OLYMPIC II ( 100" w.s. ) Help.

[Texas Buzzard]

I have been given a brand new kit of the "Olympic II" by Airtronics by my power-flier son. I gave it to him 15 years ago. He was never interested then. And here it is back in the hands of a retired old "used to be RC builder/pilot".

For a few years I've been relegated to flying electrics in the local parks/schoolyards. Now the juices are flowing to build a real RC sailplane. I flew tow-liners way back when. Love to see them nibble at a thermal.

I am hoping that someone has some experience with the Olympic II and can give me some pointers during the build and test flights. I said "test flights" - {when did the term "maiden" start to be used.....ugggh?}

What weight to shoot for, what ballast have you used - in what wind? Yes it was said to be a floater, but I have seen similar RE ships perform in 8 to 10 mph winds with ballast. Has anyone used, lets say, a .15 glow engine on a pylon to lift it up to thermal altitude? Will a bungee work with this 100" wing?

[cosmicpossum]

Howdy, Buzzard! I'll give ya a starting point: http://www.skybench.com/

Go to the sailplanes/nostalgia/res section and there's a ton of info for the Oly.

BTW, great flier!

[TLyttle]

It is pretty hard to build an Oly11 that is too heavy. I built one many years ago, and used 1/32 ply sides for the fuse (I'm sure you could get about 5 innings out of it), and D-tubed the wing. Once trimmed, it flew with the best of the floaters, no trouble.

I test-flew mine by trimming out the glide with handlaunches, then used the histart with the hook in the most forward position. Did I crash it? a few times, but damage was minimal.

Once trimmed out, it was my very best sailplane; had to sell it during a social crisis...

[Wylie Shaw]

I have been given a brand new kit of the "Olympic II" by Airtronics by my power-flier son. I gave it to him 15 years ago. He was never interested then. And here it is back in the hands of a retired old "used to be RC builder/pilot".

For a few years I've been relegated to flying electrics in the local parks/schoolyards. Now the juices are flowing to build a real RC sailplane. I flew tow-liners way back when. Love to see them nibble at a thermal.

I am hoping that someone has some experience with the Olympic II and can give me some pointers during the build and test flights. I said "test flights" - {when did the term "maiden" start to be used.....ugggh?}

What weight to shoot for, what ballast have you used - in what wind? Yes it was said to be a floater, but I have seen similar RE ships perform in 8 to 10 mph winds with ballast. Has anyone used, lets say, a .15 glow engine on a pylon to lift it up to thermal altitude? Will a bungee work with this 100" wing?


TB, Hi you can't go wrong building an OLY II flys well anyway you build it...you can convert it to electric with the following equipment...AXI 2820/10 3s lipo battery, 11x8 prop & JETI JESAP30 "Advanced Plus" 40 Amp controller from www.hobby-lobby.com - you can sheet the top forward wing from the spar to the Leading Edge, and also the bottom from spar to LE. A must Mod is to get rid of that balanced rudder, while building both the fin and rudder, just extend the fin the same length from top to bottom as the plans, and same with the rudder extend it in one straight line from bottom to top. (less drag this way) Use .070 carbon fiber push rods with sheaths (saves a little weight) If you do the electric conversion install the servos for the push rods behind the wing throught a hatch. You can also install 2 small micro servos HS 55 OR HS 65B for the spoiler installation instead of the string....Theres a lot more you can do, I'm sure some one will chime in here, in any case no matter which way you build here she'll fly just fine.....


Best Regards,


Wylie S.

[jfreeman]

If you ever get up to Austin, come by the club field and we'll help with trim flights and flying! I'd love to get some stick time on an Oly II again!

Austin Silent Flyers (www.austinsilentflyers.org)

Best,

John.

[Ray Hayes]

Stick time on my OLY ll. This is one of my favorite vacation places during spring and fall. I use my short hi start ( 50 ' rubber, 225 ' of tow line) . I have the OLY ll trimmed to show lift, flys like a butter fly, sheeted the wing top only from spar to leading edge with 1/32" balsa.

Ray
Sky Bench.com
Home of Wood Crafters 08

[John Gallagher]

Someone in my old club thought that the glide ratio of the Oly II could be improved by reducing the polyhedral of the wing. Don't try this. It made it slow to turn.

[ciurpita]

see dave garwood's article about widening the fuselage in order to fit 3 standard size servos in sideways, and other suggestions
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3819/is_199901/ai_n8831852

and if you haven't found pete young's suggestions
http://www.charlesriverrc.org/articles/kitmods/peteyoung_olympiciihintstips.htm

i also found i had to make sure the rudder traveled at least 45 degrees in order to turn at slower speeds. i'm still in the habit of putting in some down elevator to increase speed so i can turn quickly.

mine launches near vertically when using winch or hi-start, but needs 6 strong rubber bands. i've learned that planes using rubber bands are more tolerant of rough landings than those with screws.

[Wind Shadow]

An Oly II was my first RC sailplane about 30 years ago(Geeze...I suddenly feel old!) :confused:

Build it per instructions, get as much rudder throw as you can, and prepare to LOVE IT!

Learned all about thermal flying with that bird, flew it many years...I literally had over 100(HONEST-I quit counting after that!) 2+ hour thermal flights with it over the course of 5 years or so.
I would go out to my local field, put out the hi-start, and the goal was to launch ONCE--and stay up until the batteries were almost dead!
Then, would bring it in for a hand catch..... :D

Made up a "ballast pack" of over a pound of steel ball bearings, and would put them in whenever the wind got to be over 10mph or so. :eek:

It will be a great first sailplane for you, stable, easy, and very good all around performance.

That Oly II was a very special plane for me, hope yours is a great one too!

Wind Shadow

[gklimber]

Just recently acquired an OLY 2 and love it. IMHO it would make a much better first plane than the Gentle Lady every one seems to suggest.

jer

[dion9146]

I am hoping that someone has some experience with the Olympic II and can give me some pointers during the build and test flights. I said "test flights" - {when did the term "maiden" start to be used.....ugggh?}


Don't forget to do a basic serach for Oly II info in this group. A couple of great build logs as well as good bits of infomration in other threads.

I'm trying to get my Wife to buy me a kit for Christmas, but if that doeasn't work, I'll be buying my own kit next year. :)

Good luck with the build.

Dion

[atjurhs]

Here is an EXTENSIVE Build Log for the OLY2 according to both a Nostalgia Build and a "Highly Modified" Build.

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=450321

[GIFLYRC]

Got my best time 1hr 55min 43 sec with an Oly II boosted to altitude with a Cox TD 049 time count started when engine quit

[Ron Cate]

I put a multiplex 480 4-G turn in it,it fits perfect with a aero-naut 11X7 in my Olly it is not a rocket but does very well at 55 oz, one of my best floaters.

Ron Cate

[PeterH]

Go ahead and build it straight out of the box. There's lots of friendly advice about what to change, and each suggestion is a diversion and will consume time. The kit is a joy to assemble, and the airplane flies beautifully with no modifications. There's any number of modifications that can be done to change it to suit the builder's desires, some of them even improvements. I flew mine 20 years before I rebuilt my wings with a d-tube. Nothing wrong with the original, flown as designed. My only suggestion is that you fiberglass the fuselage with .5-ounce cloth, plastic film on such a long and skinny thing became a nuisance for me. And mount the cabin hatch with little magnets, not springs/rubber bands/latches. One at each corner in a gusset. And mount the antenna inside in a tube. ENJOY!

[John Cole]

Ditto to Peter's note...

John