rowdog_14

My Feedback: (5)

I am sure I will love her. If she flies anything like my Great Planes Gee Bee I know it will be fun and a crowd lover

rowdog_14

My Feedback: (5)

It has been three months, has anybody got theirs up yet. I have my engine,servos, battery...still waiting for enough money to buy the plane. My wife said once I pay off my credit card I can get it, and I HAVE TO TAKE HER OUT TO EAT

PSJDBF

rowdog, hows your Z going ?.
This thread has been to quiet so here's another vid for you.
We had a weekend fly in for all the Pilbara clubs/flyer's organised by the karratha/Roebourne aeromodellers great weekend even though the weather didn't play the game...anyway a fairly strong cross wind landing with the Z.
Now where are all you pic's & vid's guys ?.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAia99ntOYQ

rowdog_14

My Feedback: (5)

Still waiting. I have everything but the plane. I had a lot of debt between credit cards and medical bills for my little boy. I am paying all that off before I get the GeeBee. Next week I should have $2619.00 in credit debt paid off. Winter is the best time to buy the planes ( a lot of time to work o n them) but I might be able to buy it on my birthday in MAY. Also my job had dropped me down to part time hours and that killed my paycheck so I quite and got another job with Enterprise which is going well.

Thanks for asking!!!! As soon as I get it everyone will know. I did buy a Heli a Few months ago to hold me over My wife was OK with that, it was only $100 for a .30 size nitro heli and engine with the gyro all brand new. I had all the servos already so I did not have to buy anything else.

Here are a few videos of a gee bee Z I found on youtube.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYPKkPMaNqY[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iGcAwMIE7Y&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL[/youtube]

capnduane

Just ordered one of these Zs for a Christmas present to myself. Got it from Hobby Zone with free shipping and no state tax! Will use a Turnigy 30cc gas from Hobby King in it. Have been flying a Pacific Aeromodels 120 GB Y with a old Quadra 35 in it and love it. Also have a GP R2 with a Magnum 120 4stroke hanging in the living room, haven't flown it yet.....

PSJDBF

Best of luck, look forward to your build tips & flight report. Are you staying with the original gear set up, by all reports it doesn't seem to be up to the task.
Cheers Steff.

capnduane

Hi Steff, I will probably stay with the stock gear set up, but will modify it (try to keep the forks from turning) and use narrower wheels, and open up the wheel pants at the sides and rear. I have had very good luck with my pac aero Y with the pants opened up. On landing, I also tend to come in low and keep my idle high and then cut the throttle when the wheels touch down. I have a gyro on the rudder and that seems to help keep the roll out straight..... Works for me! I have a 1/4 scale Fokker DVIII and at 19 lbs, one has to fly it in and wheel land it well above stall speed also. This thread is a good one with lots of great info available. Duane

capnduane

Well, today was the maiden flight, after a few aborted attempts, as we have been having some windy conditions here in So Cal these past few days. All I can say is Wow!!! Low high speed passes down the outside of the runway looked so cool. Radio is a Futaba 6chnl 2.4, and a gyro on the rudder. Gee Bee needed only a couple clicks of left aileron trim, and a few clicks of up elevator, as I was flying it at about 1/4 throttle. (later flights at higher throttle settings, took the up trim out.) Landings were picture book touch downs, even the second one which was dead stick, as I had the throttle trim too low and motor died. Narrow tires and plenty of pant clearance around them, seemed to work great. Loops, rolls, split S, great. What I thought was going to be a tiger by the tail turned out to be a ***** cat! Lets see, 30cc turnigy motor, 17/8 prop. 7800 rpm on the ground. Airplane weighs 11 3/4 lbs, with ignition and battery pack up front on the shelf over the motor. Flight battery at the rear end of the servo tray. CG is slightly foreward. Nice model, what a gas!

