PSJDBF

My Gee Bee topped 13Lb's due to the weight of the 170R3 I balanced mine as per the instructions upside down & had to mount my glow driver & flight pack batt's on the former behind the wing to balance it.
I also had to fit a larger fuel tank , it flies great even at this weight very stable ,as some have said like a trainer ,& landings arn't a problem I pretty much keep the power on almost all the way down to the flair as it slows up rapidly & sets down on the mains when the throttle is cut back to idle.
I would have thought with the 180 you would need abit of weight in the nose to balance her ? ..there are a few vids on this thread with footage of landings etc to give abit of an idea.
Good luck with the maiden flight.
Steff.

wesmel22

I had to make a battery pack pocket just behind the cg under the belly . I taped both 2300nmhi batteries into the postition and it was just nose heavy. I built a battery box and wire extensions that is removable and now the plane is perfect ballance. I have flown perfect cg balanced planes before and they were real hard to ontrol.
do you hink I would nee it to be a little nose heavy for maiden flight? plus one thing to consider is that the larger tank will not be ran empty so there will be a little more nose weight on the plane . I am scare . I have to adjust the throws and tune the engine and put the wires on the wheels and thats it!!!
I'm confused as to where to mount the wireson nthe wheel strut? there is no hole to put the wire thrrew and if I mount it where it moves it will cause drg on the movement of the hocke.
I will have more pics of the battery mod latter... I hopwe she survives . this is the hardest and most time onsuming plane I have ever built!

wesmel22

i finished the plane and the wire stabilizers are atached to the wing and landing gear. I have the motor running and boy does it pull strong. I have to tune it a bit more . I ballanced it with my battery pocket in the back and it was a bit tail heavy not much but I like to build my planes a little nose heavy so I added tw.25 oz to the nos and that did the trick. As soon as i know the engine is reliable and running right i will get it in the air . I found that the exhaust came loose and i will tighten it up in the morning and head out to the field and see if I feel like fying it .I weighd the plain . No gas and it was exactly 12 lbs. Not bad with a saito 1.80 four stroke and tuns of power!!!. I can wait I only hope I can land it in one piece!!!

bps

My Feedback: (3)

Looking forward to your flight report on this bird. I am considering a Hostetler 33% Gee Bee Z plans built project myself. Have you tried flying the Gee Bee on any computer sims?

tailskid

My Feedback: (34)

My son tried landing this bird and it nosed over twice. Once the pant cracked and stuck into the wheel the other time he greased it in and after a short roll, one wheel locked up and over she went again. suggestions????

R/C Foolish

My Feedback: (6)

1st thing, take a dremel and grind away alot of the fiberglass and make the wheel opening much larger than your wheels. 2nd, replace the foam wheels with the dubro 4-1/2" low bounce wheels. 3rd, use 4 wheel collars on the axle to get wheels centered perfect instead of the spacers. And 4th, which I haven't done yet but solder or braze the U strut so it can't twist. The single screw and small set screws can not hold it straight under the force of landing. Brazing it will keep them from turning and digging into the grass.

R/C Foolish

tailskid

My Feedback: (34)

I'll be doing most of those in the next few days....at least I found a way to keep the wheel pants from striking the wheels! At least until we landed

wmg706

I did pretty much the same as R/C Foolish 4 1/2 dubros dremmeled the bottom of' the wheel pants ,bought 1/2"alumimun spacers or about 1/2 " for both sides of each wheel I"ve been landing on paved runways so I havent had to braise the gear yet. After you do this push down on fuse while raising the tail a bit and try rolling the plane. It should roll freely.Try mounting the wires on wheel pants like I showed on earlier post.It keeps the wires taunt and the plnts from moving side to side.

tailskid

My Feedback: (34)

I'm making those modifications....and boy is this a pleasure to fly!

