Quickie Bipe (oz6732)

About this Plan

Quickie Bipe. Radio control sport biplane model. Quickie Bipe by George Jennings, plan #615, October 1975.

Quote: "If you want a .15 to .19 powered aircraft that attracts attention from spectators and R/C flyers alike, build the Quickie Bipe. Like all biplanes it has a certain mystique about it and, to the uninitiated, appears to be almost a magical machine.

This three foot span two-winger encompasses quick construction, great flyability, economy of operation and good looks. It is an extremely stable machine that slows down well for gentle landings, yet comfortably handles 25 mph winds. Ground handling is excellent, even in windy conditions. With increased surface throws, it is capable of snappy aerobatic performance. Best of all, it won't put a big dent in your pocket book.

Late one evening this past Spring, Jim, my flying buddy, and myself were returning from a goodwill mission. Having visited one of the newly organized WC clubs that seem to be springing up in the Michigan Northland, we had departed all of our knowledge to the group in short order and started home. As usual the topic of conversation was what R/C plane to build next. A rather in-depth discussion was taking place as to the virtues of Fred Reeses' Quickie (oz5856) published in RCM back in 1972. This plane had since become our club plane since it featured quick construction, great flyability, economy of operation, and good appearance.

The discussion finally shifted to biplanes and the comment was made: Why not design a small bipe along the Quickie lines that encompassed quick construction, great flyability, economy of operation and good looks? This turn of events necessitated pulling off the road at the next restaurant with some subsequent serious doodling on the napkins while consuming large quantities of coffee. That night the Quickie Bipe, was born.

If you want an aircraft that attracts attention from spectators and R/C flyers alike, build the Quickie Bipe. The Quickie Bipe, like all biplanes, has a certain mystique about it and, to the uninitiated, appears to be an almost magical machine that somehow demands greater levels of competence to build and fly than the monoplane. To the already confirmed bipe flyer, nothing could be further from the truth.

The Quickie Bipe is an extremely stable flyer. It slows down well for gentle landings, and handles high winds with ease. The prototypes have been comfortably flown in winds up to 25 miles per hour. Ground handling is excellent even under windy conditions.

A real plus for the Quickie Bipe is the ease with which it can be constructed. This design overcomes the drudgery of long hours in front of the workbench. Construction is strong, light and fast. Prototypes have weighed in at 2-1/2 lb, including radio, and with 460 square inches of wing area, gives a light wing loading of 12.54 ounces per square foot.

In addition, because of its compact size, .15 to .19 engine, and three channels, the Quickie Bipe won't put such a dent in your already bent pocketbook.

This pert little aircraft reminds you of the homebuilt movement which, like R/C, is growing by leaps and bounds. If you have read this far, you must be sufficiently intrigued, so let's build.

We'll start with the wings since they will be needed for fuselage construction. Remember, a light airplane flies better. Your finished plane with radio, engine, wheels, tank, and covering should weigh no more than 2-3/4 lbs - shoot for 2-1/2 lbs and have a better flying aircraft. Use Titebond for all glue joints unless 5 minute epoxy is specified, Five minute epoxy is heavy and can easily add several ounces of weight to the aircraft if used carelessly.

Top Wing: Join two 3 inch sheets of 36 by 1/16 balsa together for wing sheeting in the following manner: Butt the two sheets together flat on your building board. making sure they fit tightly along the entire length. Sand the edges lightly with a sandpaper block if necessary to get a tight fit. Run a strip of masking tape the entire length of the seam. This tape serves as a hinge. Turn over and fold back the two sheets and apply a bead of glue the entire length of the joint. Fold back flat with tape side down, and wipe off excess glue that has squeezed out. Run a second strip of masking tape down the seam on this side. Set aside to dry.

Repeat the above step and join the second two 3 inch sheets to make the second piece of top wing sheeting. Using a straight edge, cut the bottom sheeting to a width of 5-13/16 and leave 36 in long. Mark this as bottom sheeting with a ballpoint pen. Top sheeting need not be altered. Simply mark as top sheeting.

When dry, peel off the masking tape from both pieces of sheeting you just joined. Pin down a 1/2 in sq soft balsa leading edge to your wax paper covered building board. Pin down the bottom sheeting so that it butts against the 1/2 in sq leading edge after adding glue. Pin the 1/16 x 3/8 x 36 in filler strip to the back of the 1/2 in sq leading edge after adding gluing..."

Update 03/07/2016: Added article pages, thanks to Cavitation.

Update 21/12/2021: Replaced this plan with a corrected version (scaling X/Y), thanks to balsaworkbench.

Quote: "As I was drawing parts for a kit of the Quickie Bipe from RCM I noticed that the scale is inaccurate in the vertical dimension. This can be seen in the horizontal stabilizer drawing, in which the stabilizer is 7.85" from the tip to the center line. A note on the plan says the stabilizer span is 16", so the distance from tip to root should be 8".

Rescaling the plan to 100% x 101.91% makes the stabilizer the correct size, and it makes the wing drawing and the fuselage drawing have the same wing chord. I'm attaching a file with the scale corrected. Thanks, Rob"

Update 14/5/2023: Replaced this plan with a clearer copy, scanned from full size at 300 dpi, thanks to dfritzke.

Supplementary file notes

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