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Seagull Harmon Rocket

Old 09-19-2005, 11:48 AM
  #51  
boatman1069
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Default RE: Seagull Harmon Rocket

my new bird awaiting its maiden.

its got a sc 70fs engine..12 x 8 prop...Hope this is not over proping it Im not too keen on the spats put have modified them by putting the axel through both sides of the spat. the engine took me a while to figure out as the engine is right against the rear or the engine mount, only about 1mm off the back, but the prop driver comes out of the front canopy by about 10mm too much..it dont look too bad but would have liked to have it done correctly. With this engine in the C of G is spot on...wow.

wish me luck on the maiden next week.

looks realy cool i think....your views please

Ive now added a different spinner as the red plastic one wobled..i tried everything but never mind it still looks good with the new spinner...
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Old 09-19-2005, 01:20 PM
  #52  
MormonMike
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Default RE: Seagull Harmon Rocket

Boatman,Briguy, Uh.... Do you think there's any possible chance we might be slightly over-powering this little ARF ? One of the trademarks of the Rocket is that slim cowl and of course, a person can do what ever they like with their property. But I was just wondering, Maybe this little 40 size just was'nt meant to handle that big of a powerplant. There's been a number of component failures with using too much power. I dunno, maybe I should'nt talk so much and possibly irritate people. Maybe it's my imagination, but the little Enya .50 seems to scoot it along just fine with an 11-7 MA. [ and it's quite well hid in the cowl with very little alteration ] See Seagull Harmon Rocket 3 thread for a photo of mine. MM
Old 09-19-2005, 03:09 PM
  #53  
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Default RE: Seagull Harmon Rocket




[8D]mike you will probably find that your enya .50 makes more power than my sc70fs 4 stroke...yes its bigger in size and weight but i just like 4 strokes.....i will post a reply on here next week when i can maiden it....hopefully it will be a nice flyer with the 70fs in....[8D]
Old 09-21-2005, 11:50 AM
  #54  
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Default RE: Seagull Harmon Rocket

Has anyone tried to beef up the landing gear by laminating the aluminum gear with carbon fiber cloth?
Old 09-21-2005, 01:28 PM
  #55  
MormonMike
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Default RE: Seagull Harmon Rocket

WD, why not just cut out a new set with a sabre saw, little bit thicker metal, from a small sheet of scrap aluminum ? File it smooth/even, your done MM
Old 09-21-2005, 03:40 PM
  #56  
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Default RE: Seagull Harmon Rocket

It was roughly $10 for the Hangar 9 Dural .60 size landing gear in aluminum. It is almost 50% thicker, and considerably stronger than than the gear that came with the Harmon. It has withstood 25 or 30 of my characteristically high speed landings without failure.

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Old 09-22-2005, 10:14 AM
  #57  
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Default RE: Seagull Harmon Rocket


ORIGINAL: telepilot

Hi guys, just flew my new Harmon a few days ago...she's a sweet little bird. I posted a photo with text overlay in my gallery: Hope this will help
someone with their build. The thing just looks and flys so cool.

http://www.rcuniverse.com/gallery/ga...emberID=120772
Telepilot, I noticed you mounted all your servos in the rear as per the instructions, but you do have a larger/heavier engine than the .46AX I'll be using. MormonMike and others recommend moving the rudder servo up to the servo tray and using pull-pull cables -- do you think that's a good idea with a .46 which is a few ounces lighter? Also, any further flight experience or tips?

Oh, and thanks for posting the pic with comments!

Randy
Old 09-22-2005, 12:38 PM
  #58  
boatman1069
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Default RE: Seagull Harmon Rocket

Is the landing gear that bad.....i have not flown mine yet and yes it looks a little bit springy but is it causing problems on landing..my landing site does have a few bumps in it....should i modify it before i maiden it???
Old 09-22-2005, 02:12 PM
  #59  
bingo field
 
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Default RE: Seagull Harmon Rocket

It's not springy, it's soft. After every few landings, you will have to bend them toward the center again, or they will just keep splaying outward. It's not tough to fix, the Hangar 9 ones I used are hardened, you will see the difference immediately.

