motor12

After reading as much info on the GeeBee Z as i could find this is the set up i have decided to use.
motor: E-flite power 160
speed control: Phoenix HV-110
external BEC : spektrum
servos: Futaba S3004 standard
battery: 6s5000 and 4s5000 for 10s
receiver: Spektrum6210
xmitter: Spektrum DX-8
prop: not sure yet
I plan on reworking the landing gear as some have done here. Any comments would be appreciated,i am always open to helpful suggestions.Thanks

PSJDBF

If you can get a rear brace wire on your gear it will solve alot of problems, open out the bottom of the pants so theres no way the wheels can foul on them during a hard landing.
I used du bro big wheels (air inflatable ) & have them at a low pressure, this stops any large bounces.
Struts are from unitracs UK they are oil dampened, as well as spring ( 170mm standard folked ).

motor12

PSJDBF do you have any photos showing how you fixed the gear brace to the wing,thanks

PSJDBF

Not at the moment, taking her out tomorrow though so may get a photo of it then & will post, I had the original kit that came with wire gear not the struts so the mounting for the rear brace wire was already there , however I dont think it would take much to make up & install a mount to do the same job.
Cheers .

paintballer9876

I have a gee bee and have had it for about 10 months and havnt really done anything with it after picking it up off craigslist for $180 mostly built. I plan to throw in a DLE-30  and some servos (not sure which, was thinking 4x 645's) , im going to to use the stock gear for now and see how it hold up, i have a nice runway to land on. Im hoping to have a dle-30 and the electronics by next month, this will be my first non electric plane, so for breaking in the engine, i imagine the cowl will have to be off to give proper cooling for break in. Is a bench break in as good? When i do the maiden i would like the plane to look like a Gee Bee and not like someone forgot to assemble the plane.  Any help will be appreciated.

PSJDBF

I have 645MG's on my GeeBee no issues at all with them.
I also have a DLE 30 in my SU26 Put two tanks through it on the ground then completed the break in Flying it (As was recomended to me by supplier ).
You have a lot of air blowing through the Z'ed's cowl so I wouldn't have thought cooling would be an issue, I flew mine all with the cowl on & a much smaller cowl on the SU.
Steff.

motor12

I have been working on my Z and have it almost completed. I have converted to electric without much trouble. After some thought i was able to fix the twisting gear problem, it does involve some brazing or welding using the brass is easier unless you have a TIG unit at the house, also a bit of fabrication is needed.I can take some photos if anyone is interested. The hardest part seems to be installing the wing fillet, i have not done this part as of yet and it seems like you can screw up real easy and make a mess of it.This is my biggest bird to date, most of my airplanes are .60 size war birds. Looking forward to my first flight. I forgot to mention that i also changed out the wheels for the Dubro 4.5 they fit in the wheel pants much better as stated by most on this thread.

PSJDBF

Some pics of your gear mods would be good motor12.
Sorry I haven't got back to you with a photo of the fixing /wing etc, my GeeBee Z is at a mates house at the moment as storage has become an issue at my place & most of my planes are spread around the town[].
Good luck with the first flights.
Steff.

RACJ

Pics of gear mod would be great. I'm most interested in the electric conversion as I've been considering this plane. Like to see how you set up battery access and what prop clearance is. The 160 should be lots of power for this plane. THANKS

motor12

Give me a few days for photos,i will have to take wheel pant off to get good shots. Also i am finishing up a 3Dhobbyshop SHP 300 Extra that is a ball to fly,damaged it last time out and i want to get it ready for a fun fly our club is having this month,Thanks

capnduane

Hi guys, haven't been flying my Z as of late, been busy with our Dawn Patrol and getting my two Fokker D8s ready to fly in it. Also built a Sig 1/4 scale clipped wing cub and put in one of the new RCGF 20 gassers in it. Flys great! Any hoo, The Hemet club put on a scale flyin today and I took my GeeBee Y and the Gee Bee Z out this morning to show them off. I had put the fake radial and flying wires and tail feather braces on the Z some months ago, and it really upgraded the scale looks. The Turnegy 30 cc motor has been great and the Z is fast and has a throaty sound on those low passes down the runway. I did a few big loops and a couple scale like rolls, but just mainly went fast and let the Z rip. The crowd must have liked it cause the Z garnered pilots and peoples choice best civilian aircraft of the meet! I think this Gee Bee looks the best just rumbling out onto the runway and lining up for take off. The Z is a crowd pleaser for sure.

PSJDBF

Congrats on the award, good to see a Z get one.

motor12

Here are some photos of my Z showing the battery install on the electric conversion also the fix i used to stop the wheel twist. Looking at the photo of the wheel you can see that using the 4 1/2 in dubro tires leaves plenty of room in the wheel pants without cutting the opening bigger. On the twist fix i used the supplied cap head bolt on the gear that holds the wheel fork, i took a small piece of metal(18 GA. black iron) drilled a hole to insert the cap bolt then used brass to fix the metal to the bolt. then drilled a small hole in the black iron that extends about an inch out side the bolt. Then drilled a matching hole in the fork and pinned the small piece of metal to the fork.Then ground a flat spot on the cap bolt screwed on the landing gear and made it as tight as i could then used the set screw in the gear and tightened it on to the flat spot on the bolt that is pinned to the fork. Hope you can under stand all this. The gear no longer will twist on landing. I weighed this bird and it came out to 13 pounds 10 ounces now thats kinda porky but i know the E-flite power 160 can take care of that. Thanks

