Precedent Hi Boy

[Tom Flynn 1]

Your not on commission are you Nigel?
 

[kc]

Buy the 25 pound one and draw around the parts as Nigel suggested.    or even both and choose the best. A cheap engine and old servos are probably not worth paying extra for.    I reckon the ailerons. elevator & rudder  etc might just have had some different colour trim which was peeled off when it came loose.   Note the   ' deliver for petrol money ' offer.  

[Robin Colbourne]

A couple more HiBoys, this time in Hartlepool.  The prices are in dreamland territory though.  Whether the seller could be brought to his senses is anybody's guess:  2x Precedent HiBoys in Hartlepool

[Tom Flynn 1]

Now that’s what I call well used. I’ve thrown away planes in better condition than that.

obviously not a flyer, or containing any idea what so ever about the hobby.

There you go, they walk amongst us.

[Caveman]

There's a Hi Boy here (20+) Marketplace – Rc Planes | Facebook plus another two planes.

 

GDB

[Tom Flynn 1]

That guy is in Wells selling loads of bits on Marketplace. But…….

Another one I contacted as he is selling an old sunbeam amongst that lot, and I wanted more pictures before I drove to Wells.

Again no response what’s so ever. I’m sure they just put them on line and hope they sell themselves.

My winter project has been sorted ( well that lot don’t want to sell) I have found an old DB Sports Mascot.

I have acquired a drawing, and started stripping it down. But again the drawing and the plane are slightly different, so 

here we go again.

Pity that wood is so dear these days.

 

[Robert Cracknell]

Robin

What makes me chuckle is that he has no idea what they are but they are 'fixable'

[Tom Flynn 1]

Have a look at this Hi Boy on eBay. An absolute bargain.

never mind where you can see that the fuselage has been smashed in half. The tail looks wrong as well.

htpps://www.eBay.co.uk/item/256337117822

 

Tom

[Nigel R]

Try this link

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/256337117822

 

It has "new batteries" 😄

[Cuban8]

A four channel Hiboy kit was my first 'proper' powered model aircraft back in the 80s. I'd previously flown large gliders on flat fields and aerobatics on the slope, and a few others with small power pods. I could fly competently but wheeled ROGs and landing techniques were a tad different with the Hi-Boy. Nevertheless I managed to fly the model on my own without assistance. Initially it had a knackered Merco 35 that dragged it around - just........... and then an old OS 40 which was much better but still a little marginal for what was quite a heavy model even by the standards of the day. Money was tight at the time so I had to manage engine wise, with what I could get for twenty quid or so second hand, having spent a King's ransome (or so it seemed) on some decent Futaba radio.

However, the wing design was good with a quite thick section and rounded leading edge. It wouldn't  bite you unless really provoked, the model was very good in blustery conditions and it taught you to land correctly and not drag it in on the prop as I see so many learners today doing with their feather light foamies. Many trainers traded ease of construction for good aerodynamics - e.g a completly flat underside and quite sharp leading edge, but the HB's nicely cut foam wing allowed a much better solution.

IIRC the model came as either a three or four channel build with the dihedral angle and addition of ailerons being the difference and probably a slightly larger rudder for the non-aileron wing - I don't recall now.

Dihedral on my  four channel wing would have been 1/2" either side i.e 1 inch in total. Probably only a cosmetic touch to stop the flat plank look. Don't recall the three channel dihedral, but we usually used to work on an inch per foot of wingspan (sometimes with an extra inch added for luck) which usually worked out about right most of the time. Not super critical with the HiBoy I'd say.

Good models that gave so many their first flying experience with a full house design - kept mine for ages although I'd moved on to more advanced types, and used it to do a bit of training for a while. Eventually sold it on when we moved house, so hopefully it went on for a good while after that. Great times.

[Tom Flynn 1]

Those of us that had one, agree with your comments. A heavy but manageable trainer, if a bit fast at times for a beginner.

I remember going out with my sons to fly my first one, although I could just about fly, I didn’t have too much idea

of flying. On this day no one turned up at the field to “ help” me. That was norm in the early days of our club. We had about 20 members at the most.

So up it went, where I managed a couple of circuits before loosing confidence and orientation, down it went, luckily 

still in our field. 
The boys hadn’t see me cry for ages, but I did that day. The building, the covering but mostly the cost. I know someone

Who would lose the plot when she saw the mess. 
I was lucky as when I’d calmed down, and examined it at home, the biggest damage was the nose wheel former had caved in.