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Old 09-22-2005, 05:57 PM
  #60  
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Default RE: Seagull Harmon Rocket

Which "Hangar 9 ones"? Can you relay the part number? I'm sure we'd all like to have landing gear that is up to the task.

Randy
Old 09-22-2005, 07:35 PM
  #61  
kev71h
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Default RE: Seagull Harmon Rocket

I'm "sold" on this plane..I'm awaiting flying opinions.

Kev
Old 09-22-2005, 07:43 PM
  #62  
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Default RE: Seagull Harmon Rocket

These are what I used. I cut them in half, then had to trim about 4mm off the front and rear edge to get them to fit the slot in the fuse. I put the tapered edge to the front, the straight edge to the rear. I haven't had to rebend them yet, the originals lasted 3 flights, on the third, I got the spats tangled in the weeds at the approach edge of my runway, that's what twisted them.
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Old 09-26-2005, 01:33 PM
  #63  
pesari
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Default RE: Seagull Harmon Rocket

Hi, has anyone tried Super Tiger .51, I was looking at the RCU's page for this plane and some one has recommended Super Tiger .51.
Old 09-27-2005, 07:33 AM
  #64  
MormonMike
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Default RE: Seagull Harmon Rocket

Pesari, ST head is a little too big to fit in cowl, Enya has a smaller diameter head, but Hey, do what ever you like. have fun, MM
Old 09-27-2005, 08:24 AM
  #65  
bingo field
 
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Default RE: Seagull Harmon Rocket

Never having owned a cowled aircraft before, I have a question about the cowl fit. If I make the top of the cowl even with the fuse, how much space should I have at the bottom? I have about 3/8 of an inch on one side, about 1/4 " on the other, at the bottom. Is this normal? I thought it should fit a little more snug than that..
Old 09-27-2005, 01:33 PM
  #66  
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Default RE: Seagull Harmon Rocket

Leo, got your PM, Strange again. My cowl fit like a glove all the way around. But regardless, you should be able to adjust that. I mounted wood blocks with epoxy, I only needed to slip the cowl on about a quarter inch all the way around then used hidden nuts and 4-40 screws to hold it tight. Can you give me somemore pictures of the Rocket?. Did you take the sharp corners off the engine mount box so the cowl does'nt rub on them when mounted? I want to see your pull-pull setup and engine mounted a little closer please. Back to work, MM
Old 09-29-2005, 09:06 AM
  #67  
bingo field
 
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Default RE: Seagull Harmon Rocket

I am not deliberately holding back here, I am fighting a bad case of unemployment, and between phone calls, and trips out of town for interviews etc, I haven't had much time to work on anything. I had a couple of weeks where almost nothing was happening, and got work done around the house that hadn't been done for months, and took a few days here and there to fly and work on the plane. I may get to some more this afternoon, depends on how this morning ends up. I did get the elevator servos mounted at the tail, and the control rods hooked up. Next will be to remount the motor, then check the balance and see what I have to do from there. I will get some pictures in sometime in between.. We actually saw snow this morning, even though it was 55f. outside. Yech...
Old 09-30-2005, 09:16 PM
  #68  
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Default RE: Seagull Harmon Rocket

Well folks I just about finished my Harmon Rocket 3 today. What a fantastic bird that is!! I can hardly wait to maiden it next week. I didn't see this post until after I bought it. After seeing Mormonmikes smoked canopy I had to go with that myself. I also was wondering how the landing gear is going to hold up to any "heavy" landings! I might need to upgrade those later...seems very "squishy." I have an O.S. .46 AX in it. I really only had to cut space for the muffler. I hides that engine very well. Looks great. I just hope the engine doesn't overheat. I will post a few pictures of it later.
Thanks for the ideas.
Old 09-30-2005, 11:21 PM
  #69  
bingo field
 
