The Limbo Dancer was designed originally by Paul Skinner who was twice British national fun fly champion, and was flown by him to win the 1998 fun fly competition. The design is so versatile that it can be used as an advanced trainer with the control throws reduced, this makes it an ideal second model.

Specifications: Length: 1075mm (42.3 inches) Wing Span: 1270mm (50 inches) Weight: 3.5 lb Radio: 4-6 channel. Engine: 32-38 2 stroke C of G:.90-110 mm from leading edge.

Available from you nearest Hobby Stores and all ripmax stockists

Price £99.99

Check the Ripmax website for a list of stockists

www.ripmax.com

Within the box you will find a large wing in its bag which has been fixed to a large piece of card. This I imagine would be very good protection from the ravages of transportation. Next is the fuselage and tail skid in its own compartment closely followed by the fin/rudder and tailplane/elevator groups.

There is a complete hardware package as is usual with most ARTF models these days comprising, tank, spinner, wheels, preformed undercarriage (wire), manual and all the usual nuts and bolts, clevices etc. It is at this point I almost dropped off my seat. METAL CLEVICES AND REAL HINGES. 10 out of 10 here Ripmax I'm impressed.

Fus, Tail group and accessories...	Fuselage

Wing and Ailerons

And a pretty comprehensive hardware pack...

The following materials are needed to complete the model :-

4 channel or more radio gear (5 servo's, receiver, battery and a transmitter)
0.32-0.38 cu inch. 2 stroke engine (MDS-38 recommended)
Cyano
Fuel Tube
Propeller (APC 11" x 4" recommended)
Good quality tools
Sharp knife.
Small and medium cross head screw driver.

Recommended engine and prop used (see text in the flying section)...

Construction starts with the installation of the aileron hinges. This is best achieved by fitting the hinges to the wing trailing edge first, making sure that they stick out square to the wing. The instructions advise the use of epoxy for this and say that you must make sure that no glue gets into the hinge line (real leaf hinges are used here) as the hinges will lock solid.

Grease the aileron hinge...

Clamp in place...

Cable tied wires...

An easy way to do this is to grease the hinge line first with Vaseline or molybdenum grease, then once the glue has set you can just pick off any small excess with your scalpel.

Before gluing the hinges to the aileron it is wise to dry fit this part first as slots may need widening. I did find that one of the ailerons was slightly warped at this point, so I twisted it the other way and lightly shrank the wrinkles out of the film with a clothes iron on low heat. This is an easy job and will take no more than a minute or two and then the ailerons can finally be glued to the wing.

I then cut out the holes for servo installation on the bottom of the wing, there are four in all, two square holes in the panels themselves and two round ones in the centre for servo leads to exit. The servos sit with the output shaft to the trailing edge of the wing and the plugs/leads must be drawn out of the centre holes with needle nosed pliers.

Servo position...

Next tie of the ends of the leads with a small cable tie (supplied-nice touch). This will stop the plugs disappearing Back into the wing. A small point to note is that the covering appears to have been shrunk with a heat gun or similar, (yes proper film too!!!) so it is worthwhile to go around the edges of the servo bays with an iron to stick them down, (remember-very low heat.)

All that is left to do is to line up and fit the control horns and the aileron pushrods. These parts are supplied with pre Z-bent threaded rods and as previously mentioned metal clevices. This is a first for me in ARTF kits and most impressive.

The fuselage construction begins with fitting the tail skid. This being a balsa unit requires only the removal of the plastic film on the fuselage bottom and the application of some five minute Epoxy.

Tail skid prior to fitting...

Whilst this is setting have a delve into the box and retrieve the engine mount along with the captive nuts and the M4 machine screws. To give the desired angle of the engine mount means that one of the captive nuts fitted behind the firewall would have to be seated on a piece of triangular fillet. This needs to be cut away to allow for the nut to sit flush on the firewall. Although this is not mentioned it can clearly be seen in the instruction book photo.

I put some epoxy on each captive nut before finally tightening the mount onto the firewall of the model. This is because I always seem to put too much pressure on the screw when undoing the mount and the nut then pops out and turns freely which is quite frustrating.

Blind nuts...

Fitted engine mount...

The manual suggests that you should fit the undercarriage next. This is a wire unit sprayed in black and fitted in the usual way using metal saddle clamps. So, on go the wheels. These seemed a very loose fit on the u/c legs at first but then I noticed some brass bushes in the bag, (four in all) and they were a perfect fit. These are not mentioned in the instructions and looked like oversized servo mounting ferrules but I'm sure that this is their purpose.

Metal saddle clamps...

Cyano locks the collets on...

I had yet another surprise in the form of a fuel tank next. How can that be? I hear you all mumble. Well the tank itself was pretty standard issue apart from it's small size, the surprise was that the supplied fuel tube for the clunk was pre-cut to the correct length. Ripmax have clearly put some thought into this kit and it is a welcome sight given the reasonable price. All that was required now was the fitting of the bung and final plumbing pipes.

Straight from the box...

Foam padding around tank...

