AncientCityFlyer

Hobby-People now have the 40 size BH Gilmore Lion in stock for $219.99. Anyone out there have/order/buy one yet? I ordered one today, looks great. Hope to hear some input about this arf. Mike

Texastbird

If it is like my two Blackhorse models, it ought to be a winnner. I love the "Gilmore Lion".

pdansalvish

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I just ordered one should be here in week to 10 days.

_Tommy D

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Got one on the way as well.

Texastbird

Show us some pictures!

AncientCityFlyer

Here ya go.........Should be seeing mine the end of the week.

pdansalvish

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TommyD what engine are you planning on using?

_Tommy D

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The good people at Hobby People are sending the model for review. That said I will sure whatever they provide. In a prefect world one would think <electric wise> a high volt, low amp spinning a BIG prop would be the ticket.

Who wanted to see more pics??

Tommy D

jcw111

Picked up the Gilmor Lion today and it is a real nice airplane. The usual great covering with no bubbles or wrinkles. It will stay that way for a few days and then they start to show up.Anyway I don't see how this thing is going to fly on a 46 or even a 55 with any kind of authority. The tank is 8 OZ but You can fit a 12 OZ in the space provided. I am checking with those of you who have looked the plane over for your impressions and suggestions. I plan on using an OS 61 which will probably require a bigger motor mount which is not a problem. Would appreciate your comments

Jw

AncientCityFlyer

JW..........Received my Gilmore Lion today. Must say I'm pretty impressed. I've built the BH T-28 and it was a great ARF. This one appears to be of equal quality. Unpacked to inspect it, and no noted damage, however be careful as mine had most of the bubble wrap stapled together instead of tape which could cause you to put a tear in the covering when you removed the wings, fuse, etc. from the bubble wrap. The packaging was good. (I've seen better). No wrinkles in any of the covering. Hardware is typical for an ARF. I used almost all of the hardware that came with the T-28 and I'll probably do the same with the Lion. The cowl is huge, plenty of room for almost any size engine. The internal framing seems to be ok. I'm planning on adding CA to most areas I can reach. The wheel pants/strut covers look like they will be a bit of a challenge as it appears the lower wheel pant slides up into the upper strut cover which is attached to the underside of the wing. Unfortunately there is only pictures showing how to do this. I haven't decided on an engine yet, I've got O.S. 46 AX w/a Pitts muffler but tend to agree with you about it being enough, also have a Thunder Tiger .61 w/ a Pitts muffler which I'm leaning toward also. I haven't really gotten into the meat & potatoes of it yet but it shouldn't be a bad build. One thing however.....the instructions are absolutely some of the worst I've seen. The manual has about 20-25 pages and only 3-4 contain any printing, the rest is nothing but pictures and some of the pictures only, apply to some fairly important assembly steps. I plan on some "dry runs" before final assembly on certain stages of assembly. Someone with experience, who has assembled several ARFs shouldn't have any problems with this one. However, this isn't an ARF for a beginner, only due due to the lack of printed instructions. I've got another bird on the bench right now so it will be a week or so before I begin assembly of the Lion. I'll be sure to monitor this thread to see how others are doing then join in when I start mine.

jcw111

Thank you for the reply. I too built the T28 and it flies great with a OS 61. I have pretty much decided to put a Saito 56 in the Lion The 4 stroke will simplify the exhaust arrangement and should haul it pretty good. I have built so many ARF's I think I could do it blindfolded. Yes I picked up on the staples right away and was real careful. I sure would like to know how thwy get the covering applied so well. As I said in my post it is programmed to start wrinkleing in a day or so after unpacking. It has started today. Haven't checked the gear arrangement as yet but I agree it will probably be a challenge. Instructions are fair but not for a beginner. I am a slow builder as I am retired and like to play around and change things. Maybe someone has built and flown one. Would sure like to hear about the adventure. Good Luck

Jw

_Tommy D

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There are a few videos of it on YouTube flying.

Mine showed today. Too tired to unpack it... Ill have a look tomorrow.

Tommy D

RCDog14

Hi i also have the T28 with os 91 4 stroke with pump really a great plane allso have smoke system the only concern i have is, wish the landing gear was a little beefier i only have a rough grass strip and i always bend wire maybe need a little more training!!! do you think

jcw111

Has anyone completed and flown the Lion ? If not how far along are you building it. I am fitting the landing gear and am kind of at a loss as to the length of the supporting strut. The length of this determines the location of the wheels in relation to the leading edge of the wing. As far as the instructions are concerned they plain suck. As I mentioned in my previous post I have built a bunch of these ARFs and figured it would be a breeze-was I ever wrong. They also show glueing the spats or wheel covers to the wing No way should this be done. At some point they will have to be removed to tweek the gear after a rough landing or what ever. Would appreciate any comments or suggestions. Also have decided to use a new Irvine 53 for power. I have been breaking it in flying a GP Ugly stick and it hauls it almost vertical out of sight using an APC 11X7. Lots of power.

JW

pdansalvish

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I haven't started mine yet. Working on a VQ Dago Red. Once it is done, the lion is next. Planning on using an evo 52 to haul it.