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Default RE: Seagull Harmon Rocket

Give some room around the muffler to let heat escape, and open up the inlets in the cowl. It should run just fine.
Old 10-02-2005, 03:22 PM
  #70  
boatman1069
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Default RE: Seagull Harmon Rocket

Well guys i maidend it last week...I had 4 full tanks through it ...forget the low rates....use the full rates as its whats needed...anyway on the 3rd tank was taking off when the wind caught it and a wing dug in and it ended up kart wheeling down the runway[].
The slow speed characteristics is very twitchy to say the least. The landing gear is also very poor....it just bends and you see your plane getting lower to the ground..why use aluminium?
Well the damage was a lot considering i was still on the ground....the complete front box section that makes up the firwall broke off, also the cross strut that the wings screw to pulled out ( how poor is that ) you guy need to reinforce this part..
Anyway i have now repaired the damage and done a bit of reinforcing as well. i have fitted landing gear from a weston hype (carbon fibre) so this will not bend at least..my first impresions of the flight characteristics is a bit disapointing...i think a bit more wing area is needed.

i will give more report when i fly it next but my next 2 weekends are booked by the girlfriend[&o]. i think at this stage i should have paid the extra and got the P51 with retracts...
Old 10-02-2005, 03:26 PM
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boatman1069
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Default RE: Seagull Harmon Rocket

.
.
I Still think it looks sexy though....
Old 10-02-2005, 04:29 PM
  #72  
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Default RE: Seagull Harmon Rocket

When you say twitchy, do you mean kind of reactive to the ailerons? I feel that mine doesn't fly well until it really has some steam behind it. Slow speed is treacherous, it wants to tip stall. You are correct, it still looks good, it just seems that it should fly better.....
Old 10-02-2005, 04:40 PM
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boatman1069
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Default RE: Seagull Harmon Rocket

bingo...thats right it dont flight nice until its going at a reasonable speed. landings in cross wind are a bit fun as our landing strip aint too long so cannot come in fast....i think with a bit more wing it would be ok..mine is balance as per the manual ( 90mm ) from leading edge of wing but wonderd if a little nose heaver may help? The ailerons are very sensitive at speed but you need the full rates for slow speed flying...i think a bit more expo might help....what do you think?
Old 10-02-2005, 04:59 PM
  #74  
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Default RE: Seagull Harmon Rocket

I have tried nose heavy and moving the cg to the tail, my experience is = do not exceed the rear figure given. In our unit it is 3.5 inches, if your forward in metric is 90, I would warn against going further than about 95mm. Mine got really squirrelley. I just barely saved it from a cartwheel a couple of weeks ago, and you are correct, the rear attaching point for the wing could use some strengthening. All you have to do to see it is apply a little pressure from side to side and watch it flex. Mine wants to hunt in the wind, the tail seems large enough to do that, but get a little wind from the side, and it will roll 90 degrees from the runway in about a heartbeat. Kind of tough on the sticks to keep straight at that point. I would also caution against flaperons from my experience. The sensitivity to ailerons is only increased, it seems to point out "adverse yaw" when they are deployed using conservative settings for the flaps. Pushing the cg to the front will severly increase the landing speed, absolutely necessitating replacement of the landing gear with anything less destructable, and I went so far as to give 115% up throw on the elevator and could not get a flair at landing. If it wasn't flown to the ground, you would not land normally. An email to Horizon regarding the landing gear went unanswered, I don't figure that they would do anything about the gear. I haven't given up, I took my dremel tool and started cutting out more room for everything. I doubt I have shaved off more that 2 oz, but I just can't seem to want to give up on this....
Old 10-02-2005, 05:19 PM
  #75  
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Default RE: Seagull Harmon Rocket

.

here is my new landing gear..£22 from weston.....its not cheap but does look good.
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