PSJDBF

Congrats on the first flights, good to see some one else having a good experience with the Z.
She does look a treat on the low passes & as has been mentioned in this thread a few times a bit of an attention getter.
Mine's grounded for now I had a fuel leak on the last flight so took out the tank, found the tank had split & the pressure line from the exhaust split.
Replacement tank is on it's way...hopefully wont take long to get hear from Hong Kong.
Well done again...Any video or more pics ?.
Steff.

capnduane

Thanks Steff, I was quite a bit nervous about the first flight, the airplane was completed some time ago, and I checked and rechecked all parts of it, before flying. Then the weather was not good, and the delays added to the suspense....In the end, the maiden was a non issue, it flew like an old friend. Some one on here likened this model to a low wing trainer, and I think that is not far from the truth. Looks mean, flys good! No video, but here are a few detail shots and a artsy pic of my Great Planes R2 which I have not flown as yet. Almost everyone around these parts has balled this one up, and it looks quite nice hanging from my ceiling, thank you very much!

rowdog_14

My Feedback: (5)

congrats. I am still waiting on mine. Post a video if you can.

PSJDBF

That R2 looks great but also looks like trouble !!,good luck with her first flight.

RACJ

capnduane,I'd like to know what tires(name and size)you used and if possible pics of pants mods and any other to landing gear. I'm looking at getting this one soon. Have the Great Planes R2 NIB and just got old beat up airframe of it also. gonna put old gear in it and fly without pants,learn to land it, add pants and mods as I go till I can handle it.Then build the new one.THANKS,RACJ

capnduane

Hi Racj, good luck with your R2 project, sounds like you have a good plan. As with the Z, keeping the wheels from snagging on the pants is important. I think trying to keep the weight of the heavy stuff low in the fuse may help also. I got my tires from hobby king they are hard foam and 4 1/2 inches in dia., 3/4in wide, $3 each, I think! I have about 1/2in clear at the front and sides and about 2in at the back from the pants. The oleo struts seem to be doing their job so far. Bringing the plane in low and touching down gently is the key to good landings with this plane. So far I have not noticed any tip stalling tendencies at all. I did twist up the wing tips and heat up the covering on the wings to shrink it and hold in some wash out, I think this helps also. Duane Edit/wrong tire size! sorry!

RACJ

THANKS for the pics and wheel sizes. I'll definitely use this when I get to the GB Z. If R2 lands good with no pants on I'll trim for clearance like this when I add the pants.I suspect wheels locking up on these big pants is main issue on the R2. THANKS,RACJ

rowdog_14

My Feedback: (5)

anybody have any updates since the weather has been real nice this past week

motor12

looking for any info on electric conversion of this model,also has the manufacture of the kit made any improvements to the landing gear.Thanks

tailskid

My Feedback: (34)

Don't worry about its flying abilities - it is really a big trainer (or flies like one)....

G3836P

It works very well with electric.

I'm running;
TURNIGY SK 50-65-270kV
100 AMP TURNIGY SENTILLION ESC
2- 5000Mah 4s1p in series
18x 10 wood prop

It pulls very strong at about 1800-2000 watts.
The power system cost under around $200.00 from hobby king, and works very well.
It could go another 500 watts with a prop change, but I haven't seen a need for it.

Let me know if I can help;
glenn

motor12

Thanks G3836P, have you had problems with the landing gear and one other thing do you know whatyour final flying weight is.Thanks

f4u1940

Do you guys think a dle20 would be to small of a motor for this plane.

G3836P

The landing gear has been pretty tough. Before I installed the gear I J-B welded where the 5mm rod goes into the top of the main part of the gear, and where the yoke attaches to the bottem of the main gear. I used du-bro tires set a little on the soft side. other than that they were stock.

The weight worked out to 11 1/2 pounds. Make sure you have everything as far forward as you can (I put the ESC inside the cowling) to get the CG right. I would try to get the CG about 10 mm forward of factory specs until you get used to the plane.

Other than that she flys great.
Glenn

G3836P

I think a Dle 30 would be better. That's what I was fitting to mine before I went electric.
Glenn

PSJDBF

Would depend on what sort a flying you wanted to do, I think she fly's well even slow so if you were after a scale flight speed then the 20cc would be ok, however if you want a bit of verticle performance & have that emergency reserve then you couldn't beat a DLE 30cc.
keep us informed on you decision.
Cheers.

benjret

Seagull Gee Bee Z With DLE 30

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0t55HTrc3o[/youtube]