BOT ARF turns into whole new airplane!

[Superman]

I purchased a ARF Bird of Time by Dynaflite a while ago and had all the same probs with the wing that everyone had. A lot of flex and cracking in the wing. I took the covering off the center section, cut off the sheeting above and below the spar, and then put CF above and below it. I also added spoilers like they said on Yahoo Groups and took it to vicailia. It flys like a whole new airplane... It will take a pretty darn hard launch and a decent zoom without flex and the spoilers are pretty effective. I am now very happy with this airplane...

-Clark

[RCFlybry]

Glad to hear it!! This plane is just too much fun whether it's the ARF or kit version. The first time mine came off the winch I could tell right away that I had one sweetheart of a sailplane. Very responsive, penetrates well, thermals long enough to put a permanent right angle in your neck! :D Ouch.. Where's my chiropractor?

Bryan

[Trobin]

That's great news. I canceled my order with my LHS and now I think I will reorder. If you have any more details on the MOD I'd be interested in exactly what you did on the Spar. What width of CF ribbon did you use? Did you glue it to the top and bottom of the spar or wrap it around the spar? Did you do anything with the web spars while you had the covering off? Also is there a thread or url to go to regarding adding spoilers. What length of spoilers did you chose and did you set them up with mini-servos or nylon line? Sorry about all the questions but I'd likle to have as much info as possible before I decide to buy a BOT.
Thanks,
Tom

[Pteradactyl]

I'm glad to hear that someone has decided to clean up DynaFlyte's act! As I said in the other post about the BOT, I have the kit Bird and I automatically beefed up the wing. Don't get discouraged people, the Bird deserves a chance to show it's true feathers! John

[John Gallagher]

Originally posted by Pteradactyl
I'm glad to hear that someone has decided to clean up DynaFlyte's act! As I said in the other post about the BOT, I have the kit Bird and I automatically beefed up the wing. Don't get discouraged people, the Bird deserves a chance to show it's true feathers! John

I thought that Great Planes sells the BOT ARF.
The Dynaflite kit has the shear web placed in the right direction.

John

[RCFlybry]

It's feathers have been shown, and have stood test of time. Since the plans were first available to the public from RC Modeler in Jan '79. It was originally 108" in wingspan.
It has become a sailplane that is widely known for it's performance. It was a favorite of the 1980 FAI Soaring Team and has been going strong ever since. Dave Thornburg really did some great designing on this one. How 'bout a shot of the master sending it up the winch line. :D Nice launching form eh?
Note the pointing finger in a threatening gesture as if to say, Yeah.. You'd better max out!! Different mods have been tried throughout the years. Notice the pointy Stabilator tips on Dave's
http://isoar.ca/~andrewm/rc/bot/images/dave_thornburg.jpg

If you'd like to read a great article on adding spoilers, check this one out. http://www.dozone.net/public/rcsoaring/ARTICLES/Spoiling%20%20the%20DynaFlight%20Bird%20of%20Time. htm

Bryan

[Superman]

Thats the article I used for the spoilers... I used 30 thou cf on top and bottom of the spar. I didnt wrap it with anything or change the shear webbing at all. I will post some pics a little later...

-Clark

[Trobin]

Clark,
Thanks for the info. Will look forward to the pictures. I looked at the article but a few pictures would really help!
Tom

[Pteradactyl]

John Gallagher said:
"I thought that Great Planes sells the BOT ARF.
The Dynaflite kit has the shear web placed in the right direction."

Sorry, but according to the Tower catalog, it's the Dynaflite Bird of Time ARF.

But my main point was that no matter how bad the ARF was built, a person should be able to fix it so it would take whatever launch system they wanted to use.

I don't know of anybody into sailplanes who doesn't drool over the Bird of Time - it's such a beautiful ship. If the kit scares them, they now have the ARF, but they still have to accept its limitations or rebuild it to their satisfaction.

Yes, it's an old design but still one of the classics.

John

[Rain City Flyer]

It is confusing, but all of these roads seem to lead to the same place. I purchased (and returned) the BOT ARF from my LHS. I've decided to build one of Ray's Birds from Skybench over the winter.

Now I just can't decide which one - Lil' Bird HLG, 2M Lil' Bird, Big Bird... I see he's even posted a sneak peak of an electric Parkflyer Bird.

What to do??? :D

Chris in Seattle

www.skybench.com

[AcintSpec]

Chris:

And the Sky Bird is bigger yet! Ray does have some nice ones there.

R/Gene

[ken troxell]

chris...do the big bird! it is great. i have an electric version and it is my favorite...ken

[Emanuele]

Clark, I'd really be interested in your pics, to get some details and hints on how to do the mods. I wish to get a BOT ARF but reading all these posts make me doubt about my building skills.
Thanks.

[Superman]

Sorry it took me so long to get back guy, I've been really buisy. I actually have some bad news, after all my bragging, the wing broke. But it was the joiner box that broke, not the wing itself. The good part is that Dynaflite sent me a new wing that is a little more reenforced than the first one so I will reenforce that one again and build up the joiner box. I will take pics as I go and keep you guys posted.

-Clark

[Pteradactyl]

Superman: Maybe this website can help. At any rate, it has some great pic of BOTs. John

http://isoar.ca/~andrewm/rc/bot/

[Miami Mike]

Originally posted by Superman
The good part is that Dynaflite sent me a new wing that is a little more reenforced than the first one...As far as I know, this is the first news we've heard about a reinforced BoT ARF wing actually being delivered to anyone. Can you give us more details? Why do you say it's "a little" more reinforced? Is that what they told you or did you check it yourself? Does it look any different? Any other details would be appreciated by those of us who are stuck with these planes.

Thanks.

[Superman]

I stripped the covering off the "new" wing and it is actually more reenforced. The grain is still horizontle and I sanded above the spar to reenforce it again like I had done and I cant quite tell but I see something black that could be CF. Oh, there is also a little glass around the joiner box.

-Clark

[Superman]

The long awaited pics...
This is the glass I found that they put on the joiner box on the new wing...

[Superman]

This is the groove I sanded above the spar all the way down the center-section to fit the carbon fiber.

[Superman]

And this is the bottom of the wing with the carbon fiber glued on it...

[markdrela]

Originally posted by Superman
The long awaited pics...
This is the glass I found that they put on the joiner box on the new wing...

What is the white splotch on the web in the 2nd rib bay? Is that the glass?

[Superman]

Yep, thats the glass, it goes all the way around the end of the joiner box. I dont know if its enough though so I'm still figuring out a way to reenforce it more. I'll keep you guys posted.

-Clark

[TailWind]

How did you manage to sand the groove in the sheeting above the spar without damaging the ribs etc.

Did you use a Dremel or some other tool?

[Superman]

No high tech tools... Just good old sandpaper glued to some wood the width that I wanted and sanding back and forth, back and forth. Let me tell you this took a lot of patience,

-Clark