mickreeves

On the question of the Hunter pylon shape - I attach a photo of the type supplied for the kit.
Of course there are other types but we cannot cover all the varieties This is a loss making exercise. The number sold does not cover the cost of the work.
On the point about the vacform parts for the drop tanks being rubbish, They can be assembled as shown in the instructions in a few minutes resulting in a lightweight, strong component. These are also cheap to replace if needed. Why do it the hard and expensive way with hand moulded epoxy which have no advantake? I am surprised that one builder found it easier to machine and finish two plugs, make two moulds, then two epoxy parts which are much the same as the vac formed ones. Days of work for no reason!
Mick

mickreeves

As a manufacturer, I find it depressing reading some of the comments on sites like these.
Some people look at a component, find it is different than the one they have used before, then condem it without ever trying it.
All the parts in our kits have been flight tested on my own models and have worked. Of course there are many different ways too do a job. Hinging for example. We have tried lots of ideas which all work, customers may prefer their own favourite way. Thats fine, but dont say the kit way is no good.
Our kits are designed to be as scale as possible, within time constraints. On the Hunter, the Elevator and Rudder systems are designed to hide non scale linkages, to be serviceable, and for the tails to detach in a few seconds. This has been achieved and it does work.
Dismantleability
I have decide that all my models will include this because;-
1. Models are bigger.
2. The extra work is worth it in that the building is easier. Imagine sanding and painting a tail panel with a 95" fuselage stuck to it! I find it hard to turn the fuselage round inside the workshop without knoking stuff of the shelves. So much easier broken down.
3. Storage. You only break down as much as you need for your circumstance.
4. Transport. Same as No. 3. I only take the wings off to drive to the field, but to fly abroad with the model in a box is when you are thankful it fits in very well.
Is the Hunter 'sensitive' in flight.
I reported that on the first flight it was a little sensitive, for the second flight I moved the CG forward. Like any model, the sensitivity is adjusted to taste by CG and control movements. I prefer plenty of control for the maiden flight and reduce it later as I wish.
Well, this has taken me an hour to write, thats an hour less to prepare the Hunter and Lightning kits we are sending out today. There is never enough time to do everything we want to, and we dont earn enough from this business as the average person, so we have to do all our own repairs etc to house and cars. Ive just spent two days fighting the central heating sytem. Will I ever get my new project flying for this year?
Mick

Gerald Rutten

Well said Mick!

Gerald

jacco.keja

Well, I cannot agree more. Do love intelligent solutions and the kit seems plentifull of these. Albeit, conclusions drawn from reading plans etc. Love this hread anyway and am in eager anticipation of the big box with goodies to be delivered next week!

ColinSt

The Hunter pylon supplied as part of the Mick Reeves kit is the correct shape for the outer position 100 gallon drop tank used on later marks of Hunter, but the inner pylon, which was used for both 100 and 230 gallon drop tanks was a different shape entirely, the 230 gallon tank also had an angled brace, as can be seen in the background of the image in Mick's posting.

The pylon Gordon has now built is the correct shape for the inner pylon.

As a point of interest, the small fairing on the top surface of the wing above the outer drop tank covers the charge used to jettison the tank. The inner 230 gallon tank could not be jettisoned as far as I am aware.

I have recently bought the Hunter kit, and hope to start it later this spring after I complete one of Mick's Lightning's, which is due to fly by early May.

Colin

EASYTIGER

My Feedback: (119)

Say, Gordon...you should order up the Mick Reeves cassette(not 8-track, but almost) tape of him playing the Hammond organ. He plays the "Theme From Thin Man" and lots of other stuff. It's pretty entertaining while you are building.

john agnew

ET

"Sarcasm is the lowest form of humour"

John

EASYTIGER

My Feedback: (119)

No, I really did enjoy Mick's tape, no sarcasm, though I don't blame you for misinterpreting it.

nmacwarbirds

Dear All
We have recently finished one of Mick's Lightnings, yes there are one or two things that could fit better. Having said that, it is no harder to build than the highly vaunted comp-arf Eurosport.
Which in all honesty I have not really enjoyed building. If you can not overcome one or two problems, then in my opinion you should not be building jets. The Lightning is ridiculously easy
to fly for a big heavy jet, relatively speaking.

At our club, (The Norwich model aero club) we have four FW 190's, three Hurricanes, 1 Spitfire,
1 Lightning and a Gangster. All built from Mick Reeves's kits and they all fly very well.

What other cottage industry kit manufacturer produce, A Sopwith Camel and Pup, in two different scales three different size Spitfires a Hurricane
FW 190, Venom, Hunter, Javelin, Lightning, and retracts to suit all of these models. This is just the scale stuff.

Mick and his family are very nice people and a pleasure to deal with, some people in this Country slag his models off but most of them have never built or flown one of his models.

