Dymond modelsports Jodel Bebe

Model Airplane News, Sep 2002 by Van Tassel, Bob

The Jodel Bebe's roots can be traced to Edouard Joi and his son-in-law Jean

Delemontez. After WW 11, the pair realized there was a need for an inexpensive trainer. They designed and built the B9, which was the prototype for the Bebe. That plane was an immediate success, and it became a popular trainer. Over the years, it was continuously upgraded; today, it is a 4-seat aircraft with a fully enclosed cockpit.

Dymond's version of the Bebe proves that an airplane doesn't have to be big to he beautiful. It's a clean, crisp, no-frills model. From the light fiberglass fuselage to the built-up balsa wings and tailpieces that come already covered with Oracover, right down to the preshaped landing gear, this little plane is an excellent reproduction. It also comes with all of the necessary hardware.

ASSEMBLY

There isn't much assembly required to complete the airframe; I spent most assembly time on the flight system anti controls.

I started with the one-piece wing that has preinstalled dihedral at the tips. It comes nicely covered in two-tone red and white Oracover film over built-up balsa ribs. The ailerons are prehinged, and there's a servo well on the underside of each wing for a sub-nu-miniature servo. A chase in the ribs extends from the servo well to the root rib for the servo leads.

Dymond suggests that you cut the servo connectors off the servo and then solder and tape the connection onto one end of the servo extension. By staggering the cuts, you can eliminate the possibility of a short circuit. I secured the microservos with double-stick tape and attached the control horns to the ailerons with some lightweight, plastic-coated wire that I picked up at my local hobby shop. I find it very easy to work with the lightweight wire pushrods in these park flyers because I can bend the wire to make adjustments very easily. I put in a small V-bend for rigidity and to allow for adjustment.

I opened the slot for the landing-gear wire, and after gluing the gear into place, I covered the slot with white electrical tape. I glued the two-piece plastic wheel together using thin CA, and. I painted the hubs with yellow acrylic paint. I used small pieces of heat-shrink tubing to hold the wheels in place.

The fin and rudder come prehinged, as do the stabilizer and one-piece elevator. The fin fits into a precut slot in the stabilizer. After checking the alignment, I glued the fin to the stabilizer and the assembly to the fuselage using 5-minute epoxy. Next, I mounted the control horns on the rudder and elevator and cut slots in the rear of the fuselage for the rudder and elevator pushrods. I attached the microservos to the inside of the fuselage with double-- stick servo tape and then attached the pushrods to the servos.

MOTOR ASSEMBLY

The next step was to connect the power wires to the motor. I shaped the firewall and trial-fitted the motor assembly into the fuselage. It took many attempts to get it to fit the way I wanted it. Because it's a very confined space, an assortment of tools was required to accomplish this task. When I was satisfied with the fit, I drilled the hole for the prop shaft and mounting holes. I then slid the completed assembly into the fuselage and secured it, making sure not to allow the machine screws to penetrate too deeply and possibly jam the motor armature.

I painted the supplied pilot figure with flat acrylic paint and secured it in the cockpit with double-stick servo tape.

RADIO INSTALLATION

I cut a slot in the left side of the fuselage for my miniature switch and attached my Hitec RCD micro receiver to the underside of the cockpit with self-stick hook-and-loop fastener.

I attached the wing to the fuselage using a small metal dowel in the leading edge; it fits into a hole in the fuselage bulkhead and is secured with a nylon screw in the rear. I then attached the prop and installed the battery pack.

CONCLUSION

Dymond's Jodel Bebe combines a great deal of versatility with a small price tag to create a really appealing package. It's fairly simple to assemble and truly a joy to fly.

APC Props; distributed by Landing Products (530) 661-0399; apcprop.com.

Dymond Modelsports USA Ltd. (888) 4FUN FLY; rc-dymond.com.

Futaba Corp. ofAmerica; distributed by Great Planes Model Distributors (800) 637-7660; futaba-rc.com.

Hitec RCD (858) 748-8740; hitecrcd.com.