BanditJacksRC
New member
Nice dude, good luck!
Those decals look pretty sweet. I love what everyone has done with this design
BJ-J3 Cub - NOT a Failure Story - Plans and Build Instructions
- Thread starter BanditJacksRC
- Start date
Nice dude, good luck!
Those decals look pretty sweet. I love what everyone has done with this design
gabrielete
New member
I've been flying your plane for a whole month almost everyday. I'ts an amazing plane. It's still my all time favourite plane.
1. It's flexible. You can fly it slow and gentle or fast and violent.
2. It handles the wind wonderfully.
3. It's inmortal. It doesn't matter how hard you crash with some glue you have it flying again.
Funny how people reacts to your plane. I have mine painted in a toyish style, it really looks very childish so nobody takes it seriously... until they see it flying... then the attitude changes fast to "i want one these". Right now 3 guys are building it in my flying buddy group.
1. It's flexible. You can fly it slow and gentle or fast and violent.
2. It handles the wind wonderfully.
3. It's inmortal. It doesn't matter how hard you crash with some glue you have it flying again.
Funny how people reacts to your plane. I have mine painted in a toyish style, it really looks very childish so nobody takes it seriously... until they see it flying... then the attitude changes fast to "i want one these". Right now 3 guys are building it in my flying buddy group.
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chetw77cruiser
New member
Just so everyone knows, I have been flying this plane on and off for over a month. This has been one of my favorite air frames, including the spitfire, mustang, and the Storch. I feel that the BJ-J3 is even more aerobatic than the spit or mustang. I have been pushing it to the limit and it just keeps on going. Today, I won the battle. I love the look of the wing folding pulling up from a very high speed dive and then go back to normal when leveled out. I had the wing fold to what I would qualify as being greater than a 60° angle from flat. Hard snap rolls will also induce "The Fold", just not at such a great angle. I will make another wing that does not have dihedral and will use an arrow as a spar so I can avoid "The Fold".
Otherwise, this plane is great and works good for irritating the western kingbirds that are around the area.
Otherwise, this plane is great and works good for irritating the western kingbirds that are around the area.
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BanditJacksRC
New member
Oh man that is amazing. The vid you posted was great! I haven't flown this design in a few months. The 2 i have in the garage are pretty beat up now, but you have officially inspired me to build another (which will probably be my 6th or 7th) haha.
I couldn't be happier that you guys enjoying the plane
BanditJacksRC
New member
Yeah this plane does handle well when banging around the sticks. I have yet to fold a wing with it (without crashing!) but also I never put anything bigger than the the 28-26 NTM.
I guess i need to push it harder!!
Baconator, could you share those graphics with me, I'd like to give them a shot on a spitfire.
Tater76
Senior Member
Sorry to bring up an old thread, but I built this Cub about 3 weeks ago and have some questions. First, has anyone tried flaps on it? I thought about splitting the aileron in half, and using the inner half as flaps. Would this leave not enough aileron for adequate control? I just built a second one because my first has been flown every evening for 3 weeks! no kidding! I love it, but it's taking a beating lol. My second version received a wooden spar in the wing, and I decided to try no dihedral. My first wing was nearly folded in some steep maneuvers, hence the added spar. I also reinforced the elevator, added hot glue hinges, and am working on articulating suspension for the landing gear with tundra tires. I may also add clear plastic windows on the cockpit (haven't decided yet.
Anyway, I just wanted to get some educated input before I button up yet another plane lol.
Anyway, I just wanted to get some educated input before I button up yet another plane lol.
FPVology
Member
I have not built this guy with flaps yet, but can't say I haven't thought about it! Its slow speed would be unremarkable and I am surprised I never tried it. I dont know how much of the aileron I would take, but if it were me would prob take an inch or so off the aileron and just use more of the inside of trailing edge for the rest of the flap.
I will be building another one soon and might give it a try. Im not sure my receiver can handle 6 servos on 5 channels. Im thinking there might be a lack of voltage, but have never tried it. Any thoughts?
EDIT: This is BanditJacks. I'm on a newer account and don't use this BJRC much anymore :/ sorry!
FPVology
Member
Thanks for the reply! I have decided to take this current Cub build to experiment with the flaps, and some other goodieshere are some sneek peek pics to get things rolling.....
