As some of you may know, I am not a 3d pilot.  It just doesn’t do anything for me.  Although I love to watch it, I personally do not like to fly it.  I guess I am old school, a trophy winning fun fly guy from the early 90’s. I think I could easily muster up the skill to do it, but I just don’t like the flavor. 

This brings us to Lil Moe.   Three and a half years ago LM was one of the first planes Budget RC designed and produced along with the Hornet.  It was designed with the spirit of fun flys in mind.   The fuse was reasonably short coupled for snappy loops.

The fuse was intentionally wide for unstoppable knife edge.  Generous tail area would make things happen right now and instantly stabilize the plane when the sticks were centered.  Sounds like a fun fly animal, right?  My son Kyle is the 3d pilot of the family.  He also runs the manufacturing side of BRC.  He wanted a little more 3d finesse from LM.  So we went to the drawings and re-drew, tested, re-drew, tested….  We finally have a winner that easily satisfies us both. 

So what did we do?  We started by increasing the wing area and re-designed the wing shape.  We wanted to achieve a very slow flying plane that would be very controllable in high alpha.  The rounded tips and non tapered wing reduced tip stalls at slow speeds and the tall rudder stayed effective throughout all transitions.  We lengthened the fuse to improve tracking, and optional Kevlar string was added to the wings for strength and increased aileron response. 

I love the looks and the results of the changes, and Kyle loves the 3d.  My son Mark, our company artist designed the new decals, and they are hot!  They add strength and great looks to Lil Moe, plus the extra decal material can be used for hinges.  Our power pack was carefully chosen for its light weight and outstanding power; vertical is no problem.  LM is all about fun. Its small size is perfect for a gym, park or backyard.  Lil Moe is the perfect lunchtime companion.

Mark     (please comment)