dominant planes in RCCA Open B contests in the
2001 season. The Bat Trick uses a plastic childs
"wiffle" ball bat for its fuselage, 4 mil coroplast for
the tail feathers, and 40 pound density blue foam for
its wings and wing pylon.
Mike Fredericks, shown on the right, is the designer
and manufacturer of the Bat Trick. Mike was the
NPS National Points Champion in 2000, and is
currently the leader in the 2001 points standings.
The Bat Trick sells for $20, plus $5 shipping and
includes the wiffle ball bat, cut for the firewall and
tail feathers, CNC wire cut foam wings and pylon,
coroplast tail feathers cut to size, laser cut plywood
firewall, carbon fiber strip for the leading edge,
balsa LE and TE caps and hard balsa ailerons
Wisconsin holding his design the Bat Trick
in the rain at the Richmond Indiana
Contest where he won Open B class.
When at the 2001 Havoc over Hamilton contest my friend, Ron Caravona of Louisville, purchased
two Bat Trick kits. At this contest Mike Fredericks the designer of the Bat Trick had been in 15 mid
airs and only lost one airplane. Ron, Doug, and I had lost 7 planes between us and were tired of
building. So we figured if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. On the way back to Louisville I had the
backseat and the job of opening the kit box and laying out the parts. All three of us were impressed
with how much kit you get for $20.
At the Atlanta contest, after losing three planes, I bought two Bat Tricks from Mike and immediately
started building them.
Construction begins by joining the two wing halves. The wing spans 60" so each panel is 30". Mike
uses a CNC foam cutter to manufacture the wings so the dihedral, and washout are cut into the
cores. My impression of the cores was that the blue foam would make very strong wings. After
gluing the halves together I sanded the LE and TE for the balsa caps and carbon strips. On the LE
you glue carbon strips to the foam and then cap them with the included balsa. I also grooved the
balsa for a piano wire leading edge.
Once the LE and TE had dried the next step was to tape the top and bottom of the wing with
fiberglass strapping tape. After strapping the wings it was time to cover them with ripstop nylon. I
had no idea what ripstop nylon was so I went down to the local Hancock fabric store, hat in hand,
and asked them if they had any. They did. A 60" wide yard long cost me $3 and I was ready to go
to the hardware store and purchase water based polyurethane paint. A stop at the local ACE
hardware got me a quart of paint, more than enough for ten airplanes for about $13.
I was worried about the paint stickin to the strapping tape so I knocked off the sheen with sandpaper
before applying the WPB. Using a foam brush I applied the WPB to the wing and then laid the
ripstop on it. I had to do a lot of stretching and tugging to get it to lay down right. I did the bottom
first then the top. I used two pieces each on the top and bottom overlapping them at the center of
the wing. After it dried I had some wrinkles, and bubbles which really ticked me off. I thought about
it for awhile then sanded off the LE imperfections, cut a piece of ripstop to wrap over it, put the
ripstop in a pan of water for five minutes then applied it again. WOW! complete success and much
easier to do if you wet it first. The nylon wicks up water, swells up and applies easily. As it dries the
water evaporates and the swelling shrinks out so the fabric sticks tightly to the surface. On Bat
Tricks 3 & 4 I changed the wing construction process as follows: first I glued 1/4"dowels to the LE
with Elmers Polyurethane glue, then wrapped the LE with a strip of airbag material from a wrecked
vehicle. I adhered the airbag with two hour epoxy finishing resin. This process yields very stong
wings with negligible gain in weight.
The tail surfaces, built according to plan, are so ugly that I modified their shapes to something more
pleasing to my eyes. This was probably a mistake because if built according to plan they really catch
streamers and add to the lethality of this plane.
The rest of the Bat Trick was built according to plans and the finished planes weighed 2lbs, 12
ounces with standard size servos, standard size receiver, 270Mah 6V battery, and Norvel .25 BB
engine.
The flight performance of the Bat Trick is incredible. Everywhere I have gone people are amazed at
three things: the speed with a .25, their extreme turning ability, and their inherent stability.
To date they are the best combat planes for me. I can look for the other planes and not worry if the
BAT will be where I thought it should be. I can fly them very well in competition.
The durabilty of this design is phenomenal. For the Havoc and Atlanta contests I used up 6 planes.
Since then, in two contests I haven't lost a single Bat Trick even though I've had four mid airs and
two dirt naps. I like this airplane a lot and will fly them until something or someone convinces me
there is something that I can score better with out there, that will be as durable and as easy and
enjoyable to fly.
I give it two thumbs up and a hearty endorsement. Please write if you have any questions about
construction or set up and I will be happy to answer.