View attachment 53121 View attachment 53122
Wow that looks awesome so far
Tater76
Senior Member
Ok, so I admit it...... I am in love with Piper Cubs, always have been. When I found this thread and plans I was beyond excited. I quickly went to work building my very first rc cub, and promptly maidened it. After a months worth of flying fun, the original was getting difficult to keep trimmed, and flying well. Then on a hammerhead attempt, the wings nearly folded. It was then I knew that this airframe had just about had it lol.
I knew I wanted to build another one, but this time..... do it justice. So here are some pics of the progress so far. Still have yet to maiden her, just waiting on graphics, then I will coat the whole plane in clear packing tape. The landing gear will be articulating, and i will try to keep a pictorial diary of how I did it, so others can recreate it. There are a few shots of it in it's infancy. My only concern is weight, due to the added structure, paint, tape, landing gear, etc. However, I know this plane can lift a 2200 3s, and a cell phone at the same time lol, so we shall see.
I knew I wanted to build another one, but this time..... do it justice. So here are some pics of the progress so far. Still have yet to maiden her, just waiting on graphics, then I will coat the whole plane in clear packing tape. The landing gear will be articulating, and i will try to keep a pictorial diary of how I did it, so others can recreate it. There are a few shots of it in it's infancy. My only concern is weight, due to the added structure, paint, tape, landing gear, etc. However, I know this plane can lift a 2200 3s, and a cell phone at the same time lol, so we shall see.
Tater76
Senior Member
Thanks! I actually accidentally added some pics of the old first Cub landing gear, but the articulating set is in the last few pics. I have most of it cut out, welded, and ready for assembly, and pics will follow. As for AUW , I am not quite sure yet. I have to finish the gear, and then weigh everything. However, now I have a set of plans to build it some floats too! I am a little worried about that added weight though lol.
Strix
Member
I built this one recently, with some minor changes. Seems appropriate to raise this thread from the dead for a well-deserved bump.
I changed the fuselage because at three inches it seemed too wide; I'm guessing that it was widened to add clearance in the tail so that a standard FT power pod could be used. I reduced the fuselage width to the two inches used on most FT designs and created a much shorter custom power pod.
Other than the reduced fuselage width (and Super Cub tail outline), it's basically true to BanditJack's original plans. Oh, I also moved the servos to the inside of the fuselage and placed them forward to help with balance (turns out this probably isn't necessary).
The motor is a 36 gram 1100kv outrunner driving a 9x4.7 SF prop. Current draw is about 10 amps max from a three cell battery, yielding a little over 100 watts. AUW with a 2200 3S battery is just over 20 oz (570 grams).
It was flown for the first time this afternoon at a club fun fly event, by myself and four other pilots. All agreed that it flew great. It tracks nicely, is very responsive and agile, slows down well, and lands beautifully. On takeoffs it really likes to turn left when you apply throttle. You have to be ready with that rudder. Other than that, it is a very well-behaved model.
This spring, the plan is to help a bunch of clubmates build these. Everyone who flew it today wants to build one. There was one guy who flies mostly 3D planes, and he was on the fence until banging the sticks around. He said Cubs are usually boring, but that this one was a lot of fun! And we should get another 5 or 6 members interested at the next meeting. I won't be surprised if we end up building a dozen of these!
Great job, BanditJack, FPVology, or whatever you are going by now. You've given the community a real winner!
I changed the fuselage because at three inches it seemed too wide; I'm guessing that it was widened to add clearance in the tail so that a standard FT power pod could be used. I reduced the fuselage width to the two inches used on most FT designs and created a much shorter custom power pod.
Other than the reduced fuselage width (and Super Cub tail outline), it's basically true to BanditJack's original plans. Oh, I also moved the servos to the inside of the fuselage and placed them forward to help with balance (turns out this probably isn't necessary).
The motor is a 36 gram 1100kv outrunner driving a 9x4.7 SF prop. Current draw is about 10 amps max from a three cell battery, yielding a little over 100 watts. AUW with a 2200 3S battery is just over 20 oz (570 grams).
It was flown for the first time this afternoon at a club fun fly event, by myself and four other pilots. All agreed that it flew great. It tracks nicely, is very responsive and agile, slows down well, and lands beautifully. On takeoffs it really likes to turn left when you apply throttle. You have to be ready with that rudder. Other than that, it is a very well-behaved model.
This spring, the plan is to help a bunch of clubmates build these. Everyone who flew it today wants to build one. There was one guy who flies mostly 3D planes, and he was on the fence until banging the sticks around. He said Cubs are usually boring, but that this one was a lot of fun! And we should get another 5 or 6 members interested at the next meeting. I won't be surprised if we end up building a dozen of these!
