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Sky Bench is proud to announce the availability of the famed Original Airtronics Olympic II sailplane kit, better know as the OLY II. We are now producing this great flying and super durable Lee Renaud design.
The OLY II has been the best beginners R/C Sailplane for years and has taught thousands of r/c sailplane enthusiasts how to fly successfully. The OLY II will stay up on the slightest of thermal activity and produce long flights for the beginner, but don't be fooled into thinking it is only for beginners. The OLY II is still winning contests, Tom Kellevang flew his OLY to first place in the 2000 AMA/LSF Nostalgia NATS and the wind was fierce all day. The kit was originally designed to build fast and now Sky Bench has improved on that with laser cut wing ribs that are stacked, and ready for immediate use with out needing to be punched out like a die cut kit. The fin is now a one piece laser cut part that saves building time and more importantly makes a much stronger tail section to better withstand a flip over landing. Both the stab and rudder also have laser cut parts to save building time and create more accurate and stronger flying surfaces. The fuse top and bottom are now laser cut and this will also save building time. The wing leading edges are pre shaped and require minimal sanding, spoilers are optional, but installation is shown on the construction plan. All hardware to complete the model is furnished except the adhesives and covering materials. The 5/16" steel wing rod that joins the two wing halves is a competition level wing joiner. Separate plans are furnished for the wings and the construction manual is illustrated with lots of photos to make building a snap.
This was my second build after the Gentle Lady. The OLY II had its test flight this weekend and did great. 16 minutes off the winch with very little lift. Looking forward to building the Big Bird. Ron
Ron Clarkson's growing fleet of Sky Bench kits.
Kit Price, $119.95 Bob Legue's Electric Conversion Notice.......... January 2006 I have been continually striving to improve the OLY ll kit to improve the strength and the ease of assembly. The kit now includes the Du Bro Laser push rod package and Du Bro metal clevises. This will improve the quality of the kit and make the building more enjoyable. An electric motor mount former is also included in the kits. Use this to mount a Graupner Speed 600 motor for ease of launching. Other more powerful motors can be used. Flight Battery and Servo Information: I use a 4 cell, KR-1400-AE Ni-Cd Flight Battery pack from Batteries America, with a Hitec receiver protection rubber pad (1/8" thick) between the nose block and pack. This fits just right in my OLY ll. I have two quarters for added nose weight. I'm using the larger size Hitec HS 300 servos for rudder and elelvator.
Electric Motor mount former for Speed 600 (included in kit)
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Beginners tips: Flying R/C Sailplanes Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4 | ||||||||||||||||
New OLY kitsOLY ll S ... a Very fast building kit!Looks just like the original OLY ll, but the airfoil is changed to S 3014 for great penetration. The wing's leading edge is D-Tube balsa sheeted, top and bottom, for a more accurate airfoil shape and added strength. The OLY ll S will float very slowly without out dropping a wing tip prematurely, but with a couple clicks of down elevator will fly in 10 - 15 mph winds easily. Construction Plan shows flaps and/or spoilers, builders choice, kit is supplied with the spoilers and plywood horns. The OLY ll S wing will not fit on the regular OLY ll fuse. If your building a sailplane for the first time, the OLY ll wing is a bit easier to understand since it doesn't have the wing sheeting to install. Look at the instructions linked below and decide which kit you would like to start with. Both wings are two piece for easy transporting. The OLY ll S or OLY ll will be a terrific choice for electric powered installation. Electric powered sailplanes is the most convenient way to learn how to fly RC sailplanes, the most convenient way to launch them and probably the fastest way to successful RC flying. The best way to really sharpen your flying skills is launching from a Hi Start or Winch. Both kits include a laser cut plywood motor mount for Speed 600 or 700 motors. Other motors will require adapting the motor mount. See Hobby Lobby for sourcing. I guarantee you will be impressed with the performance level of my new OLY ll S design. ... Ray ... Suggested Electric Motor Installation ...... AXI 2820/10, 13X6.5 folding prop, and a 7 cell 2000 mAh battery or 2 or 3 cell LiPoly battery with a Jeti "Advanced PLUS" 40 amp controller available from Hobby-Lobby.com
Bob Legue's Electric Conversion OLY II S Instructions and Photos (9.7 MB PDF) Ray's OLY ll SThe best reason to own both an OLY ll and an OLY ll S is the difference in flight characteristics and the similarity. Especially if you are relatively new to building and flying RC Sailplanes. If your new to flying RC Sailplanes, start with the OLY ll. If you have flown other Sailplanes and are not intimidated building a D-Tube sheeted wing and built up trailing edge, then don't miss out on flying the OLY ll S. Both will make fantastic Electric Powered RC Sailplanes.
Here are the set up specifications on my OLY ll S
Tow Hook located in laser cut whole in the Plywood Fuse bottom. Approximately an 1/8" behind the balance point.
I build my Spoilers on all of my kits to open straight up, they are very effective that way and that explains why my kits are designed with shorter spoiler blades. The shorter the spoiler blade, the less disturbance to flight performance when they are closed. OLY ll S ........... It is going to build fast!
OLY lll
D-Tube Wing construction.
Wing is D-Tube sheeting with built up trailing edge Hello RES Arfs Kit Price $198.95
Joe Burns wrote:
Joe's rendition of Bob and Terry's instructions. (1.6 MByte)
Bob Leque's Oly III Instructions
Terry Forbes OLY III Instructions
Tips on adding carbon to the wing spars.
Hi Ray, I just composed a long letter, the gist of which was to order a new Oly III. My first one bit the dust today from some sort of launching mishap...I tried to use both hands and managed to get something spoiled in the radio antenna in the process. Earlier in the day she'd specked out, actually faded out in some relatively low marine layer left over from the morning, and it was the "one last flight" that did it. I have truly enjoyed this plane and used her to capture my first trophy, first place in "Sportsman" at Torrey Pines Gulls! The dark blue and flaming orange colors light up the southern California skies, but today she spiraled into the ground in a shallow brush pile under a huge Sycamore that took care of the wings. You should know, the design and build was very strong as she really ripped through some upper branches before meeting her demise. I am eager to get going on a replacement. Yes, I'll try to learn from this, but really am not skilled enough to rebuild the whole thing...fuse broke in two in front of the wing on impact, the empennage broke, though not badly, in front of the stab. and the wings tore out both joiner boxes. My nose canopy and "lid" are the only entire pieces left! Bll Eckles
Hello Ray, My Oly III flew for the first time today. My complements on the design and the kit, this is a very elegant sailplane at a very reasonable cost. I am attaching a low res photo, and looking forward to the release of your WF-XL kit. Randy Smith
Thank you Ray for providing such an outstanding kit. Wood selection is superb, fit of all parts is amazing. Plans and instructions are accurate and thorough. I have never had more fun building a sailplane in my life! Everyone that has seen the kit was equally impressed and I count some top-notch builders in that group. I can't wait to build some of your other offerings. So many fine choices, so little time. Sean Brown
Ray,
Just had to let you know how much we love this plane! Larry and I put
the Olys up on Sunday and this plane just floats forever! We have Ammo
28-45-2100 brushless motors with 4.3-1 planetaries with 16-10 folders
on them. Only took about a 20 sec. climb to get to 500ft. and mother
nature provided the rest of the lift. After a 30 min. and 45
min. flight we decided that this is the best glider we have ever
built/flown. We only used the power on initial climbout, the rest of
the flight was thermal/slope off the top of hill at our field here in
southeast Ohio. You will probably get another order for a kit from
some of the onlookers that watched in ahhhhhh as these birds
flew. Thank you for a great plane.
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