Tipsey.qxd

AIRBORNEIn preparation for this review, I haveflown over 100 flights with three differ- ent Tipsies. I have used them to teacha middle-school class about flying,taught beginners at our club field, and The stabilizer tips are delicate, and I put a cardboard fixture on the side of the box to loops, barrel rolls, stall turns, and other doesn’t touch anything. With the lithium batteries (that don’t self-discharge quickly) I just keep the model in its box in the trunk of my car, ready to fly at any time, even if it hasn’t been charged for a month or two. The Batteries America BP-LI8412 lithium fits and balances perfectly in the Tipsy, the connec- tors are already wired, and their matching fool-proof. This is a no-worry lithium setup.
Their 2LP610 or 2LP611 battteries are alter- he Graupner Tipsy is a great-flying (and I don’t say that lightly), easily-assembled, well-designed model that Absolutely stock, you get a fine-flying, sleek, snazzy-looking motor, and (if you don’t go lithium) the 7- also represents an advance in foam molding technology.
model. The one-piece wing means that you have no worries cell 720mAh battery that Hobby-Lobby rec- The fit of the parts, the precision of the Eppler E-64 wing and about setting dihedral angles or aligning wing halves. You can ommends. A bit of soldering is required to The Tipsy’s tall fuselage is necessary to get the symmetrical tail-surface airfoils with fine trailing edges, and the use the box the model comes in as a carrying case. The only step connect the wires and supplied capacitors to propeller high enough over the tail boom. unique molded-in hinges are all impressive and add to its per- that requires some attention is attaching the fin to the fuselage- exactly right so that there is little trim the motor. There is plenty of climb perfor- formance. I enjoy flying them so much that I was inspired to put stiffening balsa stick. The instructions are provided in a number mance with this combination and the fold- some extra features into my Tipsies. I added magnetic wing of languages, and the English translation is a good one. Building ing prop gives the model a superb glide. I hold-downs to prevent damage on hard landings, Lithium bat- time is about five hours. The high-mounted pusher propeller teries for extreme duration (as if its standard half-hour duration means that you don’t have to worry about breaking props or glue for assembly. Epoxy is best for repairs weren’t enough!), and even a glider-style wheel to one of them bending the motor shaft on hard landings — problems that often won’t feel the least bit embarrassed to for no-scrape landings on concrete or asphalt. Advanced pilots plague beginners with conventional, propeller-up-front designs.
fly. You do have to remember that themodel turns less tightly when it is glid-ing, so you have to leave a little extraroom for that turn onto final (or use themotor to help kick the tail around).
1. The modeler must solder the motor controller to the motor and solder the three blue capacitors (supplied) as shown. 2. The front of the wing uses a ply- wood mechanical hold-down that allows the wing to easily rotate sideways on any impact. On a straight-ahead impact, the back of the wing rises up. Using magnets in back instead of the provided bolt lessens or prevents damage. 3. Two holes are made near the trailing edge of the wing to fit 3/16 diameter by 1/8 in. thick neodymium magnets. I just press the magnets lightly into the foam to create circles, and then open up the holes carefully to a depth of 1/8 in. with a hobby knife. After making sure the holes are the right depth, the magnets are epoxied flush to the surface. 4. If you use magnets to hold on the wing, this leaves a hole in the bottom of the fuselage where the wing bolt used to go. You can choose to cover this hole with tape or, if you wish, make it a little larger and put in a ¾ in. wheel for landing on concrete or asphalt surfaces without tearing up the bottom of the plane — which you should protect with some pack- TYPE: Trainer, park flyer, sport flyer, slopesoarer, and thermal electric soarer RADIO: Hitec Feather receiver, Hitec HS-55 servos ALTERNATE RADIO SYSTEM: GWS 4-channel receiver, Hitec HS-50 servos POWER SYSTEM: Graupner 280 6Vmotor motor, Graupner folding CAM4.7x2.3 (12 cm x 6 cm ) propeller, GWS control (excellent for Lithiums because of its appropriate cutoff voltage), Batteries battery (this has been replaced with lighter, Li-Poly battery options for the Tipsy.
DURATION: 30 min (spec); 40 min (tested); 80 min (with Li-Poly); cruisingpower: 0.9 amps MINIMAL FLYING AREA: Basketballgym/small ball field COMPONENTS NEEDED TO COMPLETE: All available at www.hobby-lobby.com: 3-channel radio ($99), battery($31.90), GWS100 5-amp speed control($24.90), Speed 280 6V motor ($10.90),Graupner 4.7x2.4 folding propeller ($13.90) SUMMARYThe Tipsy serves well as a primary flat-field trainer and also as a slope or ther-mal sailplane. It flies well and is an easily-assembled, well-designed model that fea-tures advanced foam molding technolo-gy. It is my first choice for teachingbeginners, yet I enjoy flying it myself in awide variety of situations and wind condi-tions. It will sustain powered flight forover half an hour using NiMH batteriesa n d f o r m u c h l o n g e r p e r i o d s u s i n gLithium batteries. It can be built in aboutfive hours.
When pressed into the fuselage, the magnets doubled up on the wing leave small impressions in the foam. Be sure to install the magnets so that they are attracted to the magnets in the wing.
Use epoxy and put a small piece of scrap polyethelene plastic (the kind used for vegetable bags in groceries) across the mag- nets. Then put the wing in place while the epoxy hardens. When the epoxy is hard, the polyethelene will come off easily. The wing will not come off in the air, even if you loop and spin the don’t go Lithium) the 7-cell720mAh battery that HobbyLobby recommends. A bit ofsoldering is required to connectthe wires and supplied capaci-tors to the motor. There is plen-ty of climb performance withthis combination and the fold-ing prop gives the model asuperb glide. I recommend Vultures’ club instructor Ralph Voorhees walks 11-year-old Aenea Raskin to the middle of the field for a practice flight with her Tipsy.
best for repairs when the partsno longer fit perfectly. The one step that requires extra care is attaching the fin and putting the rudder control cable into the balsa “backbone.” sure you don’t immerse control rods or RC Doing it this way makes for a very neat, low-drag installation.
Note that the fin has also been sanded and the molding mark has been filled with light weight spackling compound (optional).
The plane will fly fine without this bit of refinement.
control horns are too large for the steel reviewing RC models, I have rarely seen one with engineering and flying perfor-mance as fine as the GraupnerTipsy. I am delighted, and I thinkyou will be, too. It is my first choicefor teaching beginners, yet I enjoyflying it myself in a wide variety ofsituations and wind conditions. Thedurability is immensely enhancedby using the magnetic wing-attach-ment method. ❂ Links
Batteries America,
www.batteriesamerica.com, (800) 308-4805.
Castle Creations, www.castlecreations.com,
Du-Bro, www.dubro.com, (800) 848-9411.
Hobby Lobby International, Inc.,
www.hobby-lobby.com, (615) 373-1444.
Z-Poxy is manufactured by Pacer
For more information, please see our sourceguide on pg. 153.

Source: http://www.zenn.hu/modelsport/shop/manuals/tipsy.pdf