Great job, BanditJack, FPVology, or whatever you are going by now. You've given the community a real winner!
FPVology
Member
That is amazing man, thanks!
If i remember correctly, I did the 3 inch wide fuse to scale down more accurately to the the full scale.
SUPER glad to hear this model is still being built. I haven't had the chance to go flying in months but still peek in the forums from time to time.
I'm thinking its about time to get some stick time in.
If i remember correctly, I did the 3 inch wide fuse to scale down more accurately to the the full scale.
SUPER glad to hear this model is still being built. I haven't had the chance to go flying in months but still peek in the forums from time to time.
I'm thinking its about time to get some stick time in.
Strix
Member
Yes, it's a very easy build! And I'm extremely proud of the landing gear I've come up with for this model. I've been meaning to make detailed instructions for it, and since you asked...
It's made of 4 pieces of 1mm music wire, which is very easy to work with. A single piece isn't nearly strong enough on its own, but the way they are interconnected makes the landing gear assembly quite robust.
The axles are bent thusly (don't forget that the dimensions are for a two inch wide fuselage. Add an inch to the top sections of the leading and trailing axles for a 3" wide fuse):
The end section of each piece of wire goes through the wheel's axle hole. So the wheel actually rides on a 'composite axle' of sorts, made up of the end section of each wire, all tied together with a 3/32" wheel collar:
To assemble, attach the cross axles to the leading axle. Use a small amount of clear tape at the axle end, and at the other end, bind the cross axle to the top section of the leading axle with some thread and CA.
Then glue this assembly to the leading edge of the fuselage's bottom plate. It should be perpendicular to the fuselage bottom. A popsicle stick or wooden coffee stirrer should be used to reinforce this attachment point.
The top center section of the landing gear extends past the edges of the fuselage, so you'll need to cut some small notches in the fuselage sides for clearance. Fill the notched areas with hot glue to help secure the gear. This will also ensure that some of the load from the landing gear is transferred to the fuselage sides, and not borne completely by the glue holding the axle to the leading edge of the fuselage bottom plate.
Then attach the trailing axle to the ends of the leading axle with a small amount of tape. The axle wire will rotate pretty easily around the taped ends, and should contact the fuselage bottom plate approx. 1.75" behind the leading edge.
Because of variances and slop in the gear assembly, it is best to not cut the slot for the trailing axle until the leading axle has been attached. Line it up so that the wheels will track straight. The axles need to have a slight amount of toe-out in the wheel alignment. Toe-in will likely cause ground handling problems. (Use The Google if you don't know what toe-in and toe-out means.)
Once you have lined everything up, take a pencil and mark the location (and angle) of the trailing axle. Cut two 50% score cuts 1mm apart 1/16" forward from this line, along with the necessary notches in the fuselage sides. Then remove the foam between the score cuts and glue the axle in place. Make sure to fill both the slot and the notches with glue. It certainly wouldn't hurt to reinforce the opposite side with a popsicle stick or wooden coffee stirrer.
Then attach the landing gear covers, which are made out of posterboard. The covers should overhang the axle assemblies just enough for them to be glued in place, and they should be flush at the fuselage end. They should completely cover the ugly notches that were cut in the fuselage sides.
Here's a view from the bottom:
Lastly, put the wheels on and attach the wheel collars.
You can see a small amount of accordioned heat shrink tubing on the axles there. This was my original method of binding the axle ends together, but the 3/32" wheel collars wouldn't fit over all three axles with heatshrink over them. The collars fit just fine over a couple of layers of scotch tape. 1/8" wheel collars would probably fit over heatshrink with no problem.
I hope that's plenty clear enough. Sorry for the less than stellar PNGs from my CAD program.
I'll be publishing full PDF instructions later, since I'll need them to help my clubmates build their BJ-J3s.
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jpot1
Elite member
Strix - thanks for all the details!
Well I decided to build this with my daughter. Just picked out some pink spray paint so this should be interesting but it means she'll come fly with me. Since she is a new flyer this is going to take a beating so I doubled up the nose.
I was also concerned about the strength in the tail so I added BBQ skewers.
Going to put the servos in the fuse next.
Well I decided to build this with my daughter. Just picked out some pink spray paint so this should be interesting but it means she'll come fly with me. Since she is a new flyer this is going to take a beating so I doubled up the nose.
I was also concerned about the strength in the tail so I added BBQ skewers.
Going to put the servos in the fuse next.
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