wesmel22

Man tailskid . that sure is a beute!!!. I hope mine flies as well.
How was your plane ballanced and what motor do you have in it?
Mine is a little nose heavy and had to build a battery hatch in the rearto get it to ballance. It has a lot of power with a 17x6 prop. when I maiden it I will let you guys know how it went. Im still doing the whhel pant mod and making the opening bigger and sauldering the wheel strut solid so iw wont twist.

tailskid

My Feedback: (34)

I have a Saito 180 and with the battery as far back as I can get it, she balances right on the mark! She takes off from a three point stance if you are heavy on the throttle (about 30'). I personally like the high rates on ailerons as spec'd in the directions. I'm very happy it didn't overheat as I only opened up the cowl in front of the engine.

wesmel22

I have the saito 1.80 fouir stroke too. I put the battery tray in the back and it ballanced perfect . with no fuel . I added3.5 oz to the noze to get it a little nose heavy . I wass cared to have it tail heavy and unlandable!!! tese planes are really beuatifull. I am not running my wing trim to body plasti pannels because I place my on off charging jack switches to low and the plastic pannels cover them up . Im glad to hear about your prefernce on the rates . I will do the same and see how it goes . Like I said she is just a littl nose heavy . I also pus a sulivan 24oz fuel tank in it instead of factory..


??? How much flight time did you get?
And does your plane ballance perfect using the 9mm CG?

tailskid

My Feedback: (34)

24 oz eh? Hummmmm maybe that is why mine runs of fuel after 6-7 minutes Did you have to do much chopping to get that tank in? I have to replace the stock tank for sure!!!!

tailskid

My Feedback: (34)

oops, forgot your second question - YES! And the 180 is an excellent engine for this one!

wesmel22

I had to trim 1/8" on each side and it slid right in . The tank is desiged where the pick up is at a angle not in the front of the tank so remember the plane is upside down . I istaled it upside down first time. it added about a 1/2 length to tank and fit right in . I want to try to get 10 miniute flightwhat prop are you using?
( thanks for your input)

wesmel22

My plane ways 12.00 lb's exactly . I will have more picture tonight . I'm also looking at real cessna to get my real flying liscense . I'm excited !!

GaGeeBees

My Feedback: (23)

A fairly accurate rule of thumb for four stroke glow engine fuel consumption is 1 ounce of fuel per cubic inch per minute (at wide open throttle). 24 ounces should give you 13.33 minutes of run time at full throttle.

wesmel22

I didnt know that formula. thats good to know. thanks for the info!

wesmel22

HERE are the pics of the plane finished!!!!! . Enjoy.
http://s587.photobucket.com/albums/ss311/wesmel22/

tailskid

My Feedback: (34)

wesmel22 Running an APC 16/8 at 8400 RPM's.....too much prop, will switch to a 15/6 for the next flights. Mine came out at 10# 14 oz.

R/C Foolish

My Feedback: (6)

You really want as much prop as you can. That big cowl blocks so much of the prop surface, you are just using the tips. I am running an APC 18x8 on my OS160. Flies great but still is not what I would consider a "trainer" to land.

R\C Foolish

wesmel22

I agree the cowling is huge. I had the same motor and prop on my aeroworks 1.20 size YAK. It worked fine and I have two more spares so I'll have to see what it does before I by another size.. Today I may miaden her and see what sheel do.. Wish me luck guys......I'm scared to land not fly! I can land any other plane and Ive watched enough videos so off we go!

wesmel22

My prop is a 17/6 on my saito 1.80

wmg706

I'm Running a Master airscrew 16x8 with a Zenoah G26ei .Pulls it just fine Mine flys great

wesmel22

Well It flew and landed . I tried three times and it bouned every time . I eventualy landed it but it would never quit bouncing . I'm changing the wheels tonight withy the dubros and my ry wheel pant is tore up a bit but no real damage it floats like a cub if you can get her to slow down  all my wires strettched out and the wheels turn now . I have to soulder them  straight. I'm just glad it's in one peace it realy flies nice . I didnt even hav to trim it or nothing !!!!!!! It just flew . My wife took  a video and if I can figure how to post it you can see what she filmed which is about 50%... LOL she even said she sucked at it . lol