Bird of Daylight Savings Time (oz14444)

 

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User comments

some info on: https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?862661-Bird-of-Daylight-Savings-Time
pit - 18/03/2023
Very nice plan at my wingspan window. But why is there no CoG marked on the plan? I know you can find it by trial and error but it would be nice to have some where to start from. Would the wing spar be a good rough guide to start from?
Trevor Hughes - 18/03/2023
I have a bit of experience with this type model, built before the tip launch models became available. One of our club members built a similar model and I helped him trim it out. It had a hole in the bottom for your finger, where you gave it an overhead launch. The best my weak arm could give was about 15 feet of altitude, not much thermal activity there. I suggested he convert it to tip launch with which I had much more success. I didn't know he was left handed and his peg was on the wrong tip for me, but just gripping it by the tip produced a better launch. He decided to mount a tow hook on the bottom for a hi-start, made from a box of #64 rubber bands and about 100' of string, worked amazingly well. In fact, if you pulled it back all the way, the wing would flutter on the way up. He neglected to follow instructions, which specified MonoKote for covering, using instead one of the lightweight coverings. I suggested pulling the bottom film off and adding X braces but he called the kit maker and followed their idea of bracing the leading edge, didn't help at all. But it did fly well, more altitude than we could throw it. Balance was a little behind the spar, about 1/2", that's where I would start. Don't know if your model will be strong enough for tip launch, just make sure all dihedral joints are done well, and don't forget the vertical grain shear webs between the spars. Reinforce the left tip for a carbon fiber peg. If you go for a hi-start, the hook should be just in front of the CG. CG means a lot with a glider. If it just doesn't glide well, it's probably nose heavy. The added UP elevator trim needed to fly a nose heavy model adds a lot of drag and it glides like a pig. Or you could just give up on the launch and put in a 400 brushless motor.
Doug Smith - 18/03/2023
I built one of John L's kits, and don't remember if there was a mention of a recommended balance point. If you refer to the full-size Bird of Time (oz2093), that one balanced a bit aft of the spar. For a better answer, see the article accompanying the drawings of that BoT article.
Mine flew rather well, covered in Micafilm, but don't remember the all up weight. Kit had really nice, hand-selected lightweight wood. If you can really generate a good toss, I'd recommend adding a piece of 1/64" plywood to the aft side of the finger hole rest, grain crosswise to that rest, where you push on launch; I broke mine a couple times. Hooking a good thermal, it gets pretty small pretty quick, so I covered the canopy in chrome Mylar. Flies nicely on the slope as well.
Marc Bird - 18/03/2023
The design that refused to die! Now a 1/2 scale model of a model, what next, a canard BOT? That should be called a BIT, Backwards In Time!
Miguel - 18/03/2023
That would be a great variation Miguel. I myself am working on a version built up from used pizza boxes and chinese food containers, oily residue and all. I plan to call it Don't Waste My Time.
RC Yeager - 22/03/2023
Oh, people take sacrilege so lightly! This is as offensive to an American Icon as the BOT is, as using the US Declaration of Independence for wallpaper. Repent before it's too late!
And please replenish my glass too while you are at it :)
Miguel - 22/03/2023
I know how to plot the ribs for the tapered wing tips but it takes me a long time. However, if someone has already done this and you could post these ribs, It can speed up the build. Thanks
Jim Hales - 28/03/2023
See the supplement file for hand-traced ribs.
SteveWMD - 28/03/2023
I am limited to graph paper to plot these ribs. I lack the skills to perform this task digitally . When I get around to tackling this job, I will share the results.
Jim Hales - 28/03/2023
Jim, can you explain why you need to plot the ribs by hand? I don't understand.
SteveWMD - 28/03/2023
Please excuse me for meddling, but have you tried using the sandwich method? You make two templates in plywood or other tough material, make a sandwich by assembling a number of oversized balsa sheet blanks in between, hold this firmly in a vice, and then cut, file and sand away the excess so that the layers in between match the templates in the outside. After that, carefully release the sandwich from the vice, turn your sandwich upside down and repeat the process for the other side.
Miguel - 28/03/2023
Doh…..didn’t open the supplement. All I saw was the plan. And I was getting my pencils sharpened and everything. Chalk this up to one more dumb question.
Jim Hales - 28/03/2023
Another scaled down BoT plan on OuterZone is the Mini Bird K10 (oz12355) with a 79 inch span by Mark Smith in Model Builder, August 1981. I’m giving a shout-out here to the Mini Bird K10 because the title of this model is preventing it from being linked to the other Bot related plans.
AaronKV - 08/05/2023
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