gbjets

Hi Pete

Looks great, what was the weight and how much did you have to add up front.

Gaston

rcpete347

My Feedback: (251)

HI Gaston, the weight with the UAT filled and two 2400 MAH batteries in nose plus the ECU battery is 20.5 lbs on a docters scale. I'll more than likely take those 8oz batteries out, after i get a couple of flights in, since I like my CG way back.
Rcpete

gbjets

Pete

Thanks for the information , I'll be covering mine soon and let you know how it turns out. I hope to to make it to Quinte and see you this summer. In the meantime I have a brother- in-law in Tottenham, if I go there for a visit, I'll contact you.
Gaston

wooden shoes

My Feedback: (10)

Hi Pete
Last week the weather finally was a little better and I did all the testrunning, balancing, flapsetting, brakes etc. Now the waiting is for 55degrees and 5 knots and she will fly.
Will keep you posted
Ed

u2fast

My Feedback: (37)

she is already to go. the maiden will be this sunday at scobee. i will try to get some video. also, take a look at my next project. barry

Wayne22

My Feedback: (2)

I notice the hardwood wedge is missing from under the engine mount..

http://www.btemodels.com/r54pop/r54-6.html

BruceTharpe

My Feedback: (1)

Looks exceptional, Barry. Hope all goes well on Sunday. Have you had any rain in Texas - you don't need any more grassfires...

"Eagle-Eye" Nony is right. You need that thrust wedge in there for the proper thrustline.

Next project looks huge!

tschuy

My Feedback: (1)

You'll also should put the stainless sheet just above the turbine exhaust, or you'll melt the monokote.

Cheers,

u2fast

My Feedback: (37)

easy fellas. i guess i should restate, all will be complete by sunday for maiden. i also have to hook up the brakes, aileron and flap linkage. i tossed the turbine on to balance her. as for the alluminum, i have a friend in the printing business and he got me some alluminum the same thickness but it is much longer and i think i will use that instead. i did overlook the shim thogh[X(], thanks barry

u2fast

My Feedback: (37)

ok guys, a little late posting, but the test flight has been done. i went out sunday. there was a 20 plus 90 degree crosswind. therefore there was only a handful of guys at the field and one less christian eagle (the pilot wasnt big into rudders). anyway, started the p60 for the very first time at the field. started first try and then range check was performed. i had the antenna out so i could check the failsafe as well. got tired of walking, as i was a heck of a long way away. still no fail safe, so i just turned the transmitter off. bam, failsafe shutdown. range check was great (good old 10x). fueled her up again, aired up the retracts, restart, taxied around the runway up and down to see how she would handle the crosswind. no problems at all. must be the low wide stance. took her down to my left, the wind was strong and coming from behind me. throttled up slowly, fed in a little amount of right rudder. rolled about 200 feet and eased back. she leaped into the air. more than i would prefer, however i always maiden with 3 clicks of up elevator. got rid of that immediately. made my first turn down leg. no other trim was required. felt a little tail heavy for my liking, but no where near a handful. (second flight 2 ozs of lead was added and she was more to my liking) made a few roles, flew for 4 minutes and dropped the gear. half flaps and headed home. kept the speed up a little for the crosswind. floated right on by, next attempt, less speed, floated right by. third attempt, full flaps and throttled back a little earlier and landed like a stinkin trainer. and i mean it landed at a slow walk, crosswind and all. i just had no idea the wing loading was so light that she would really fly that slow. all other landings were nailed on the first attempt. the crosswind was a non issue. checked her over, fueled up again and away she went. all in all i put 6 flights on her sunday. did loops from the deck, inverted passes, knife edge passes, 4 point rolls and my favorite the rolling circle. summary: an absolute blast to fly and easy to fly. also, jetcat, that is a gem of a turbine. started perfect everytime. only downside, i have the stock tank and a uat tank. flights were only 5 minutes long. mostly 1/2 to 5/8 throttle and i only had enough fuel for maybe 3 go arounds, 2 for sure. i am going to squeeze another tank in ther or get the gary mueler or add a centerline tank. bruce, many thanks for building the ultimate everyday sport jet. barry ps i will be at the cleveland airport just north of houston this saturday and sunday for a little jet together if anyone wishes to see her fly.

TommyWatson

My Feedback: (1)

Congratulations,

Now you know what we have all been talking about.

I gave a friend some buddy box time on my first R54 on saturday, (HE is going to buy it), He hasnt stopped talking about it since.

Regards

rcguy!

My Feedback: (69)

U2fast,
Welcome to the R54 club! I enjoyed flying mine on the 70th flight as much as the 7th!

Dave Rigotti

afterburner

My Feedback: (18)

U2fast,
Congratulations. Nice description of a maiden flight. Maybe mine will be ready by springtime. Just wondering if everyone else has found that full flaps are needed to put the plane down where you want it? I'm not sure if the flap settings were mentioned in the manual. Thanks.

