Badland Part 103 Pilots and Builders Forum

Oh wow, I never noticed the smooth wings on the UL. It looks good. I also was always a fan of the rounded wingtips. However, on the bright side our Hershey bar wings lend themselves nicely to fences or droops, as you mentioned. (Is James still building ULs? I thought I had heard he was focusing excl...

Hey Todd, the pics you posted are actually not of the Belite UL...it looks more like the 2 place Chipper that James has been building.

Hell yeah! Looking good!

I actually wondered if the size of the table on the CNC was the reason for keeping the leading edge separate...I hadn't even considered utilization of the sheet of ply (which you mentioned was quite expensive)...makes perfect sense! My only concern would have been the risk of the leading edge separa...

Following this with interest...As much interest as your furry inspector!

A few questions - perhaps I missed something in the description, but why make the leading edge protrusion a separate piece from the rest of the rib?

And how will the larger chord affect the ability to fold the wings?

Wow...thanks for the write-up and some good insight into the situation with these engines. That is a hell of a story for sure.

I'm glad to hear your wife is doing well and so sorry about the loss of your mom. I'm in a similar situation with life getting in the way of my goals with the plane, but like you, I am taking it one day at a time. That said, while I am not currently able to get out to taxi test currently, i am alway...

Thanks for making me feel a little better about choosing the Polini...for now.

Ha! I hadn't even thought of that...very true!

Hi Kurt - I bought the remote choke actuator from Polini Parts so I could run a cable up to my panel. https://poliniparts.com/product/flush-air-starter-dellorto-vhst-thor-202-thor-303/ ChokeonEngine.JPG I bought the cable off of Amazon and modified it to serve my purposes. As I recall I had to lengt...

Haha, now THAT I want to see.

...down the runway?

Absolutely Craig! Ask away...but may I suggest starting a new and unique thread for each specific issue? It'll help searches in the future (unless I am way off base here?).

Wow, that is a lot to slip by the QC process...

So what does the future hold in terms of Badland and 4-strokes? A similar power unit but built in-house?

Wow, that is a lot to slip by the QC process...

Kurt, have you considered a camera mount at the outboard end of one of the struts, perhaps? A bit of a hassle, I suppose, unless you have a remote way to turn the camera on and off...

Very interesting news...thank you very much for the warning!

Were all seven engine-outs a result of failure of the same part? Inquiring minds want to know!

Rusty (and Craig), were you given a copy of the current manual in the meantime?

Actually, for the wing trailing edges I do recall using rivets. You should have a bag of small washer "backers" to place on the backside of the rivets to keep them from sinking into the wood. I also took some comfort in the idea that the covering material would aid in securing the trailing...

Wow. Thanks for this. A lot of good info here!

Hey Craig. As I recall i used industrial adhesive to afix the trailing edge to the foam of the flaperons. There should be a suggestion in the build manual as to what type of adhesive to use, as I recall. As for the trailing edges of the wings I honestly cant recall. I am out of town at the moment bu...

Kurt, I am anxiously awaiting news of your next taxi tests and accompanying videos! Fingers crossed that you are able to get back out there sooner rather than later!

Hey Todd, depending on whether Kevin means they built the plane themselves (versus Chris built it), I know Kurt definitely built his. He's not active on the forum that I am aware of, but there is Doug on the east coast (Pennsylvania?) who is building his own as well. I guess I should have included ...

Hi Craig - go ahead and post exactly what you are having problems with, and I'm sure we can give advice or help you find a solution. Are you currently stumped on anything in particular?

Hey Todd, depending on whether Kevin means they built the plane themselves (versus Chris built it), I know Kurt definitely built his.

He's not active on the forum that I am aware of, but there is Doug on the east coast (Pennsylvania?) who is building his own as well.

I do. I believe it's actually the very first kit. I picked it up in April 2020 in Vegas. An F-3 Flyer. I'm ashamed to say I haven't flown it yet, but it's pretty much ready to go, aside from completing an engine run-in and a few miscellaneous things.

