Biplanes are my favourites. I’ve built a lot of them, mostly fun airplanes. But I’ve also had a biplane which gave me quite some success in the contest circle.
Both airplanes ( see attachment ) are derivatives of my “Duetto” design. I felt that my design could be improved noticeably and gave advice about what to change. Result is the “Twini” design as built by Lutz Hetges of Germany and Thierry Sonier of France. It was Thierry who put my article in a French magazine. The same article is on my website
www.clacro.de .
Mr. Minnesotamodeller, sorry I cannot quite agree with your statement “…stunt standard numbers don’t seem to work well …”. If by “numbers” you simply mean dimensions in Centimetres or Inches you may be right. I prefer to interpret “numbers” as proportions, relations, and laws. If we apply these aspects to any design I cannot see why we shouldn’t stick to proven stunt experience.
I think the confusion about biplanes is a result of careless use of language. For instance, if someone flies a Flying Fool and reports that it flies “great” ( just because it does some nice level laps ) then this statement is nonsense.
In my eyes a great stunt ship is one of those great creations from Fancher, Walker, Wewage, McDonald, just to name a few.
A good stunter is some thing like a Nobler, Stiletto 35, Spacehound ( I’ve only mentioned some popular ones. Remember that the Nobler has been a World Championships winner! Hello Bob ).
A stunter is an airplane which can do the whole stunt pattern recognizably without problems and with some competence.
Everything else is below this level and I wouldn’t mention it when we talk about serious stunt.
I will agree when some people do not consider a bipe as a top precision aerobatics airplane. However I’m fully convinced that it is possible to design a biplane which fits right in the “good stunter” class. Those two fliers who have built the “Twini” may not be top fliers, but they flew just as well with the Twini as they did with their “normal” stunter. Which means: the “not top level” fliers will hardly notice any difference, or at least they can adjust to the peculiarities of the bipe so that their performance will not suffer.
Please don’t get me wrong. I do not despice a Flying Fool ( actually I have a kit waiting for building ). But when we are talking about stunt, we should know what we mean and express accordingly. I rate my Duetto as a “good stunter”, the “Twini” is an improvement, and maybe it can be improved even more.
Yes, biplanes haven’t won many contests. But if only a very small number of fliers have biplanes it’s a just question of numbers how often we see one winning. And since the top fliers never use a biplane - bipes never win. It’s that simple.
By the way, bipes are quite popular - and winning - in RC !
Regards, claus