Plus a few dents in the foam and torn pro film.

Anyway it was flying again the following week, this time on a buddy box.

I had 2 HB,s to learn on. But have had a few since. I still enjoy flying them, especially when you know what you are doing.

I built one before COVID and flew it quite happily until a novice fancied it, and I sold it to him.

Never seen the guy or the plane since COVID. 
Hence the intention of buying one of the items on eBay as a winter project.

 

 

[Cuban8]

They were very robust models being mainly of liteply construction but people did get a bit concerned about their flying weight - and I guess if the model was sent aloft in a condition of very poor trim or rearward CG then it would punish the unwary. Maybe other, more lightly loaded models would allow you to get away with it, but a HB if set up and tested by an experienced pilot, and the usual beginner builders errors ironed out, the result would be a very good trainer.

They could fly fast, but in my experience the model did respond to being trimmed for slower progress and the process of doing that is a valuable lesson for the beginner to master prior to moving on to more advanced designs. Lightweight foamy trainers do allow you to get away with murder, which is fine until you come across a model that doesn't and the relative newcomer is totally unprepared for it.

 

 

Edited December 16, 2023 by Cuban8

[David Davis]

Two good stories about Hi Boys.

 

1. Years ago I was walking down to the chippy one Friday evening when I noticed a fully built but uncovered Cambrian Models Spitfire in the window of a terraced house. I knew where most of the members of my club lived so I knocked on the door to ask the owner whether he'd like to join our club. "Oh no," he said, "I've lost interest. I want to sell the Spitfire and there's a Hi Boy too." We agreed a price and I sold the Spit to a club colleague. The Hi-Boy was complete and ready to fly with a Futaba radio and an OS40FP engine. There was some castor oil staining on the crankcase so I removed the engine and put it in the oven to soften the oil but I left it in too long and at too high a temperature and the entire engine came out a distinct shade of grey! Nonetheless it ran well. By that time I was quite an experienced pilot so didn't need a trainer and though I flew it, I didn't like it much so I decided to sell it.

 

I had lived in Devon for fourteen years and every October or November the Exeter Club used to hold a vast auction with up to four hundred lots. I decided to go and stay with friends for a weekend and put the model into the auction. When its number came up bidding was slow so I stood up and said, " It comes with a transmitter and a mains charger as well. Just charge it up and go flying!" Well that started something and bidding went through the roof. I've never been any good at buying and selling things but I made a lot of money on that deal! As bidding ceased and the auctioneer went onto the next lot, a former clubmate said, "They don't fly very well do they?"

 

2. One morning a man called John turned up at the flying field with not one but two Hi Boys both fitted with OS 40 FP engines. He also had two old Futaba transmitters which did not have buddy box facilities. I started and tuned one of the engines and the club's treasurer flew the model before handing the transmitter to John. Even throttled back these models fly too quickly for retired novices in my opinion. Within seconds John had lost control and the model crashed into the treasurer's car punching a hole into the rear wing with its spinner. The car was a Volvo estate. John went on to learn how to fly on a Radio Queen powered by an Enya 40 four-stroke and within a few years became the club's chairman!

[RottenRow]

Just in case any of you chaps are still thinking of buying a Hi Boy, I have one that I am selling.

 

The interesting thing about this one is that it has the wing with flaps, making it a 5 channel model. It could be built without the flaps if required I guess.

 

It has been partly built; the fuselage has been assembled but nothing else. The tailplane and elevators are present but not the fin or rudder. There is no piano wire undercarriage either. The wing pack is unopened and includes the hardware for the wing, such as linkages etc.

 

The self-adhesive labels are all there, though whether they are still sticky after years in storage might be questionable. I don't have any instructions for it but it isn't a complicated model.

 

Here are a couple of photos, please PM me if you want to see any more. The first picture shows everything included, the second is the wing pack (in shrink film).

 

 

 

I am looking for £80 for it, and ideally it will need to be collected, from either Devon or Bedfordshire, though I could probably drop it off somewhere between the two.

 

Brian.

[Rich Griff]

Had it been an untouched kit.....

 

And prefferably a mark one three channel ...

 

Please keep me in the loop....

 

Would you drop the price...and would consider sending it by courier......

