04-08-2020, 04:58 PM
I had a fly of Vince's new Lazy Bee yesterday afternoon. What a cute thing it is! The model was pretty cute as well...
It was fairly sensitive in pitch, especially when down elevator was nudged. If you've never seen a Lazy Bee (this was my first, apart from seeing them in magazines), they are short and stubby with a very thick wing with long chord and is so far away from a gliders high-aspect ratio design, it is almost a no-aspect ratio. Seriously though, Vince put in an extra couple of ribs to give it a greater span, because he could. The tips of the wings are turned up, but I can't recall if it is just dihedral or was polyhedral. From memory, it was flat all the way across until the last 100mm or so. It really is only the tips, so won't provide much self-leveling.
When I was trimming it out, it would do a gentle and gradual nose dive, with a fairly abrupt pull-out (probably me). Once trimmed to fly straight and level with low power, if I let it dive it wouldn't pull out. I expected a gentle pull out as the airspeed picked up, which is typical of all flat-bottomed airfoils and most semi-symmetrical ones. It also needed very little attention to the elevator when flying fast or slow once trimmed for cruise. I didn't expect that as there wasn't an obvious down-thrust on the motor. I'm wondering if it may not have enough angle of attack on the wing.
By the way, it glides beautifully. Didn't expect that either, because it looks as aerodynamic as a pelican, which to my eye shouldn't be able to thermal.
My first landing attempt would have seen it touch down halfway to the front gate...
It looks awesome Vince and flies beautifully. What a great outcome for such a long scratch build. Thanks for letting me fly its maiden. It was an honour.
It was fairly sensitive in pitch, especially when down elevator was nudged. If you've never seen a Lazy Bee (this was my first, apart from seeing them in magazines), they are short and stubby with a very thick wing with long chord and is so far away from a gliders high-aspect ratio design, it is almost a no-aspect ratio. Seriously though, Vince put in an extra couple of ribs to give it a greater span, because he could. The tips of the wings are turned up, but I can't recall if it is just dihedral or was polyhedral. From memory, it was flat all the way across until the last 100mm or so. It really is only the tips, so won't provide much self-leveling.
When I was trimming it out, it would do a gentle and gradual nose dive, with a fairly abrupt pull-out (probably me). Once trimmed to fly straight and level with low power, if I let it dive it wouldn't pull out. I expected a gentle pull out as the airspeed picked up, which is typical of all flat-bottomed airfoils and most semi-symmetrical ones. It also needed very little attention to the elevator when flying fast or slow once trimmed for cruise. I didn't expect that as there wasn't an obvious down-thrust on the motor. I'm wondering if it may not have enough angle of attack on the wing.
By the way, it glides beautifully. Didn't expect that either, because it looks as aerodynamic as a pelican, which to my eye shouldn't be able to thermal.
My first landing attempt would have seen it touch down halfway to the front gate...
It looks awesome Vince and flies beautifully. What a great outcome for such a long scratch build. Thanks for letting me fly its maiden. It was an honour.
![[Image: SaitoFS82b.jpg]](http://www.kingslynnmodelshop.co.uk/images/SaitoFS82b.jpg)
Everyone knows that REAL ENGINES are used by REAL men. Eklectic motors are best left for use in toothbrushes and other unnecessary things.