PSJDBF

Looks good motor12, do you get much rearward flex with that set up.
I took my Z out today,it's been a few months since I flew it last , my friend Wilkie took some vid footage.
Cheers Steff.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvB3Rukkqu0

motor12

The GeeBee Z looks great on the fly bys especially with the cloudless blue sky. I can't tell you anything about the flying or landing quirks as i have only taxied up and back on my front sidewalk for some photos. I must say this bird is a bit intimidating, but i plan on a maiden flight soon. I held the tail and pushed the throttle forward and that E-flite power 160 really came alive. I am running a 18x10 APS prop for starters and i will make any changes to prop size if needed.

capnduane

Took the GBZ to our club meeting today for show and tell. Here is a today pic showing some of the details I've added, including the flying wires with javelins, stab bracing, gas cap, and I put some wood faring on the tail wheel wire to make it appear more like a tail skid. Motor12, might want to check the tightness of the 3 grub screws that connect the landing gear to the wire that goes in the wing, I added a little thin hot stuff here also, to keep the gear from turning.

motor12

Capnduane i like the flying wires and struts, it gives a more scale look. The GeeBee Z is a real crowd pleaser, i hope to get mine into the air soon. Not in a hurry just waiting for a nice day, in the mean time i am flying my war birds and a 47 in extra. hate to damage the Z..

jdpg265

Just back to the forum, first off love the Gee Bee. Unfortunately I balled my Kyosho Gee Bee 40 Z up this weekend, came in dead stick but didnt have enought altitued. I tried to save it but it tip stalled and thats all she wrote. So i have been trying to find another and came across the Seagull. I have a few quesitons i am sure you can all answer. How does it fly on the 120? I see most of you are flying with something other than that. Secondly i would like to stuff a pitts type muffler under the cowl, is there enough room for that (had tons on my GeeBee). Finally, those that have gone electric, what power system/combo do you prefer? I fly Logo 600 SE and i have 2 sets of 2x5000 mah packs (10s ) i can use, so that would cut down on the costs. Thanks for your replies....

capnduane

120 2 stroke with a pitts muffler would fit fine, and would fly the dog out of the Z. You would have to put all weight possible up foreward and maybe some lead for balance. Flew my Gee Bee Z a week ago and on landing, at the end of the roll out, the throttle suddenly went WFO. The Z started to take off again by itself. I leveled the wings and pulled back gently and the Z climbed back up into the sky, the throttle linkage had come apart! My friend Mel Santmeyers and I took turns flying the Z until it ran out of gas, about 40 mins later, and I dead sticked the Z back down on the runway safely. The nylon piece that connects to the Sullivan ball link was gone.... The Z flew great thru it all.

twinbrother

My Feedback: (7)

Motor12, I suggest a 16x14 APC prop. That will give you good speed and about 80amps full throttle. If you want more speed, cut down a 20x15 electric apc prop to 16x15. You will get about 80 amps full throttle, but more speed. And if you really want to get crazy, use the 16x16 apc prop. That will draw a few more amps, but you get even more speed.

motor12

Thanks for the info Twinbrother, i have not maidened the Z yet to see howthe 18 x10 prop is going to work. I like your suggestion and will give it a try.The reason i haven't had the Zin the air is i sold my pickup and my new vehicle is to small to xport it to the field, i need to get a small trailer..

capnduane

Well, the Hemet Model Masters club held a Dawn Patrol/Golden Age flyin today. It has been hotter than the blazes here in So Cal, (107 today) so to keep things simple, I only took my Z to the meet. (It fits in my camper shell in one piece). It was a great day, with grilled hotdogs and all the fixins for lunch. I flew the Z twice, fast, low, and some rolls and loops. At the end of the day, they gave out the trophys, and the Z got "Best Arf" and "most realistic flight" awards. I forgot to take my camera, so no pics, but look back a few posts and me holding awards with the Z is what happened again! All has not been roses with the Z lately, as the last time I took it out, on take off, one wheel dropped into a crack in our runway and the Z went over onto its back, at high speed, and bunged up the cowl and the wheel pants. Also messed up one oleo strut. Ouch!!! Everything is back together and the Z is still wowing the crowd! I'm starting to really enjoy this airplane...

motor12

Capnduane that is great,congrats on the awards. I must say the Gee Bee Z is one beautiful airplane.I have not had my Gee Bee in the air yet because i have no way to transport it. So i have decided to sell her and stick with smaller airplanes i can transport in my Mini Cooper.The GeeBeeis ready to fly just need to add battery.

capnduane

Hey, motor12, sorry to hear you have to sell your Z. It is truely a unique model. If a guy was to leave the wing in 2 pieces, the whole package would be pretty small. Just have to figure a way to attach the bellypan at the field, screws, maybe? The Z is a attention getter at the field, no doubt. I have added quite a bit of scale detail, and the 30cc gas motor is completely hidden inside the cowl for a smooth look, save for the spark plug cap and exhaust pipe. The thing that amazes most people is, they think, Oooh, look at that little devil, bet the guy won't even get it off the ground! Then the Z speeds down the runway, lifts off pretty as you please, and grooves around the pylons.......Landings can get a little exciting at times if you don't pay attention to airspeed and altitude, but what the heck, gotta giv'em a little thrill for they money! Duane

PSJDBF

Do any of you guys no the exact yellow covering on the Seagull GeeBee Z I have some damage from a botched landing I need to repair & because the closest hobby shop is 1500Km's away I cant take a sample to match it up & will have to buy it on line & have it sent up.
Thanks in advance.
Steff.