looks like this is it.

S

[atmosteve]

Here ya go



Its an '03 kawasaki KLX 400R, but actually its a Suzuki DRZ400E with kawa stickers and plastic colours.

As a knockabout commuter between River Heads and Hervey bay its a real hoot. ;D and dispatches the tin tops with glee.
I choose a tall trailbike this time because I'm 6'3" and need the legroom, and its near indestructable and cheap to run.

'05 GSX-R sounds very nice but i have trouble fitting on one. They zoom past me at highway speeds but i get 'em in the tight traffic.

[atmosteve]

After some flat glide trimming and low turn circuits the biker Bee maidened well today over the small slope at the back of my house facing Fraser island, the wind was only a fluttery 10kph at best, so i did a lot of walking up and down. I even got it to do an impressive cartwheel landing!

Started with 20g of lead in the battery compartment and wittled it down to 10g which gave a CG of about 8.25" from the nose, with almost no + ali reflex.

End weight was 560 grams but she is still a touch nose heavy, I think i will keep it that way until we go to Point Vernon with stronger breeze and more elbow room.

All in all so far, the glider seems to be everything that everybody says it is, but I cant add much to the great deal already said about it and by more experienced foamy folks.
I think i love it already.

[thevon]

Wow, 560gm is an excellent weight Steve, well done! I've never built one that light! Even without joiners! You've had lots more experience than me, but to my understanding the delta wings always need quite a visible amount of reflex. You can take out nose weight in really light conditions and they seem to fly better and better and stay up longer, but then when you get a strong day they'll be too flippy and hard to control. So my tip is, be prepared to add some nose weight back in later.

By the way, looking at your pics, there's orange tape and white areas ... is there any colour tape on the white areas? I.e. did you put colour tape over the fibre tape? Reason for asking is that the fibre tape deteriorates pretty fast when exposed, but if covered with colour tape it stays good indefinitely.

[atmosteve]

It can only get heavier i suppose. When you look over the top surface of the aerofoil it does appear to have quite a degree of positive elevator, this is only because the underside of the elevons is flush and in line with the bottom wing surface, which we know is the business end for fast airflow so this has to be.

Yesterday i noticed at low speeds it needs heaps of positive elevator but very little negative, which makes perfect sense for this airfoil, its pretty turbulent up top.

Thanks for that weighting tip, it confirms my suspicions about this kind of glider which is feel and go guesswork at best, lots of sinkers in the kit will be the go from now.

The fibre tape in the white areas was covered with a light spray of white auto upholstery paint, its sticks and is flexible and sacrificial, its easy to remove with duct tape.
Thats another good tip, I didnt realise the fibre tape was so prone to UV deterioration.

I'm not sure what i am going to do about the exposed fibre tape just yet. In all honesty I dont think i will tape the model up again on its first major service, might have a go with profilm next time I could do with the practice.