So, here I am again with a predicament I'm pretty sure everybody has had one time or another... A friend went on an Ebay RC shopping spree and came up with a bunch of airplanes riding back home in his truck. He called me up and told me he was on his way and wanted me to check out his new stash. When he dropped by my place, he had a bunch of planes and he decided that the Big Stick wasn't going to stay in his truck, so after a few minutes of back and forth, considering I have very limited space to store my planes, I accepted to keep the Big Stick. How nice of him to offer a newly acquired plane I thought was the entire reason for his trip. Anyways, after a brainstorming session of what to do with the BS, we came with the idea of transforming her into a sort of mother-ship for the slope soarers we own. So, this project became a reality. With a little time and a computer at hand, I decided to design an assembly to fit on the top of the Big Stick wing and be able to carry our slope soarers aloft so we could fly them at any place here in Florida. I know!!! you are wondering right now WHO on his right mind would have slope planes here in Florida?, but to be honest, I've had them for years before moving to south Florida and I wasn't ready to leave them behind either... The assembly came out really nice. It was designed in around 4 hours of playing with the computer and the best part was to use a cousin's newly acquired laser cutter to do the dirty work for me... The test...Continue Reading

I wanted to bring back a classic from the 80's with a 21st century twist, so i decided to throw in a little curve on a really good old airplane from the good ole days and scratch build something that would be quite manageable in size and provide good fun for when the slopes are cooperating with wind. So, here i was trying to decide whether a Coyote or an SR7 would be occupying my working table for a couple of months and I finally came to the conclusion that for the first time in a long time, I was going to be working in a scratch-built coyote. After a few days considering which airfoils, overall size, proportions, wing loadings would be good for the plane, I decided it would be a great idea to produce a smaller version of the venerable Coyote... So, here i was starting to work on a plane that would bring back my old memories from my early days into slope soaring and came up with a 46 inch wingspan that brings the plane to a 64% scale from the original. It's got a v-tail also (this is the 21st century twist)

Anyways, It came up really nice. E205 airfoil, V-tail, 2 sq. feet wing area, 32 oz flying weight which brings the wing loading to a whooping 16 oz./sq ft.... Yeah... I know... it looks pretty heavy for the size of the plane but the E205 loves to fly loaded up... I could have used the S3021 but my previous experience with the Eppler gave me an inclination towards using it on the Mini Coyote Vee. Love the performance on the little plane. Super stable, loves to fly...Continue Reading

Last December I decided it was time for my 30 year old Bird of Time to come down from the shelf and meet the air once again . Hmmm! what a surprise for me after having her stored for nearly 7 years in my shop.
Somehow, the fuse was plagued with what it seemed termite damage. Before peeling the fuse down I figured it had a weird noise of its own resembling one of those "Rain Sticks" (sold at those touristy novelty stores), in a lesser extent but apparent when I handled it to inspect after coming down from the shelf. My surprise after being in denial for a few moments, ...it felt like crackers, I pressed a little hard and the monokote gave way. The wings however, where in perfect shape and form. No damage whatsoever.

Anyhow, after mourning the loss of a great half plane I decided it was time for the BOT to have a new fuselage. Trying to decide whether to buy a part from Tower Hobbies and get it done with right away or scratch build the fuselage, the latter idea won and I started the project.

It was done in a two week time frame, not working everyday but I gave her a good deal of attention for what the plane had meant for me for so long.

The initial idea was to rebuild the fuse and get it flying as soon as plausible, but after seeing how the fuselage came out I couldn't stand the look of the wings. Good thing I decided to overhaul them too. I found a few cracked ribs and both trailing edges on the outer dihedral panels were very soft and brittle, so,...Continue Reading