Jamara BD-5 review, build.

Hi chaps. Welcome to my first experience with the Jamara BD-5 CNC Lasercut kit. This is one that Father Christmas got for me and has been sitting under the bed waiting to go (only an 8 month pause – that’s good for me!). I was drawn to this because it was a bit different, and was quite compact at 870mm wing span to chuck in the car. I did some research into it to see what others had thought of them and pretty much silence on the internet front apart from one in Gemany that was being built at the time. He did mention lack of plans though, as do all the other Jamara threads…..why don’t I listen to the bells?

The kit comes in a nice big box, and on opening has some nicely cut sheets of balsa and ply, and a nicely vac formed canopy. Also a small bag of screws and two manuals (one German) and a cd.

Right. Chores done, check. Pot of tea, check. Selection of glues and new blades, check. Lets go!

Mmmmmmmmm. Lots of numbers on the laser cut parts, but no reference in the build manual. Match up the pics then…..mmmmm, cannot really see from the pics either. Light bulb moment – look at the cd, that will show me. Oh. Same as the hard copies.

so what we have is a 3d jigsaw with only part of the picture to match to. Ok a plan is needed.

Oky-dokey. 6 hours later and I have built the fuse

Most of that time was spent head scratching as to what went where. also a 'check list of the boxes contents' would be good as i did not know if bits were missing or not.

another 8 hours or so and tdah!

I love building, but I found this to be a souless and frustrating exercise. You spend so much time working out what goes where and finding bits that it sort of negates the point of having all these numbered cut parts. In its defence the bits that did go together, went really well, but it was more of an assembly job, not a 'trad build' and that was the souless part for me. The material quality was ok, as was the cutting and the pic above is what you get for your effort, and that really is my problem with this kit.

This is not in my opinion a kit that is ready for market. it has too many blank spots. The pic above is mine and is pretty much identical to Jamara's pics. ie not finished. when a company has no finished pics of the model then that should ring alarm bells. It has no battery hatch or frame for the canopy included, which is not a great problem for me, but annoying and there is no provision for fixing the horns to the airelons, once again not a problem, but says to me that nobody has finishe one (let alone flown it) This seems like a prototype for an ARTF that was not profitable enough to produce, so stick it in a box and sell it as a 'trad kit', not a quality product that it purports to be. For the price of £59.99 I do not think it is unreasonable to ask for a plan and decent instructions, not to mention that it is niether retract ready or includes the parts for a fixed uc as per the description. if a beginner started this model then I think it would put them off for life.

I do not feel this is value for money at all. For the same money or less I can choose several ARTF airframes from Hyperion and others. they are built, covered, include pushrods, horns, magnetic battery hatches, wheels and composit cowlings. If you are reading this Mr Jamara, then please, please up your game. Proper instructions, and a plan with part numbers would be a start. I really hope this is not the future of kits to come.

Ok. Moan over.

I have knocked up a hatch for the canopy out of scraps, and now need to add some radio gear, motor, pushrods etc. and will keep you updated with developments.

Cheers, Simon

Ps. I will be maidening my TN Seafire next week so fingers crossed!

Excellent review Simon. We looked at these kits at last years Nats. and felt that they were way overpriced, possibly by a factor of three. Looking forward to the flying.

I do like the BD-5, interesting, very different type of plane. To be honest, the HobbyKing BD-5 looks better value. Cheaper and it comes assembled! Bigger wingspan too.

**LINK**

~£52 including shipping from the UK warehouse.

I've had a artf from Jamara before and quality was a bit substandard imo. Quite a lot of their stuff seems to be directly rebadged stuff from China - rather than their own designs made in China.

Si.

Now that is exactly my point, thank you Simon for that. Unfortunately when I was looking the only other bd5's were some foamies. Same too Eamonn, Building this felt like one of the poor buggers that have to build 5 extras a day to earn a living, not a trad build. what you get for your money is a couple of quids worth of unbuilt ARTF. Still, I am now at the point of making it my own and adapting as needed. Another plus is the free 'sheet balsa storage solution'' box that the kit came in. I can finally get rid of the TN balsa bag that i have been using

cheers, Simon

The full size had a murderous reputation, killing pilots by the score.

By the score? Not heard about that. In what way was it murderous then?

Plane 1. Pilot 0.

My Windrider foam version flys very well ( 4s, lander 5 blade fan, around 760 watts )

Edited By Tim Mackey on 20/08/2012 21:27:44

Oh, come on. how can a plane that you build at home and learn to fly on the front of a pick up truck stuck to a bit of scaffolding be dangerous? really!

Watching with interest as I have this kit in my workshop

Rich

Dangerous? Not really. I'm a full size pilot too. They are single seaters, so no 'dual' is possible. Many are built by guys who have only ever flown a Piper Cub. Or even a modern Cessna spam can. They almost fly themselves.That's why BD5s are rumoured to be dangerous.