Thanks for the kind words about the welds! I am certainly comforted by them. I was also thinking about a captive bracket for the wheels and would love to see what you come up with. My concern would be with the main gear spreading under load and the relatively thin wheels slipping out somehow.

Hey Kevin! The Badlands kit take some time to put together AND they have become quite popular as of late, it seems. No surprises as I recall. Are you picking it up or having it shipped? I had the pleasure of picking up phase 1 of my kit (fuselage and tail feathers) when Chris was still in Las Vegas....

Craig, what are your issues? We are all happy to help.

My build log unfortunately isn't as "information rich" as Kurt's is; I was at the tail end of my build when the forum came into being. But I can certainly provide pictures of my build if needed, or just advice.

Looking good! That scissor jack is the way to go, I think. I have no desire to lift the tail of my plane, as I am still recovering from the injury from the last time.

Congrats! Looking forward to seeing the build progress.

I'll have to look for that Jonas video...it's been a minute since I followed his adventures on YouTube. It would have been fun to see him try the competition in his Airbike, assuming he still has it. haha

So is that to say you already ordered the kit from Chris? If so, which iteration do you intend to use as a platform?

And yes, the time moves WAY too fast, doesn't it?

I only recently started getting better at it, and it's getting closer to looking like a stack of dimes and further from looking like a pile of bird poop. I am happy for that. It helps that I have a friend who is a professional welder who was over my shoulder for a while, and now gives me feedback wh...

Let me know how flying with shoes off works for you. I make it a point to wear thin form-fitting shoes (think driving shoes) when I fly. I wore somewhat clunky low cut boots the first time and it was terrible.

Thanks! It as just a question of getting a jack that was tall enough, and an RV jack seems to fit the bill since it lifts to 24". It took me longer than it should have to figure out how to "recess" the jack so the plate doesn't extend too far above the "floor" of the trailer...

Just to test the picture upload functionality, here is a pic of my tail lift.

It got THAT one right...a good start!

Fuel in the main spar isn't a bad idea...it has it closer to the CG than the current location, which is an added bonus. It would need to feed evenly from both spars, I would imagine, or you potentially end up heavy on one wing.

I think a potential problem with the half VW may be fuel supply. The Badlands doesn’t easily lend itself to gravity flow from tank to carb like the forward fuselage mounted tank on the Legal Eagle. Most two cycles have vacuum powered fuel pumps. Not so on the VW. An electric pump would add weight. ...

I would be curious to see how difficult it might be to make official UL weight with a 1/2 VW engine...I love the look and the sounds. The reliability is also a plus...weight may be the only issue with it.

(The price isn't bad, either, considering!)

ha! Don't we all!

Hi Jim, there doesn't appear to be much available about this engine with a quick search. there is a Wikipedia page for it that suggests it may be used on the Aerolite 103, among other craft. Perhaps it might be worth reaching out to some of the groups or forums for those other craft and see if anyon...

Excellent write-up and fantastic pics to match! Thanks for this!

Just more motivation to get me back into the garage to wrap up the final details on mine, and then get it out to the desert. But first these temps need to come down!

A squadron flight someday would be epic for sure.

Hi Jim! First, let me preface this by saying I have no experience with bungee gear. However, it would seem to me that there should be some flexibility based on the full weight of plane and pilot (and perhaps mission?). I wonder if it doesn't boil down to a trial and error situation once you get clos...

"often incorporating a single-engine configuration" - I'm still scouring the interwebs for that twin! haha

Hey Kurt, good to hear you are no longer pumping that liquid gold all over the hangar floor. Looking forward to seeing the results of the next taxi test for sure. If you end up using that wall mounted winch to pull the bird back onto the trailer, make sure you have the trailer REALLY well chocked. (...

I agree with Todd - the motivation is nice. We would love to see some pics!

Hi Jim, and welcome to the madness, although (as Todd said) it's a rather slow madness at the moment. It seems we all live in very hot climes that don't lend themselves well to plane construction in the summer. For me that's Los Angeles, building my Badland F-2 out of my garage. I can only dream of ...

Great videos! Thanks for these!

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