This is a lovely hobby, as a teenager I use to scratch build my RC slope soarers, very satisfying to see them fly, your model looks lovely, well done, hope you get many hours of enjoyment flying your model. 👌👍
Well you did it!!! After watching your video I am standing in the shop getting ready to clean off my building table that is loaded with everything you can imagine. Haven't stick built anything in ages. My lungs are yearning for some balsa dust thanks to you. Cheers my friend 📖🛐🛫🛬🇺🇸🐆🐆🐆
I build a full size bird of time and it was absolutely one of the best gliders I ever flew. Thank you Dave Thornberg you old buzzard! Beautiful color scheme and build! Nicely done!
when i was a kid i saw this kit in a hobby store in OKC i believe. i made my mom buy it for me and built it one cold Oklahoma winter. it didn't fly that well but that wasn't the point. when i saw this i had to watch because it was like being a kid again. thank you!!
Beautiful build of a classic bird (no pun intended!) Congrats on all of the design work and mods. Everything seems to be working well! It takes a brave man to cut the nose off after sanding and shaping! That area of the fuselage is highly stressed, so if you don't do it right, a hard landing could have you rebuilding the entire fuselage! Also takes a brave man to go back and rebuild the vertical stabilizer so that the ribs are more aesthetically pleasing, but then aesthetics is a major feature of the BOT. Well done!
I built one about 30 years ago. It was the hardest to build kit I ever built. It had plans and instructions with very limited pictures. I would get so frustrated I would put it away for weeks. Finished about two years later. Best flying airplane I ever had….still have today and will never sell it.
Very much enjoyed watching this video … Wonderful skills, nice modern-take on what is a timeless classic of a bird!.. Nice tribute to your dad too. All you need to do now is to find a nice slope to fly off, away from this flat metropolis. 👍🏻
A glider with a sophisticated wing shape. Your crafting is also excellent. It is beautiful to watch it glide silently and almost horizontally. I applaud you from Japan.
Great build! I really like the "flying stabilizer. I've always been a fan of stick built open frame with translucent coverings. The color combo looks sharp. I wasn't sure I would like the open pore finish on the fuselage etc, but it quickly grows on ya.
A beautiful project. I've wanted to build an old Sr. Playboy free-flight (converted to electric/RC) in honor of my dad (I crunched his while exploring the attic when I was a kid). I bought a Ben Buckle 80" design and scaled it up to 100". Maybe this Winter :-)
I'm just getting around to building an original Dynaflite Bird of Time kit that I 've had for 40 years! The time has come! It's the best glider kit ever made!
Great Thermal glider, But a real pig to get back from downwind, I had one for about 8 years until I lost it trying to come home from downwind, wouldnt penetrate and ended up stalling it half a field away and it crashed into a tree.. If I were to build one again, 2 things id change would be a more modern airfoil that has better LD for stretching the glide home, and build a conventional stab as opposed to the all moving tailplane, all moving is a disaster in the sense that the plane pitch hunts all the time in thermals, a fixed stab would stop it wanting to either dive or climb without stabilising itself..
congratulations. on the Bird of time build. have the same Glider myself. One of the wings is heavier than the other, Glider builder and scatch builder for over 35 years.
Hi Derrick. Thanks for the comments. Are you saying that one of the wings on my BOT are heavier - this is true (10 grams in fact). Still need to add some weight to the opposite side. Interested to know how you noticed. Cheers. Stephen
10 gram/ maybe add some short screws under the covering cut a cross pattern, the wing tip may have washed out too, ones up ones down,' both up is better, Both wingtips up, gives you better turns no wing tip stall when landing /tight turns by the rudder, ie landing by you close, ie my witch is a long shaft starter motor with aluminum drum reel, the line come off the drum. to a H pattern bar with roller & micro switches and a manual tension bar When the glider pulls, lets the line out when the glider is up high. iam in Australia
Excellent video! Shorter noses let an aircraft become more maneuverable. WW2 fights like the Zero short nose, very maneuverable. Ailerons on a thermal glider is an extra. The idea is to keep the wings flat to take advantage of maximum surface area for thermals. I have built 100” gliders like the Oly 99. Extra weight in the nose with lead is ok. When thermaling the nose will dip a bit at the aircraft rises. Consider making a solid tail instead of lengthening the nose. Just my experience. Beautiful airplane! Great work.
Built one ftom the Dave Thornberg kit in 1980 or 81. Silkspan and dope on the fuse. Trans monocote on all else. Made a builtup rudder rather than solid. Came out at 38 oz. Flew fantastic.