I learnt in a 'difficult' aircraft. Didn't know it was difficult as no one told me and I had no standard of comparison.. I thought they they were all like that. So probably be ok with the Bede.

My first solo I had to wait until the previous 'first soloist' had approached, landed, and cleared the runway.. The first part of his Cessna 150 to impact the planet was a tailplane tip. That encouraged me no end.

(Didn't hurt himself or his plane.)

PS: My first commercial flight, in a Vickers Vanguard, we landed over the total wipeout  wreckage of the previous Vanguard at Glasgow. It had taken off from Heathrow two hours before we did. That was encouraging too..

Edited By Mark Powell 2 on 21/08/2012 06:35:47

Edited By Mark Powell 2 on 21/08/2012 06:36:13

Edited By Mark Powell 2 on 21/08/2012 06:36:48

Edited By Mark Powell 2 on 21/08/2012 06:45:53

Mark - remind me to go after you when flying....

I couild level the same commenst at my Jamara Spacewalker. I enjoy building so was looking forward to it but it was similarly disappointing. I've built a number of kits but I had a few head-scratching moments - and also 'bodged' a few things where I couldnt work out what to do. And I completely abandoned the undercarriage - if I'd managed to get that right I'd have wanted an 'A' level in wire-beding ! Used an aluminium one instead. I also left the spats off as by the time they're sanded to roughly similar shapes, the feel about a micron thick. I think I had to download/print my own documentation as well................. There was also very little hardware included.

Finished article looks nice and flies OK, but feels rather heavy. So, ovefrpriced, overweight, frustrating build.

Poor comparison with previous kit which was a SIG Ultimate FunFly - a complete joy in all aspects.

GG (living up to my moniker)

Jamara. I have been tempted by some of these small ones. Plus the new, much more expensive, pod and boom glass/carbon and sheeted foam wing gliders. Now you and GrumplyGnome have honestly told us that Jamara stuff can sometimes be total and utter rubbish. Saved me some money. All of the magazines never do that. I wonder why. (No I don't!)

You will never go wrong with Sig, kit or ARTF.

Olly P. Then you will see a perfect landing. Where's my Rabbit's foot! Full size are easy. Even a Lear Jet is easier than a Ben Buckle Junior 60. And yes, I do know!

Edited By Mark Powell 2 on 22/08/2012 08:31:12

Edited By Mark Powell 2 on 22/08/2012 08:40:56

Actually I had some fun with one of these kits (Bonanza - see build tread) - the plan is rubbish, but with a little phantasy the parts - which are dead accurate - are going together quite well. (Yes, I like Puzzles, may be that helps...). My concern was the wood quality - I replaced some of the sheet balsa for better quality as the supplied material was brittle.

Why mention the accuracy of parts? Made other stuff which was not accurate and therefore a nightmare to build.

VA

The Bonanza was the one I paricularly liked. But you say that the plan was rubbish and you had to pay out to replace some of the wood. I had to do that on the TopFlite Spitfire.Some was like 200 year old oak and some was like wet tissue. That is why my contempt for so much of our model plane stuff is increasing. and I now build most of my own, from my own designs or a purchased plan. Most of us would not put up with it with a car or TV. Why do we do it here? I won't. Not through 'grumpiness', but I will not be cheated. Some are good (Sig), some are not as good as you might hope from their long established name (TopFlite) and some are just plain junk. Perhaps we look too hard for a 'bargain'. My wive bought a 50 inch Toshiba TV from Comet. Special deal with disk recorder and nice glass stand. Sho knows nothing about such things. No wonder it was cheap. Not even 'HD Ready', let alone 'Full HD'. Not a bargain at all. I kept quiet. Such places know a mug when they come in. And the mugs always think they are sharp and always spent wisely because they are expert in other fields.. They are the easiest of all - ask any salesman.

Edited By Mark Powell 2 on 22/08/2012 09:05:20

Ok Gents. I am back in the room. Not much to report build wise on this. I have finished it and she is ready to go. I tok her down the strip today, but started off windy and just got worse! here are a couple of photos at the strip.

The mods I made to the standard kit are as follows.

• made hatch under canopy and a bit of cockpit detail
• extended rear of fuse to contain wires from motor
• cast up my own pilot from expanding foam - see process here on my other build near the bottom of the page **LINK**
• errm pretty much it.

I made this pretty much 'stock' and now......hold on......i think....I like it!!!!!!!!

I will post again after the maiden. the power works out at around 120w lb, so should be ok. the graphics are cut from solartrim on a laser cutter. I used adobe illustrator for the text and exported it as a dxf file to autocad. bluuuurb. I have not found this to be an inspirational build, but if she flys well will be a regular flyer as she is so cute. Cheers, Simon