Vertical3-D

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A few years ago I started wanting to find an old Hirtenberger HP 21VT engine, but what to put it on and where to get a good deal on one. I finally bought a pair of them on eBay. One like new, one near new. My dad bought one and I got the other. I always though one would be neat on a Lazy Bee. I was able to locate tiled plans for a 40" original Lazy Bee and once I put the plans together I realized the little Hirtenberger didn't quite fit on the nose so well. so I had the plans enlarged to 130% which comes out to about a 52" wingspan. I have some building experience and built the structure based on my own knowledge to simplify it while keeping light and strong. The front two bulkheads are 1/8th" ply while the other three are 1/16th" ply, 1/16th" Balsa laminations. The Tail surfaces are close to the Originals but were increased to 1/4" thick instead of 1/8th". The wing is once again similar, however I used ply dihedral braces rather than lap joints. For radio gear I chose winking metal gear, ball bearing micro servos from Tower Hobbies. A four channel Spektrum rx, and a 4.8v 1600mah hydrimax pack to drive it. Of course what would a Lazy Bee be without trexler balloon tires. I went with a fixed skid in the back. I also chose to leave it a 3 channel plane instead of adding ailerons. I feel like it's a nostalgic old plane and should be left basic even though the plans show optional ailerons. Read on to see more pictures and descriptions of the build. We just got over 2 feet of snow here so not sure when I will get to maiden the plane. ended up at 2lb 15oz. weight w/o fuel. Should be a floater!

Vertical3-D

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The start of the massive wing.

Vertical3-D

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Starting to look like a Bee. Covering is all monokote.

Vertical3-D

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And the finished product!...Now, I know before anyone states it, that the HP 21VT is certainly not a powerhouse. But it does swing a 10x4 prop pretty well which should be plenty to carry the gentle giant aloft on those calm days. My intentions were to showcase this unique engine on an equally unique and nostalgic airplane. I can't wait to get it in the air.

porcia83

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Looks great, love this plane. My friend has one that he did with a wingspan of 8 feet!

Vertical3-D

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Thanks, and Holy cow, 8 foot must be a huge bee, I have seen some other big ones. I think one was 14foot! If you have pics of that or if anyone else has bee pictures post em up. I'd love to see em.

CNXRC

I know that this thread is old but as I am about to build a Lazy Bee it is of interest to me. This build looks great but how do you make all those holes in the wing ribs? I always make a mess of that.
Also what is a "Tiled" plan out of interest. I have down loaded the plans I am using but should they be "tiled"?
Thanks for any help on these two questions.
Cheers, Ron

Vertical3-D

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tiled just refers to printing them out on normal sized paper and taping the tiles together to print large plans at home. All the holes were cut with a sharpened thin piece of pipe that I pushed on the balsa gently while turning. Works great for hole in balsa sheeting. The plane is still being flown though I now run an OS .25fx on it. It also had a G-Mark .30 twin on it for a short time. The .25 will pull vertical so you can do some 3channel 3D flying which is a blast. Dragging the rudder on the ground or hovering while standing close by is always fun

CNXRC

Many thanks for this info Vertical3-D. Its great to hear that your LB is still flying and giving you RC pleasure. I hope that mine will do the same. Cheers and happy flying

eveningonly

Great engineering, is it excellent in flight performance?