AncientCityFlyer

JW....Mine's still in the box, got a Giant Sun Dancer I'm finishing up on the bench. When it's done I'll start on the Lion. When I looked over the instructions I was baffled as to exactly how to install the brace strut. I agree with you about "CAing the strut covers in place...no way to tweak the gear afterwords. As I noted on an earlier post these instructions are by far the worst I've ever seen, and I've built about 15 ARF's so far. The "picture" type instructions can usually be figured out, but the info on the landing gear leaves me at a loss. Guess I'll have to take a break from the Sun Dancer and have a look at the Lion gear set-up today, and see if I can figure out something. I doubt if anyone at Hobby-People would be able to help with info on the gear, as "they" probably didn't have any input on the instruction manual. Will keep you posted. Mike

jcw111

Mikethanks for the reply. I have it figured out (I think) The rear strut must be trimmed. The position of the gear wire is determined by the Wheel cover cuffthe small deal that the main cover slides into. You must be careful when trimming the strut and not cut it to short. This whole process is a trial and fit. Match the curvature of the cuff to the wing. That is as far as I have adventured so far. I did strip the paint from one of the wire assemblys and they are brazed together and should not come apart. I am going to call HP tomorrow and tell them-in a nice way-that the instructions are terrible. Just go at it with a lot of thought and trial fitting and if you are so inclined a few beers may also help. As I get along with the assembly I will post my results

JW

AncientCityFlyer

JW...I'm with you, I did the same thing on the wire struts, yep they're brazed so we shouldn't need to wire wrap and silver solder them. I think I'll use some scrap music wire and do the bending and cutting of it and mock it up to real strut before I cut on the real thing, pretty much what you are doing. Like you, I don't want to cut off too much. The landing gear seems like the only real issue with this ARF and that's doable...
I'm curious as to what HP will say. Mike

jcw111

Mike

I talked to HP today and had a good conversation with a guy named Russ. This guy was terrific. He went to their shop and he got his Lion that he had built and flown and we went over all the problems he had which by the way were the same problems as mine. To sum it all up I have a better idea as to the fit of the wheel covers-position etc. I will be at it again today with a few more ideas one of which is to use a wheel axe that I can adjust to lower the wheel into the cover. Using this method will allow me to adjust the toe-in if necessary. All this crap is difficult to put into words but you will probably encounter the same thing when you start putting it together. This is a real challange. I will update the progress as I go along so you guys don't have to re-invent the wheel.

As to HP customer service there is none better.

JW

AncientCityFlyer

JW....Thanks for the up-date. Will be watching your posts. Thanks, Mike

jcw111

To those of you that are interested. I have completed one gear installation-one more to go ! I am only listing what I have done to make this work. Maybe you guys can find a better way but the basics of my install are as follows

1Do not trim or cut the cuff. Do not glue the cuff to the wing use 4 small wood screws

2Cut the axel off the wire. Use one that will slip over the wire that has a set screw to tighten. This allows you to easily remove the axel and wheel while you are fiddleing with alignment. It also allows you to raise or lower the wheel so it will fit in the wheel pant.

3 I haven't decided whether to glue the strut cover and wheel pant to the cuff or not. I want everything removable where possible especially with landing gear

4 The strut support wire that just slides in the rear hole in the wing will have to be trimmed. How much to trim is your guess. This determines the wheel position in relation to the leading edge of the wing

All this will become obvious when you start the gear installation. End of story and good luck.
Will gladly answer any question just PM me

JW

AncientCityFlyer

JW...... I think I've come up with a solution to the wheel pant to cuff attachment. I'm going to try to sandwich a couple pieces of lite-ply on each side of the main gear strut and diagonal brace. Either epoxy or maybe thru-bolt the pieces together. The overall thickness of the wire strut and the combined pieces of ply will be about the same dimension as the side to side dimension of the inside of the wheel pant. I plan on adding a couple layers of light fiberglass to the insides of the wheel pants also. In theory, if I slide the wheel pant on over the main gear strut and brace with the ply on each side it will be a snug fit side-to-side. Slide it down into the cuff and locate it where I want to be in it's final location. Then drill 2 small holes on the inboard side of the pant, then drill into the ply. Attach with small self-taping screws with small nylon washers. This way I can remove the screws and lower the pant into the cuff a little bit more and be able to attach the wheel. This way I've got what I think is a pretty secure method of attaching the wheel pant and still be able to remove it or adjust it. I may also try to find some red vinyl tape to cover the joint between the wheel pant strut and the cuff, just to keep it from moving too much. This is just theory right now but I plan on attempting this sometime next week. Will post my results. Mike

jcw111

Mike
A couple of suggestions Put two (2) straps on the gear to hold it down. Keep in mind that the gearpants and cover are cosmetic only. Got to make sure the wire gear can move around if it subjected to side loads and any other loads that it might incounter. Your ideas sound good. I haven't made any attempts to secure the gear cover as yet. Still looking and thinking. I built a PT 22M with a Saito 100 which was my first exposure to the same style gear with pants covers etc. It was a breeze compared to this one. The gear does move around considerably on landing. One other thing that you might want to do is inlarge the wheel pant opening. I kind of go overboard with this. The wheels squish out quite a bit on landing. Also the pant will pick up all kinds of gravel and stuff should you have a paved runway as we do. Our run offs are all fine desert gravel that fill up the pants in a hurry. Got to have some place to get out thus the big opening

Keep me posted on your progress-Have fun

JW

MANFRED

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Wonder when the big one will arrive?

cloudancer03

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god I love the plane and the mystery travel air.is there a lion out there thats 1/4 scale??show us the videos .its a very impressive plane.