Bird of Time ARF

[doctormike]

RE: Bird of Time ARF

It has a folding prop. No prop drag. Doc

[Konrad]

RE: Bird of Time ARF

Exactly!
So when you are having problems getting out of a thermal one of the tricks is to throw open (unfold) the prop blades. This is easily done by just cracking open the throttle. This keeps the brake off so the prop can spin. This high drag, none thrusting, prop combined with the spoilers should allow you to point the ship almost straight down without over speeding the airframe.

It is one of the many advantages electrics offer over the classic sailplane.

[doctormike]

RE: Bird of Time ARF

Thanks for the input. I didn't know about that trick. My spoilers, however, work so well when full up, it's a little scary. I'm going to lower the full setting a tad. Even my lower setting is a little too high for landing. I made the mistake of stupidly and accidentally putting my spoilers full up once when landing. Luckely, the repairs were minimal. I'm going to try your suggestion just for the experience. Thanks, Doc

[Konrad]

RE: Bird of Time ARF

I like to experiment with all sorts of flying techniques. Spoilers causing a "crash" has me thinking that you may not have enough elevator response (movement). Does your radio have flight modes? If so making one a landing set up with more elevator movement and different trim might be an advantage. You could use the dual rate switch. Set the high rate for landing . And set the low rate for thermalling.

I like to set up my gliders to have a landing trim sink rate of about 1.5 m (4 to 5 feet) per second. At the last 1/2 second I give full up to rotate from a nose down attitude to a flat touch down. This is assuming I don't want to lawn dart on the target.

[xviper]

RE: Bird of Time ARF

A little late to this party. Just finished my BoT, converted to power using a HobbyKing Gliderdrive 960kv motor on 4s, 60A ESC, 13X8 CF folding prop. It takes a 4000mah, 4s battery to balance properly. Mine is equipped with Lemon failsafe RX, Bigaole stabilizer and RTH module and Lemon telemetry and Guardian Back Up battery. I also installed HobbyKing servoless spoilers. Added a bellcrank for elevator actuation so I could keep the servo under the wing. Waiting for some nice weather to maiden.
I've been flying my Radian and Mystique RES, both equipped with similar electronics (RTH and telemetry).

[Flygirl]

RE: Bird of Time ARF

Wow!!!!!!! Got some pics and vids with that setup? Kind of interested in seeing what you've done. Kudos!

[xviper]

RE: Bird of Time ARF

Oh, silly me, there were so many of these gliders out there I didn't think anyone would be interested so I never bothered taking any pics as I was building it. I'll go snap a few now and post them up in a little bit.
[hr]
Here's a few shots of the various items in my BoT.
Middle wing section with spoiler:

Middle section with spoiler deployed:

Shot of complete fuselage:

Shot of prop/spinner:

Shot of motor from inside:

Shot of Bigaole stabilizer/Return To Home:

Shot of section under wing with Lemon Rx, Lemon telemetry and back part of Bigaole:

Shot down to interior showing GPS antenna and satellite Rx antenna:

Shot of wing tips:

Shot of Guardian Back Up Rx battery:

[Flygirl]

RE: Bird of Time ARF

Oh, silly me, there were so many of these gliders out there I didn't think anyone would be interested so I never bothered taking any pics as I was building it.  I'll go snap a few now and post them up in a little bit.

[hr]
Here's a few shots of the various items in my BoT.
Middle wing section with spoiler:

Middle section with spoiler deployed:

Shot of complete fuselage:

Shot of prop/spinner:

Shot of motor from inside:

Shot of Bigaole stabilizer/Return To Home:

Shot of section under wing with Lemon Rx, Lemon telemetry and back part of Bigaole:

Shot down to interior showing GPS antenna and satellite Rx antenna:

Shot of wing tips:

Shot of Guardian Back Up Rx battery:

Man that's a beauty and a nice layout! Can I ask where you got the folding prop/ spinner assm? It looks like its a dead ringer for the one I have on my RVJet. I haven't heard of Bigaole.... Have to go look that one up.  Anyways, it's a beauty... Always wanted one of those. Maybe this summer...

[xviper]

RE: Bird of Time ARF

Man that's a beauty and a nice layout! Can I ask where you got the folding prop/ spinner assm? It looks like its a dead ringer for the one I have on my RVJet. I haven't heard of Bigaole.... Have to go look that one up.  Anyways, it's a beauty... Always wanted one of those. Maybe this summer...

I source my folding props from 2 places. Espritmodel is one. This one came from HobbyKing. The electronics come from RC Castle. The Guardian from Amain.

[Flygirl]

RE: Bird of Time ARF

Man that's a beauty and a nice layout! Can I ask where you got the folding prop/ spinner assm? It looks like its a dead ringer for the one I have on my RVJet. I haven't heard of Bigaole.... Have to go look that one up.  Anyways, it's a beauty... Always wanted one of those. Maybe this summer...

I source my folding props from 2 places.  Espritmodel is one.  This one came from HobbyKing.  The electronics come from RC Castle.  The Guardian from Amain.

Thank you!!!