 

 

[RottenRow]

Rich, if the model doesn’t raise any interest I might drop the price a bit, but it’s early days at the moment and, apart from this mention, it hasn’t been advertised yet.

 

As there is no box or packaging I would prefer a collection rather than sending it by courier, but again we’ll see what happens.

 

Thanks for asking though.
 

Brian.

[Rich Griff]

Cheers Brian.

Banana boxes or similar are great and freely available from your favourite supermarket, some giving you points for taking them !

 

Hope you get a good price.

[Stuart Quinn-Harvie 1]

I just picked up a kit fro one of these for a tenner, still in the box. The catch is someone has done a TERRIBLE job of starting it. The good news is that they didn't do much, and the glue they used appears to have slightly less sticking power than a post - it note. I will make a new servo tray and the two formers that go around it but other than that it's all pretty much ok. Wings are happily untampered with and it has instructions and decals /stickers and most of the parts including hardware. 

I am torn between converting it to electric or using an Enya 40ss  because that's what the one I had back in the day was fitted with. I remember it flying very well, and I landed it on my first flight ( which was supervised but not buddy lead connected ) and I liked the thing, but it got sold when circumstances led me away from the hobby until my return about 23 years ago.

It felt...settled, I think is the word I would use to describe it - the not-insignificant weight lent it energy which you had to account for and treat accordingly. I am looking forward to having another soon 🙂 

 

Edited April 3 by Stuart Quinn-Harvie 1

[Rich Griff]

Draw around each part, even wing profile at centre, as accurately as you can  BEFORE you glue everything together so you have "patterns".....you know it makes sense.

 

May I ask is yours a mk1 ??

 

Anyways enjoy.

 

Even a mk1 40 powered  3 channel is well capable of some aerotricks and inverted flight, at least mine was. 

 

Well able to fly in windy weather ( when isn't it windy in this country, near the west coast ) reliably. Favourite "trick" was to make model appear to 'fly backwards', good response practise.

 

 

Enjoy !

 

[Stuart Quinn-Harvie 1]

Hi Rich, it's a Mk2, and yes, I shall definitely be doing the Making Patterns thing.  It's the 4 channel version ( the one I bought back then - I remember vividly buying it from Manchester Model shop a good 20 years before I worked there - now very sadly gone thanks to ...well, I better not get started ) Chris sold it so me, along with the Enya 40, a glo start, Solarfilm and various glues. I bought the radio, a Futaba  Challenger 6 the following month.  

I should be starting the build over the weekend, and I STILL haven't decided how to power it so I need to make that decision fairly quickly. Also, obviously, I have er...*counts up* another 5 projects on the go but they've been sitting on the Shelf of Doom for a while so I don't think it's TOO much of a disruption to put the HB to the front of the queue. 

[Robin Colbourne]

23 hours ago, Stuart Quinn-Harvie 1 said:

I just picked up a kit fro one of these for a tenner, still in the box. The catch is someone has done a TERRIBLE job of starting it. The good news is that they didn't do much, and the glue they used appears to have slightly less sticking power than a post - it note. I will make a new servo tray and the two formers that go around it but other than that it's all pretty much ok. Wings are happily untampered with and it has instructions and decals /stickers and most of the parts including hardware. 

I am torn between converting it to electric or using an Enya 40ss  because that's what the one I had back in the day was fitted with. I remember it flying very well, and I landed it on my first flight ( which was supervised but not buddy lead connected ) and I liked the thing, but it got sold when circumstances led me away from the hobby until my return about 23 years ago.

It felt...settled, I think is the word I would use to describe it - the not-insignificant weight lent it energy which you had to account for and treat accordingly. I am looking forward to having another soon 🙂 

 

Stuart, if its built with PVA glue, or possibly even cyano, chuck it in the bath overnight and it will re-kit itself.  I had one just as you describe, and once all the bits were separated I was able to scrape the glue off, tidy up the tabs, holes and edges and it all went togeher as Precedent intended without a gap to be seen.
One tip.  If you are using the supplied noseleg clamps, put some spacers, either washers or bits of lemonade or milk bottle under the saddle clamp pads.  Otherwise they are pre-stressed and will break on the first 'firm' landing.

[Stuart Quinn-Harvie 1]

Cheers! Good advice 🙂 Thanks. 

[J D 8]

I made mine a tail dragger with over size  wheels for rough field operation, todays bush plane style 30 years ago.