Bigga-Bit (oz11734)

About this Plan

Bigga-Bit. Radio control tailless sport model.

Quote: "Right, hold on to your hats! Dereck Woodward presents his fast and furious 42 in span tailless wonder for up to .32 size engines

In the beginning, there was Little Bit (oz5763), born of a requirement to field something small at the first Old Warden Nexus Small Models Day. 'Little Bits' parents were a Bubbles (oz11826) wing plan and a programmable copier, with a sense of urgency as midwife!

She flew! Her 049-impelled 28 in span make toes curl. But even this was too large for Shane Harding; he crossed the plan with a copier to produce the 21 inch Tiny Bit (oz5772), also published in Radio Modeller. This Cox TeeDee 020 rocket owned the sky, ignoring any ideas about small models.

'Vintagent' Gordon Counsell stepped a tad out of character for the second OW Small Models bash with 'BIG Bit' a 34 in span incarnation for an OS .15. Regrettably, Terra was induced by Firma and reduced 'BIG Bit' to micro bits.

1993, Sue and I move to America, land of the megamodel. A need for something to frighten the population hereabouts produces the heavyweight of the 'Bit' saga. Yes folks, it's a 'Bigga Bit'! A 42 inch twice-size large model of Shane's 'Tiny Bit'. Okay, complications got into the act. The rudder now waggles and optional landing gear makes 'Bigga Bit' a little more conventional in arriving and departing.

Originally flown with an OS 25, my OS 32F ABC muscled in for more vertical. As I expect many extroverts to build 'Bigga Bit' at below mine's uncharacteristic 54 ounces, true unlimited vertical is now about a week of building away!

What can you do with a Bigga Bit? Pretty much what you like - the common stuff is easy. Fast rolls, slow rolls, four point rolls, huge loops, tight loops, Cuban Eights, Avalanches - you know the drill. Rolling inverted as she leaves the ground then going vertical for a few hundred feet never fails to announce that you're airborne. As she's a high drag sort of machine, you can then chop the power and fly a steep curving descent back down to skim the grass, before blasting off back up to show anyone who missed it the first time.

Despite the drag of that flat front and 14% symmetrical thick wing, she is still one of the fastest in a big club obsessed by speed. There are faster models - sub three pound deltas with hot 46s. They are tricky to beat!

I always look for a spectacular party trick with my models - with Bigga Bit it's a negative snap roll entered with full down, full right rudder and aileron, which turns into an end over end tumble, degenerating into an inverted spin. Once in the spin, I go into idle power and introduce left aileron for a flat spin. She descends much slower than in a regular spin, and virtually rotates around the prop. Recovery is within a half turn on neutralising the controls, exit inverted to prove which way is up.

With the OS 32, this model is not for the faint-hearted! Even so, she could be a first unorthodox model for the flier who knows which way up his fast aerobatic sports model is. That's about as close to 'trainer' as she gets - and then only if you fit a cooking 25. With a really potent 25 or 30-something. she goes very, very fast.

Can't wait? Don't blame you! Bigga Bit was intended to build fast, There isn't much airframe; it was designed around a mixing Tx for her elevon control, and it has few parts. Let's start with the thing on top.

To get around complex wing rib shapes, I made the spars from 1/16 x 1/2 in spruce glued onto the back of the 1/16 LE sheeting. This idea came from Steve Kerry - he thought it might work. You bet it worked - nice one, Steve! As the ribs are either sheeted or capstripped, they are nothing more than a curved outline with flat ends. Cut one as a template, whiz round it with a knife to cut the rest and that's it.

I used 1/8 artist's foamboard for the ribs and interspar webbing - it is easily obtainable hereabouts and cheaper than balsa and nearly as light. If you prefer balsa, use medium grade 3/32. Just watch which cyano glue you use for foamboard - the regular stuff will dissolve the foam middle layer of foamboard. As I tend to use PVA more than instants, that is no handicap.

I'd recommend gluing the spar to the balsa LE sheet and sanding the join out smooth before assembly - this is easier than when it is on the wing. The interspar webbing goes between the spars - do not, under any circumstances, have an attack of the idles and stick it to the back edge of the spar. This is especially the case if you use foamboard, as you'd be making a 1/16 deep glue joint onto a sheet of paper..."

Quote: "Hi Mary and Steve, Bigga-Bit plans. The OZ listing has 'Tiny Bit' and 'Little Bit' but showed no sign of the attached model, so here's a plan to provide a 'Bit' trilogy in OZ from Dereck Woodward. Published in September 1996 Radio Modeller with the article written in Dereck's usual distinctive style, it refers to 'Bit' evolution and the slim to little chance of (him) doing another .45 powered tailless, so this is probably the largest 'official' 'Bit' version. Quoted as 42 inch span in the magazine description, my copy of the plan, and hence the scan, is a bit smaller and measures about half an inch less than that. The publication reduced the size of the article too, it just stopped mid sentence. I didn't forget to copy the last page, honest.
Hope both of you are well, and thanks once again for your work on OZ.
Best wishes, Paul"

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