Lazy Bee 2020

The Hangar

Fly harder!
Mentor
More laminating...
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Gluing together a pair of spars to form the leading edge - aligned so they curve into each other and should be pretty straight when dried this way.
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Laminations dried up, time to start laying out the wing
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Sanding the laminations flat - spray adhesive holding a full sheet of sandpaper to a smooth board works great for that.
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Figuring out the angle of the cuts to trim the wing tips with the 2" of dihedral per the plans.
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Everything trimmed to length and angles matching up nicely
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Now gluing the dihedral braces to the leading and trailing edges (yes, it is a lot taller than the trailing edge especially - that might be a lot of sanding coming up....
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Put the wing tips off to the side and time to start the wing ribs and gussets. Note the gussets are not flat to the building board, but lifted up to the middle of the ribs - that's so the bottom spar that goes across the ribs can still be fit into place later. I almost missed this in the build notes...

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Watching these awesome balsa builds is always fascinating! I can’t wait to build my own!
 

TooJung2Die

Master member
I've seen a lot of Lazy Bees but this is the first one I've seen being built. It doesn't use common construction methods and I like that. Those rib gussets are looong. Do you think it's because the ribs are thin and would bend too easily without side support?
 
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rockyboy

Skill Collector
Mentor
@rockyboy - what is the purpose of the springing section of the angle braces?

When I flip them around the other way, they can clamp balsa up to 1/8" thick down flat to the table. Gotta love a tool with more than one use :)

I've seen a lot of Lazy Bees but this is the first one I've seen being built. It's doesn't use common construction methods and I like that. Those rib gussets are looong. Do you think it's because the ribs are thin and would bend too easily without side support?

Yeah, I'm having to slow down and think differently on this one which is great - learning new techniques! :) It is strange that I've seen a lot of built Lazy Bees in other threads too, but no details on how they went together. And I agree, pretty sure those super long gussets at the back are due to the thinness of the ribs and the really thin and widely spaced spars too. This wing doesn't use a lot of balsa for the square inches it covers.
 

The Hangar

Fly harder!
Mentor
So when are you starting a balsa build? Anything holding you back we can help with?
Mainly I'm lacking the time and partly motivation. I was given a gentle lady kit, but when I pulled everything out a couple months ago I was having trouble figuring out what all the parts I needed for the wing were. All it'll take is getting it out and organizing/labeling the pieces, but I haven't gotten around to doing that yet. I should be able to work on it over Thanksgiving/Christmas break, and possibly this weekend.
 

rockyboy

Skill Collector
Mentor
Mainly I'm lacking the time and partly motivation. I was given a gentle lady kit, but when I pulled everything out a couple months ago I was having trouble figuring out what all the parts I needed for the wing were. All it'll take is getting it out and organizing/labeling the pieces, but I haven't gotten around to doing that yet. I should be able to work on it over Thanksgiving/Christmas break, and possibly this weekend.

Awesome! Start a build thread here and post questions when it's confusing you - lots of us here happy to help decipher plans and parts! :) And if you did start a build thread already, drop a link to it here so we can make sure to follow it.

Honestly our glow and gas planes don't have a smell to them unless we don't fully seat the cap on our gas can... or maybe I'm just really used to the smell. Hmmm

I get an earful about the smell every time I have to refill the lawnmower's can. Doesn't bother me at all - in fact I sort of like it, but that's from a childhood filled with chainsaws and motorcycles. :)
 

OliverW

Legendary member
Awesome! Start a build thread here and post questions when it's confusing you - lots of us here happy to help decipher plans and parts! :) And if you did start a build thread already, drop a link to it here so we can make sure to follow it.



I get an earful about the smell every time I have to refill the lawnmower's can. Doesn't bother me at all - in fact I sort of like it, but that's from a childhood filled with chainsaws and motorcycles. :)
Gotcha!
 

speedbirdted

Legendary member
Mainly I'm lacking the time and partly motivation. I was given a gentle lady kit, but when I pulled everything out a couple months ago I was having trouble figuring out what all the parts I needed for the wing were. All it'll take is getting it out and organizing/labeling the pieces, but I haven't gotten around to doing that yet. I should be able to work on it over Thanksgiving/Christmas break, and possibly this weekend.
I love mine. Super smooth build. I actually want to try scratch building another one with the goal of getting it lighter. I saw a plan somewhere which had all the rib templates...
 

The Hangar

Fly harder!
Mentor
A friend of mine has a Gentle Lady, and they let me fly it. I highly recommend you get around to building it eventually. That plane has a presence in the air that's just nice, and it flies beautifully.
Yeah - everything I've heard so far is that they fly really nice! Do you know what motor your friend was using in it? Right now my plan is to use a B pack motor in it...
 

rockyboy

Skill Collector
Mentor
Let's build a wing! Needs more ribs...
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Top spars added to the center section, and the outermost rib added while the wingtip is sitting flat and before it's glued to the dihedral braces.
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Gluing the wingtip to the dihedral braces and adding the outer spars - glued first to the wingtip and the outermost rib...
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And then those outer spar sections are cracked at the outermost rib so they will angle down and connect to the center spar sections.
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Repeat on the other side...
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And then add 1/16" caps on the outermost two ribs
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Almost ready to flip the wing over and do the bottom spars...
 

Vimana89

Legendary member
There's just something about the short coupled design and big wing chord/low aspect that I like about the "Bee" designs. I made a FB KFM motorized Bixler style pusher version on a radial F pack a while ago that's still going strong-was just calling it a "pusher bee", but recently came up with "Firefly" for my custom variant.

Whether you make a glider or a powered model, the design is a lot of fun and performs quite good-but you know that already(y)