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HiBoy or not


gary davies-jones
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I did not glass the center section never had a problem wings were mega strong, mascot was a bit of a pig to build bit flew really well the hiboy was popular as it went together quickly, and was prob the start of the leaning towards artf models as kids could whack it together quickly my tutor did not like it but i did, thats all that mattered
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  • 1 month later...

Hi all!

Just got back from a Hi-Boy maiden and have an issue that I would appreciate some feedback on,

The main problem is the ground handling. My HB was bought off E-Bay (I know, I know) but looks well built. It has a fixed nose wheel and without power it tracks reasonably straight (after I turned the nose leg a bit).

When taxying under power I cannot get it to turn away from the side with the engine silencer. It will turn towards the silencer side fine. When throttling up to take off it wants to turn towards the silencer side requiring a boot full of left rudder. When she builds up speed and gets 'lighter' on the wheels the left rudder becomes dominant. So basically she snakes badly on take off. Is this normal 'torque' steering?

All my other trikes have had a steerable nose wheel so I suppose I have been a bit spoilt in the past.

Landing was a bit fast and resulted in a couple of small bounces but she is fine.

Should make a good trainer for my mate but am concerned about the take off. Any thoughts?

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Had another flight tonight. Had given the main wheels a fair degree of toe-in but still she wants to pull to the right when accelerating for take off.

I would have thought she should pull to the left if anything. Is this a sign of too much side thrust? she flys well enough in the air.

I'm at a bit of a loss as what to do next. Any ideas? maybe a gyro???

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Is it a single piano wire? Try a double....? Or steerable.

I've got a Hi Boy, it does fly like a brick (likes a bit of a breeze), but its still going string after all these years! Might try an Irvine 53 in it .....

For me the original Ripmax Trainer was the best, all built up. And btw rather than build two wings - just disconnect the aileron servos for training on rudder only!

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Haven't flown a Hi Boy for many/several years now, I've never owned one having only instructed others on them. Personally I never liked them, having all the attributes of a flying breeze block, I certainly wouldn't recommend one nowadays as there are far better trainers available. The HB is certainly robust but I suspect this robustness/weight is the very cause of it's flight problems the main one for a novice pilot is it's inability to slow up on landing.

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Well this pull to the right does not seem like a typical HB trait. There is even a slight bias to the left on the undercart. So I'm thinking too much right thrust (visually though it looks ok). Trouble is that the previous owner used bolts and blind nuts on the engine bearers, so reducing side thrust will not be easy.

Umm, re-sell on ebay or use a gyro? I've got one somewhere, so it should be worth a try.

BTW I've noticed Hobbyking do a Wottie look-a-like for not a lot of money.

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