Lotsofcrashes

Hey guys, picked up mine today and yep, they still have those stupid picture instructions. Can anyone recommend a good build thread ??

taildragger21

My Feedback: (197)

Your probably gonna like a 16x8 or 17x6 better on that plane. I have a satio 170 r3 radial and it is VERY modestly powered. I am swinging a xoar 16x8 and I tryed them all and the 16x8 was best..

slither46

Alright, I've been bit by the Gee Bee bug and just committed to one of these birds. I am trying to research what to power it with. Some say that a 26cc gasser is marginal for a plane that is supposed to be a race plane. Always like to use a little overkill on power in my planes but I don't want to go overboard with weight in the nose. ( I have a Dynaflite Super Decathalon with a 52cc engine!). I was thinking of a brison 2.4 for a little extra zing or possibly a Gemini twin four stroke for that nestalgic sound. Does the plane normally call for nose weight to balance? How much engine is too much? Any help would be appreciated. Bill

taildragger21

My Feedback: (197)

Mine balances fine with the satio 170 r3 in the nose. I would imagine with the engine,exaust, and glow driver in the nose it weights close to 4 lbs. Your engine choices should balance out fine..

Lotsofcrashes

Hey Slither, im building my GB now and going for the 26cc engine because I had one laying around. I cant answer your question for you on motor size but Im learning about building the plane pretty quickly and we can compare notes along the way if you like. 

RC Larry-RCU

My Feedback: (1)

My wife has been flying hers with a SPE 43cc for the last year and a half. Yes, MY WIFE! She LOVES this plane, wouldnt trade it for anything. She even flew it at Joe Nall last year, making many trips to the flight line. Anyway,,,,, this plane easily handles the 43cc and really hauls the coals when she firewalls it. I did just finished doing its second airframe inspection to start the 2010 season, and its holding up great. Only issues we've ever had was the landing gear and cowl mounts. Small screws in gear tended to fall out after several flights. We have the newer style gear. They are pretty small screws, and realyy take a beating when the gear retracts out after rebounds. I ordered a new set of gear, but upgraded to a larger bolts, and drilled and tapped the screws to fo through both sides of the inner strut. Gear works great now.
The other small issue was in the cowl mounting blocks. They would sometimes vibrate loose letting the cowling bounce around. That was a very simple fix. I simply reglued the blocks in, them drilled and pinned the blocks using 3/16" dowels. We reun a 24 ox tank, and she typically flies 20 to 25 minutes on a flight. That lil SPE is a fuel sipper !
All in all, this is one great flying airplane. God forbid she ever crash it! But if she does, we'll have another one on order immeidiarely!

Lotsofcrashes

Hi Larry, your wife sounds real nice and it must be great to share a hobby like this. I have almost built my Gee Bee and will probably maiden in about a week. I was just looking at the cowl and scratching my head as to how the fake motor insert fits into it. I dont suppose you would have a pic of that. The other thing I was wondering about is the plastic pan for the underside of the wing. Do you use this ??? I dont want to be drilling holes in the plane for something not that important. 

slither46

I'm just putting mine together now, Almost done. As far as the landing gear, I made the mistake of bolting them to the wing first...don't. You need to disassemble the gear before inserting it into the wheel pants. You can' put the set screw back in if it's bolted to the wing. It is relatively easy to put the screw back in if it is not bolted to the wing and then bolt the assemblt to the wing. Also, when making the holes in the wheel pants for the axles and screws that hold it to the gear. I used a Dremel right angle drill and shortened a small drill bit and drilled these holes from the INSIDE with the gear in place. No eyeballing and no guessing. Then you enlage the holes as needed from the outside. Hopefully will have her up for Thanksgiving weekend. I'm running a Brison 3.2 with EI.

Tweek

Still flying my 1st generation version and loving it!

Wind_of_Change

Brett,

The engine facade requires the little half-moon shaped wood pieces. Those fit around the inside of the cowl, the curved side fitting snug in the concave ring of the cowl with epoxy. Then screw the facade to those wood pieces.

I flew with that plastic pan on the belly only once, then just flew without it. It's not necessary.

You should be able to find replacement nylon bolts at your hardware store. I bought a bag of them online. They're plenty strong to hold the wing on. They will snap off if you ever run into anything, which could save your wing from more serious damage.

If you can't find any, let me know and I can send you some of mine.

pjwilletts

There are 4 small airfoil shaped wood parts..about 1'square..what are these for??

pjwilletts

I have the newer verson w/upgraded LG..I noticed that there is a lot of toe OUT on the LG..normally it is set w/toe in...any problems w/this??