Technically, that's not a "scratch build" as you ordered a kit. However, that out of the way, The Bird of Time is one of my favorite planes out there. such beautiful lines, and that unique wing is pretty sexy for sure. Great job on the ailerons too! Almost seems to me lightening up the tail section so much kinda bit ya by having to extend the nose. You ended up putting the weight back on in front, however, SO glad you changed the direction of the ribs in the tail! That looks MUCH better! Gorgeous plane, and it seemed like it just didn't want to land! There's not many better feelings than assembling your own plane for sure, in today's world of ARF's and BNF , and foam stuff, so nice to see some good old balsa building skills still being practiced. Keep up the great work!
Says ''scratch build'' and pulls out a laser cut kit a minute later :D Other than feeling a little click baited, the video was beautiful. Good job on the build and thanks a lot for sharing.
@@stephenhughcrisp it's all good, never thought you meant any harm. Your video was a great watch and your build looks awesome. Hope it's still giving you fun flying hours!
great build most creative , assembling a bird of time ,,,built up wings , fiberglass glider fuse , adding electric motor and such ,,,has spoilers , very funky set up rudder servo , within the fuse very small area to work ,,,,,strange way of ataching servo too ,,,,,,
Hi Stephen. Congratulations for your video. I live in Chile on the other side of the world. I am working in the same construction project, Bird of Time KIT from Dynaflite. I have doubt about of diameter of shaft in the full fliying stab of de Dynaflite kit. I saw your solution in the video and I think is better taht the original. I need to know what diameter you use for these shaft made in carbon fiber rod or tube Thank you in advance for your comments
Thanks RdB. Main wings get 2 small countersunk screws into the plywood joining spar - seems to do the job perfectly. First used sticky tape but did not work too well. Elevators also has the same small screw into the tip of the carbon spar, but generally the friction fit is good enough. I can send pictures if you like.
Magic model, congratulations, I only have one question, why did you go with down going spoileron rather than up which would have been my only difference, I absolutely love your build detail and finish, superb, I repainted a pike in Matt Black with a butterfly inspired colour scheme behind it, has a similar feel to your bot, thanks for taking the time to document it so well
Thanks for your kind words Alexis. A couple of reasons why down and not up. Down means a zero gap on the bottom surface of the wing. I think it’s more important not to disturb the air flow on the bottom surface. Secondly, down generates more lift, hence a more gentle decent at slow speeds. Lastly I followed most of the settings on my Snipe II DLG, and I assumed Vladimir Models know best.
@@stephenhughcrisp not a bad thought process, I do agree on keeping the underside clean the snipe would be a very different proposition to the BoT, drooping the tips only rather than the whole trailing edge as is on the Snipe us creating wash in which potentially promotes tip stall at slow speeds, the opposite of what your looking for if it's a lift spoiler you are planning, if they go up then they washout, produce less lift, more drag and won't promote tip stalling, also like just like crow braking on my pike the now dramatic differences in the neutral angle of attack is adding to the brake effect, I'll keep watching and enjoying your builds you do build a lovely model, Im also a second generation modeller of over 50years and my also late father was at it for the Majority of his 80years alive, keep the nice video's, I'm only just starting out in the video world myself
@@alexisscott9573 Yes a completely different plane to the Snipe, but I used the same logic. I guess the proof of the pudding will be in the eating. Let’s see how they operate when I can test them with some altitude - still all guess-work at the moment. I am also quite new to making the videos - a lot of work and very time consuming, but very gratifying when you get positive feedback, and you know you may have helped someone. Thanks for the feedback.
Hi Michael. You ask a very deep question. I personally do not like the very extreme dihedral on gliders with only rudder and elevator. In addition, I like to have the ailerons as air brakes or flapperons because the Bird of time as you know, is such a good floater that it’s very difficult to control the landing. So, to answer your question - yes, I would definitely build the ailerons if I were to do it again.
Hi Dmitry. I think because it’s a small area, and I need to turn too sharply. Looking forward to flying in a bigger area with more altitude, then we will see.
Beautiful. Good decision on making the rudder out of sticks. It really complements the aesthetic more than a solid piece. I've also tried adding ailerons to big gliders not designed for them and have found their performance underwhelming. It's been close to 2 months now.. where is the winch launch video?
Fair comment regarding the winch. Was waiting for some parts which have now arrived. Just finished another plane, so will start with the winch shortly. Regarding the ailerons, I will test them properly when I have some decent altitude. Hoping the air brakes will be effective, as I have heard it’s difficult to land the BOT - that was the main reason for the ailerons. Keep you posted…..
@@stephenhughcrisp Thank you. Mine will be for pure slope soaring, so I won't be quite so worried about weight, but will still try and keep it to reasonable limits.
Hi Richard. Will start to build the winch shortly. I will make a video of the winch build and the first launch. I will place the tow-hook according to the plans. Thanks for your comments.
Hi RM. Unfortunately not many people like to scratch build. Too many ARF’s and complete foamies on the market for instant gratification, however a good idea. I will look at setting up something next year when I move back home.
@@rmm9676 I am so grateful to my dad who taught me to work with my hands and build things. Myself and my siblings have never ever been bored due to this skill.
