New Bidule 170

[MarnochS]

Hi Kris,

Great looking Bidule,

Did you happen to check the balance with the fuel tanks full/empty? With a full load of fuel (3 liters ) that's about 4.7 lbs of (variable) nose weight. From the pictures it look like the tanks are centered over the main wheels.

Scott

[Kris]

Scott ,

Balance was set directly over the wing tube with the tanks empty. Maiden flight was good and flies a little nose heavy with only one tank full of fuel. The plane flies exactly like Len B. described. Looking forward to towing with it.

[Stevenson]

massive plane build dude. Thumbs up.

[Stew]

Kris,

Where did you source your spinner from?

​Scot

[Kris]

Scot,

The spinner is a Pilot RC carbon fiber, from Chief Aircraft, Deland, Florida.

[KRISVANJR]

I hope someone gets pictures of this one working...

[kd4jaz]

I bought this from Kris, few minor sqawks but the maiden went well......started towing the same day. The taildragger mod is AWESOME. Less weight and mechanical issues to worry about.
Maiden flight was 7/30/16. Lands slower than my 33% Pawnee!

[lenb]

Hi Marc.
Happy to hear there is another Bidule pilot in the ranks!
Congrats on the purchase, Kris did a nice job on the mods. Looking forward to seeing it at an aerotow!!

Len

[Steve P]

Marc,

Congratulations!

Would you please post some walk around photos of the modified plane? The tail wheel, the stance of the mains, a couple shots from the grass tops of how the plane sits. The photos above don't fully convey the changes.

Thanks!

Steve

[kd4jaz]

I can post photos but it will be a while, I'm on call the next 2 weekends. I'll be glad to take several views. Next is to install the 100 oz tank that is moveable to attach the wing bolts.

[Mosquito]

Interesting. Another glider pilot and I were talking at an aerotow event this summer and he commented, "I wonder what would happen if you made a Bidule into a tail dragger?" Who knew that it had been done a few years back! Looks very nice.

Tim

[kd4jaz]

The tail dragger conversion was done in January of 2016 by Kris V. Very tame and is a "stump puller" with the DA 170 on tuned pipes! running a Mejzlik 28.5x12S 3 blade static RPM is 6040.
Pictures soon to follow. Now I just need to figure out where to mount the rear facing camera.

[kd4jaz]

Steve,
Is this what you were looking for? I also replaced the 2-50 oz tanks with a single a 100 oz main tank with a 12 oz header. Moved the main tank back to the CG over the wing tube. Sorry, I forgot to take pictures of the tail wheel. No trim changes were needed for the new tank location and header tank installation.