Marty

u2fast

My Feedback: (37)

to the flap setting question. it wasnt that she was going fast to land, it is more, she will fly so slow. i think i really needed to throttle back a little sooner. the crosswind kept me on the power a little longer. also, mr matt had asked if any r54's had flown with the inlet scoops added. now i can say yes. although, i have not seen the stock fuse fly, i cant believe there would be much of a change. my 54 handled very smoth and had a decent top speed. barry

Topgun2mo

My Feedback: (45)

Barry, it seems the concern over the inlets and somewhat covered engine was cooling for the engine. Did you notice any areas on the fuse that got too warm?

BruceTharpe

My Feedback: (1)

Hey Barry, your story had me on pins and needles :-) Congrats my friend! Hope you get a chance to fly in lighter wind conditions soon, you will really enjoy the smoothness. Getting used to landing this model takes a few attempts, even if you have flown other turbines, due to its surprising ability to slow down.

I hear you on the fuel. The Mueller tank is a possible solution (expensive). It would be fairly easy to install a third tank, maybe 16-20 oz. in the tailboom right behind the main tank. Problem is, that's slightly aft of CG and will require a bit more nose weight. This is something I need to investigate because it seems turbines are getting more powerful and thirstier all the time.

GoeKeli

My Feedback: (18)

Thanks Barry for your great story. I want to try one of these bad! If your interested in plumbing your own tank, here are some very nice nagalene tanks that are cheap and the same used by many retailers in the hobby.
http://store.karstsports.com/napowimore4o.html
Same as UAT and many euro dealers use. Not sure where to get hardware.

MR. Matt should be happy that someone has FINALLY answered his question!! lol.

Barry, if you could, could you please post some video of point rolls and rolling circles? I'm very interested in this plane because of the standard tail configuation. The twin boom planes all have a weird way of rolling in rolling manuvers. It could be just the looks but they don't feel quite right. I would hope the R54 could be neutral upright, inverted and side with some trimming and CG work. Your scheme is one of a kind man! Great job!


Joe Kelley

bobparks2

My Feedback: (1)

By my measurements, the DuBro is actually over 60 oz, and the Mueller is only about 10 oz more. If you completely filled the tank bay there is room for about 100 oz in there.

The concern with the extra aft tank is not so much the aft CG, but the CG shift as the fuel burns off. OTOH, a tank there for startup and taxi fuel could be a lot less hassle than a removable taxi tank, and if the fuel is essentially all gone before takeoff, its not a CG concern. A built in taxi tank could be anywhere you could find room for it.

If you REALLY want a lot of fuel, get the Mueller scale F-16 belly tank. 70+ extra ounces under the wing. Expensive, but very nicely done and strong enough that you can do a gear up landing with it on pavement and not worry about grinding through the Kevlar. I think you could drive a car over that thing without crushing it!

Bob (who will be getting back to work on his R54 as soon as I get the shop cleaned up so I have room to work on a big plane again!)

rcbart

Well my Reaction is finished construction, now only needs to have the turbine plumbed. It was made by Nony's Dad - he LOVES Bruce Tharpe kit, done 17 and 'forced me' at 'antenna point' to 'give up the kit'.

The covering doesn't show up too well in pictures, you can see the color shift as you move around. The white is also a pearl and quite glows in the sun.

Looking forward to launching her on our local grass fields.

Bart

rcguy!

My Feedback: (69)

Joe,
I can tell you the "stock R54 plane rolls almost perfectly. A little tiny bit of tail wag due to the thrust line. Otherwise...shes flies like a late seventies pattern plane. ( I should know) Point rolls to perfection. I enjoy 4 and 8 point rolls the best. Loops? Almost as big as you want. She tracks like on "rails!" No kidding! Roll inverted...the usual touch of forward pressure is required.

"Shes as fast, cool sounding "Super Kaos"

Dave Rigotti

rcguy!

My Feedback: (69)

The Mueller tank I had made holds 72ozs. You DON"T want to fill that cavity completely. The servo leads, airlines and turbine support suff MUST pass thru.

Dave Rigotti

u2fast

My Feedback: (37)

hello, i will be at a 2 day event this weekend and i will get plenty of video to post. as the heating/cooling issue. i can say for sure there is no problem either way. as soon as the turbine completed cool down, i could pick up the jet and have my hand directly on the stainless steel plate, it was room temp. no warmer than the monokote, which was no warmer than the outdoor temp. CANT WAIT FOR THE WEEKEND. barry

f6hlct

My Feedback: (4)

I thought that I would show the progress as I go through the Reaction build. I must say that the kit is amazing. The parts fit is perfect, and that this is truly a joy to build. The instructions have to be some of the most thorough and perfectly presented that I have ever seen in a RC kit. Well done.

I am showing the progress as I start the wing. I have joined the 2 wings together just to see the fit, and to admire the work. They really are not glued at this point.

Wayne22

My Feedback: (2)

Ha! that's a good one!

That color shift Ultracote is sure something else..I can't wait to see it in person.....on a sunny day of course!

For everyone else, Bart was talking Dean of Helijet into making wingbags for the R54. With all these beautiful covering jobs I'm seeing here, it's an idea to protect that large wing during transport and storage.....

wd40

My Feedback: (81)

I have a new one under way this is for Doc yates.