The next task is to mount the engine into the supplied mount. I did this by placing some masking tape on the mount then putting the motor in place before marking the fixing positions with a fine pencil. Self tapping screws were then used to bolt this down firmly. After this the outer throttle snake was glued in position and the inner was fitted, complete with plastic clevice to stop metal to metal noise on the throttle arm.

Engine mounting...

The only problem encountered here was that the mounting holes in the MDS38 are quite small, this means that the self tapping screws are so thin that they can snap if you don't drill the holes in the mount to exactly the right size. No prizes for guessing how I found that out eh? :-)

The tailplane is mounted in the usual way i.e. firstly you need to fit the wing and centralise it on the fuselage so that this can be used as a reference for the tail. Once this has been done you need to fit the tail to the fuselage with pins and measure from the corners of the tail to the T/E of the wing, this will ensure that all is square. With the tail pinned in place eye it from behind again using the wing for reference to make sure it is level. When you have everything spot on and level mark around the fuselage line and remove it.

You can now cut away the covering material to leave a bare balsa gluing area, stir up some epoxy and fix the tail back in place with pins until the glue has set.

Next comes the fitting of the elevator which is exactly the same as the ailerons above, I used two lengths of scrap balsa here to protect the surfaces from the clamp. This arrangement was left on until the closed loop was set up to keep everything straight (more on this later.)

Tail pinned in place...

Measuring the tail...

Now you'll need to hinge the fin/rudder assembly in the same way as the other control surfaces, not forgetting the all important greasing of the hinge. Having done this, dry fit the assembly in the provided slot in the fuselage, making absolutely sure that there is plenty of clearance for the elevator at full travel. I found that some material had to be removed from the slot to fit the fin in place. With everything in position mark the base of the fin and cut away the covering ready for the epoxy. You can now permanently glue the fin/rudder in place making sure that all is square to the tailplane.

Clamped elevator...

This operation is very simple on the Limbo Dancer, as the servo tray is pre installed and designed for standard Futaba gear. Before you start though, you must add some small packing peices (supplied) for the rudder servo So that the linkage clears the elevator servo. Make sure that all servos are centred and that the arms are at 90 degrees before fitting (This makes life easier...) Then mount all the servos in the usual way.

Packing fitted...

Servos are a good fit...

The rudder and elevators on the Limbo Dancer, as is usual with fun fly models are controlled by a closed loop system. This system consists of two horns bolted together through the control surface of both rudder and elevator, two closed loop adapters, Some small brass crimps and some steel wire. This setup will give very accurate control of each surface and is completely slop free

The horns are mounted first, making sure that the holes in the horns line up exactly with the hinge line of the control surface. The closed loop adapters are screwed into the clevices which in turn are connected to the horns.

Note : You may need to slightly open up the holes in the horns to allow free movement of the clevices as mine were a bit tight.

Tighten firmly, not too tight...

The finished article...

Next, I decided to clamp each surface in the neutral position, using some scrap balsa sheet to protect them from damage caused by the jaws of the clamps. This will prevent the surface from moving off centre when tensioning the closed loop wires.

Once you have got all of the required bits from the box, make a start by feeding one of the crimps onto the wire. This can then be put through the hole in the closed loop adapter and then back through the crimp. Now you can put a drop of cyano into the crimp and squeeze it tight with some heavy duty pliers. Try not to have too much excess wire coming out of the crimp as you only get just enough for the whole setup.

Run the other end of the wire through the plastic outer sheath in the fuselage and up to the servo which should be centralised first. Slip the next crimp on, pull the wire through the servo arm firmly but not too tight, then back through the crimp and glue as before.

This is repeated for both rudder and elevator.

In the manual the setup procedure is as follows:

Centre of gravity: 90-110mm from the leading edge- 90mm for first flights.

Surface movements:

Rudder: 50mm each way.
Ailerons/Elevator: 25mm each way.

Exponential : -15% Futaba, +15% JR

These settings are recommended for first flights as the model is capable of some wild manoeuvres. As you get used to the model they can be adjusted to suit your flying style and ability.

Very first flights were conducted on a day where the wind was about 15 mph and fairly turbulent. I figured that as the engine was to be run in fitted to the model, then at least this could be setup and I could get some Idea of how well Limbo Dancer could handle these conditions.

The engine was Primed and started readily, needing some small adjustment of the secondary needle to achieve good response from the throttle, once the running in process had been done. I have heard many tales relating to the MDS range of engines both good and bad, but I have to say that apart from some initial concerns with machining of the exhaust port and a small amount of fine tuning it has run faultlessly throughout the review process of the model.

I lined up the model having setup the surfaces, exponential etc. as per the manual and opened the throttle. The Limbo Dancer leaped into the air in little more than it's own length and with a touch of elevator went straight up and kept on going. I could see that this model was to be an entertaining one.

Take off was quick...

Tame flying at first...

Either way up is no trouble...

