Old Sailplane ID

[bgmann12]

My highschool aerospace teacher is retiring and since I showed interest in his planes that were sitting around the classroom this past school year, he decided to ask me if I wanted a couple since he was cleaning out his classroom. He gave me two large sailplanes, one that is a paragon, and the other one I'm not quite sure what it is, I'm new to RC (only flown a tiny trainer prior to this) so any tips are welcome when it comes to these planes. The red and blue plane is the paragon and the solid red plane is the one in question. Thanks!

 

[hackofalltrades]

Looks like a Gentle Lady. I have one, excellent plane.

 

[bgmann12]

I don't think it is a gentle lady looking at the internal wing structure, thanks for the quick response. The only reason I need to ID it is because the steel rod that joins the wing doesn't fit so I think he gave me the wrong one. The metal tube had around a .22 in internal diameter.

 

[aeroncalover]

The wings look like an Aquilla, but the fuselage and tail are different. It may be some kind of mash up scratchbuild

 

[bgmann12]

I contacted him and he says it's called the Big Birdy. Anyone heard of it before?

 

[aeroncalover]

I've never heard of it, and a google search only yielded 1 picture of one. Must not have been very popular back when it came out.

 

[FAI-F1D]

Uhm...yeah, I'm seeing a Mirage and possibly an Oly 650. If indeed that's a Mirage, it'll be proven by the wing being about 15% thick. And if so, don't ever get rid of it. It's an amazing airplane in every imaginable way.

The smaller one, if indeed it's an Oly, will also bring a smile to your face. Keep the speed up a hair and it'll give a very flat glide (they mush a bit if you go too slow).

 

[hackofalltrades]

That red and yellow unit is quite pretty, to my eye.