All I have to do now is talk my Brother into buying the elegant Hunter.
Any body want to buy a Eurosport/Eurofighter.

Regards Phil G.
PS. Best of all he's British.

CJ2002

Hi all,

Thought you might like to see a photo of Ted Cooke's Miss Demeanour, built from one of Mick's kits.

Cheers,

Dick
England

jacco.keja

I must say the construction of the drop tanks -in contrats to what was mentioned eralier on was quite easy. crucial is to cust a small section out in front (see pics) the have the two halves interlock and ovelap. I also made a small jig out of scrap wood. Jus position nthe two halves, tack glue them with superglue a the front and rear. take them out of the jig, run some superglue between the halves then accelrate with kicker.
To form the main body I have put a strip of tape on my building board fldede a tube and left one side touch the other, Then agian run some superglue and kicker. Thats it. Smooth seem!

I hope the the rest of the kit coinstsructs as easy as well

jacco.keja

sorryfor the typos, sp-elle checker failed as well as uploading of pics

F86_SABRE

Dick,

Fantastic plane...anymore photos of that beauty??!!

Guys...how abt the Papyrus Hunter??

Reuben

CJ2002

>>Fantastic plane...anymore photos of that beauty??!!

Guys...how abt the Papyrus Hunter?? <<


Hi R,

I took just the one. Hoping to get a few flying shots of it this weekend, if Ted takes it to the Long Marston Jet Meet...will post them if I get any. Hope all's well there in beautiful Malta!

Cheers,

Dick

jacco.keja

last attempt

Countryboy

My Feedback: (25)

jacco.keja

Just sent you a PM

jacco.keja

real final attempot now,then i will mal you.

jacco.keja

and here the near finished products. grounded for paint. sanding was the moste timeconsuiming no major issues. very lightwight and rigid, now the rest of the plane.

GIR8

WELL SAID MICK

I dont think Gordon is right comparing your kits to bvm kits your jets are easily affordable to most modelers.
I have looked at the price of the bvm bandit and the retracts alone cost almost the same as your deluxe kit I have not got into jets yet but will be considering the mick reeves hunter or venom when I do.

Keep up the good work Mick

jacco.keja

Gordon, what's up any news from your side? Despite our nagging we enjoy your contributions very much.
j

Gordon Mc

My Feedback: (11)

Sorry mate... I simply haven't managed to get time to get anything done recently ... between all the prep work for a charity event that I just completed, and making arrangements for the memorial service for my old man, and handling various issues to do with a second house that we bought in HI, and a few million other things that needed to be taken care of (ok - that's a slight exaggeration) , I haven't had time to even do something as trivial as installing the new RX batteries in my CAI Raptor, far less work on the Hunter !!

About the only thing I have done in the last couple of months is the rudder servo mount and linkage - I did that different than Mick's plans, for mechanical advantage purposes (I'll post some details later in case anyone is interested, including the spreadsheet info on the torque requirements for various ways of doing the linkage).

Before going much further I need to figure out where I will install each component for CG purposes, but before I do that I need to decide what I intend to do about the tailpipe. The supplied one doesn't fit the way the plans show, plus it's single-walled, so I may just get Tam to make up a dual-walled pipe for me.

I wish I could promise to get stuck in and make more progress soon, but since it looks like things are about to change for me on the day-job front, there's no real certainty right now about how much time I'll have for any hobby stuff.

Sorry I couldn't supply any more interesting info for now []

Cheers,
Gordon

P.S. I stopped over in the Netherlands for a few hours a few weeks ago ... looks like Amsterdam was jam packed full of people celebrating Queen's Day! Maybe next time I'll be able to stop over for a day or two.

mickreeves

I see no reason for a double wall rear duct. I have never used one. They add to the cost and with ballast in the nose will add to the final weight.
I did cover the servo wires above the duct with aluminium tape and put wooden plates below each servo to shield from heat.
This was a precaution and may not have been neccessary.
How did your duct not fit? Too long? What?
Mick

Gordon Mc

My Feedback: (11)

Fair enough - it's a subjective issue... but I still intend investigating the use of a dual walled pipe for my aircraft. FWIW, the guy who reviewed the Hunter in the JetPower mag also chose to go with a dual walled pipe.

Yup - per the attached photos, the plan shows that the pipe stops at the F9 / F10 junction (presumably so that it is attached to the rear former when the fuselage halves are separated), but the supplied pipe is at least 3 inches too long for that to happen (the second pic is taken with the front of the pipe lined up where the plan indiates it should be, and shows the difference in length between the pipe and the fuselage section that it fits in.

No big deal .... I'm lucky enough to have a tailpipe specialist living less than 10 miles away so I'll just have him make a new one up for me.

mickreeves

Why not trim existing duct to length? Mick

Gerald Rutten

Hi Dick, just out of curiosity, do you know the all-up dry weight of Ted´s beautiful Hunter?

Many Thanks,
Gerald