Once it reached a good height the throttle was reduced to a fast idle and the responses were checked out. These gave good authority as expected but not the wild thing I had been waiting for. The stall was tried but could not be found for some time. A low tickover with the nose almost vertical did the job but normal flight was regained at once as the model levelled hhmmm...Landing

I decided at this point to bring the C.G back to 100mm from the leading edge and use full servo travel (remember this model weighs in at only 3.5lbs with a 38 up front). Rates were set to 65% just in case and elevator/flap mixing were also switched in. Wow the Limbo Dancer was flying as if on steroids the roll rate was incredible and prop hanging possible on a little over 1/4 throttle.

Now that's better...

Whilst prop hanging if you fall off the prop just open the throttle and climb away without a struggle the model goes up like a lift. The elevator /flap mixing makes it loop in its own length INCREDIBLE!!! I can honestly say that the ARTF version is a good deal lighter than the kit and better for it.

The next flights were made on a much calmer day and great fun was had by all doing circuits within the boundaries of the strip and also touch and goes. We invited the designer Paul Skinner and his father to come and try it out (now he can fly!!) and he had it doing stall turns within the width of the strip back and forth just clipping the tall grass either side with the wheels. Other stunning manoeuvres such as just dipping the tail into and out of the grass whilst prop hanging and then bringing it back to him and plucking it from the air were great to watch.

Open the throttle and it's straight up...

A few inches off the deck...

This picture is no fake...

Landings are usually at next to no forward speed and just a feather light touch of down 'impressive' Although Paul Skinner lands in a different way and clearly enjoys doing it.

Who needs wheels just pluck it from the air...

At one point whilst prop hanging the model was stalled and a heavy landing managed to break the undercarriage wire which must be quite brittle, however this was soon soldered back together and the Limbo is back flying again in fine style. It also may be worth while gluing a reinforcement plate over the rear U/C mounting, (inside the fuselage)as this was damaged in the crash.

As ARTF's go I can't find any faults with this model except the brittle undercarriage. Let's face it the Limbo is not meant to be stuffed into the ground nose first though. This is the first Ripmax model that I have reviewed for Bumpy Green. I always thought that other reviews seemed slightly over enthusiastic about them but if this one is a typical model then I have to say that I'm very impressed and keen to do some more.

A great deal of thought has been applied in the design of this kit. It's almost as if somebody has taken note of all those little niggles I have and done something about it. Could this be true?

Since the initial flights of the Limbo Dancer I have had a five cell battery pack made up by Overlander who I found very helpful, These cells are 2/3AA size and fit the narrow fuselage very well. The idea behind this is that the speed of the servos is significantly increased. Very useful in prop hanging.

Overlander can be contacted by telephone or e-mail:

Tel:(01524) 793328.
E-mail: sales@overlander.co.uk

Article by Daren Graham from Bumpy Green Model Aerodrome
26th May 2002

Comment by Michael on 00000000000000. Rating 4

That is a very good Review! But please could you tell me what size fuel tank you put in limbo dancer? Thank you very much tvmaisie@aol.com

Comment by daniel on 00000000000000. Rating none

The limbo dancer is a great 3D model and i found it easy to prop hang with it.Im 14 years old and i have just past my B certificate with it.The only down side is that it will not knife edge very well.

Comment by Gary mcdonald on 00000000000000. Rating 5

A red SLEC tanks will just fit in the fuselage. One of the best planes that I have flown.

Comment by Martin R on 00000000000000. Rating 4

A great second 'plane, very forgiving on the inexperienced pilot. Possible to land in surprise, gusty winds by the same quality of pilot (which I did recently). After a hard landing the u/c wirers bend back into shape very easily....compared to my Kyosho Cap 232,where not so hard landings remove the u/c and make unsightly holes in the belly! The wing tips are a bit fragile...but not if you don't try picking the a/c up by them. A more technically critical comment than some of the other, uneccesarily rude ones on this page.

Comment by Matt on 00000000000000. Rating 3

I passed my A with a limbo. I found it an excellent plane to progress onto from a basic trainer. However, if you do this, you WILL pick up bad habits. That said, I found it an excellent and very forgiving aircraft to fly, and would recommend it to anyone. Beware, if you are a novice, PLEASE do not attempt to fly will full rates, as it will be uncontrollable. Set them to minimum, and you will have a shed load of fun. Enjoy! :o)

Comment by Adam Frobie on 00000000000000. Rating 3

I have not yet got a limbo dancer but will have 1 on the 15 of this month when it is my birthday and i have flown 1 and i think they are so easy 2 fly on. I will be passing my A test soon in the spring.

Comment by Maurice on 20040614123853. Rating 4

Ive got one I built from the kit. No matter how far back I move the c of G it will not spin. Doesnt like bunting either. Any ideas ??

Comment by Peter Ayriss on 20040901125033. Rating 3

I have a limbo dancer with an irvine 53 up front! Apart fron having to add a little lead to the tail for the correct c/g it was easy. With the limited space i only have a 4oz slec tank in there so carefull use of the throttle is needed. There great and i would recomend it to anyone to buy one!!!

Comment by RC on 20041221193557. Rating 5

The Limbo, excellent plane. And I thought Turbines where fun!! Got D/R and when 100%, this little plane shines. Agree with tuning the rates down for beginners though!!!!!

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