[xviper]

I maidened my BoT today. I didn't do a vid since with sailplanes, most of the video is with the plane up high and it's just a spec.
This plane flies heavy. It carries a lot of speed, especially when coming in for the landing, much more than my Mystique RES and Radian. It does seem to have good hang even though today, there was no lift from thermals and it was a calm day. It flies well and can do loops with ease when the stabilizer is turned off. Return to Home worked flawlessly. Looks great in the air.
Coming in for the landing, the air brakes were critical to bring the speed down to a reasonable rate before touch down. Without brakes, this thing is a screamer and would need some long glide distance to set up for the landing. Even with brakes on, this plane comes in much faster than any of the sailplanes I've owned.

[Konrad]

Have you tried to use the prop as an airbrake? Speed is often a function of weight. How heavy is she? More to the point what is her wing loading?

All the best,
Konrad

[xviper]

Have you tried to use the prop as an airbrake? Speed is often a function of weight. How heavy is she? More to the point what is her wing loading?

All the best,
Konrad

As a sailplane, I need the brake on so that the folding prop folds out of the way during sustained soaring. Having the resistance of a windmilling prop may hamper its glide characteristics. I could, in fact, use a tiny bit of throttle to just unfold the prop to see if it'll slow down more on the approach.
I haven't weighed this plane but it is a similar size to my Mystique in wingspan, only with a shorter fuselage. It feels much heavier than the Mystique. I'm not dissatisfied with it and with practice, I'll land it proficiently as I do my other sailplanes. These pop up airbrakes work slightly differently than the hinged spoilers on my Mystique. The airbrakes act like throwing out an anchor - different but still works.
Tower Hobby states that the wing loading for this plane (non-powered) is 8.2 oz/sq ft (25 g/sq dm). Can't say what it is with motor, ESC, prop and 4s battery.
So far, the Mystique RES is my favorite and best sailplane with the Radian as my daily group formation flier. The Bird of Time will function as "something different".

[Konrad]

Something different it is! It is not in the same class as the Mystique, it also doesn't have the same price tag. You are noticing the much heavier feel in the landing speed. I actually like heavier ships as they can get out of sink and cover much more ground looking for lift. We actually add ballast to ships that are too light.

Some ESC actually have a "dead zone" between idle and brake. On your down wind leg crack the throttal to throw out the blades and see if you aren't actually adding down to keep the ship at flying speed. What you are trying to do is up the sink rate without adding speed normally associated with diving. If you can find the above dead zone in the ESC you don't have to worry about killing the throttle at touch down. I use the prop as a brake even on my full house crow enabled ships. Give it a try and let us know what you think. Maybe try it at altitude for the first few times in case you stall her.

All the best,
Konrad

[xviper]

Flew my BoT again today and did a video. I edited out most of it as the plane was too high to be seen on camera. View in full screen.

[radioflite]

The drag from the prop spinning really adds some drag .. Lots of info about spiler /elevator
Mixing if you do a search or 3.
Congrats on the B.O.T. I got the ARF for Christmas ..I love to build but I wanted the glass fuse .

[radioflite]

The Mystique is a great sailplane and I recommend one of each . Both beautiful.
For me the lines of the bird of time are just so beautiful and the mystique is a sportier modern design.

[xviper]

After several flights, I've figured out how to slow it down quite well for the landing. I just use a longer, less steep approach and throw up the airbrakes the last little bit. Personally, I like my Mystique RES more. It glides and hangs much better. Since both have about the same wingspan, I think the longer fuselage of the RES is what helps it handle and fly better.

[xviper]

The following is a quote from the Hobbico bankruptcy thread:

I sure hope T.H. is in business till the new electric Bird of Time is released! Doc

I'd like to continue that discussion here. Thanks to doctormike for bringing this to my attention.

Since my last post here, I sold my BoT to a fellow at my flying field. He saw it one day and just loved the looks of it. I liked my Mystique RES more, so I sold it to him. He took it to his homeland of Brazil and I'm hoping it still soars with that huge statue of Christ up on the hill.

I see Tower has the EP BoT in their website with delivery "end of Feb". If Tower is still around by then, I might be interested in another one. However, when I read "new", I'm wondering what's actually new about it besides just haveing the nose chopped off, all the lead removed and being provided with the prop and spinner? I'd still need the motor, ESC and servos. I'd also have to install airbrakes again. It came in way too fast for our small field. Did they do anything to the rest of the plane? Did they re-design anything? It was a beautiful sailplane but it just never soared as nicely as my Mystique or Radian. Now that I have the Radian XL, it too, flies nicer than my old BoT. To date I rank my top sailplanes from best on down as follows: 1. Mystique RES. 2. Radian. 3. Radian XL. 4. BoT. All the other sailplanes I've owned fall way short of these. However, I've never owned any of the "megabuck" sailplanes like the ones the Soaring USA or Esprit Model sell, so can't say how those would rank (can't justify the cost).

[doctormike]

I have, as posted above, a BOT that I electrified and added spoilers. Mine seems to soar almost as well as my Radian. As for the new electric BOT, I'm not sure if there are any changes, other than made to be electrified. It'll sure save a LOT of work. It seems I might have read, somewhere, that the connections in the tail may be improved on. It looks like it doesn't have the nice clear plastic canopy. Maybe foam. Doc