Byron (Iron Bay) Gee Bee R2
08-01-2016, 07:43 PM
#127
It's Mike what's yours? Richard is known to let unimportant things like working for a living get in the way of his building. We all know he'll just blow it all on unnecessary things like food, clothing, shelter, and utilities. (Sigh) The guy just has mixed up priorities. ;-)
08-02-2016, 09:28 AM
#130
So here is the gear completed and ready for mounting.
As I continue to look at this Gee Bee, I find many faults with its scale fidelity... more than I had originally noticed.
However, most of them will go unnoticed by all but the most ardent and anal Gee Bee R2 fans
IF the thing flies really well, that will be its redemption.
If not, well, at least I can join the small number of Byron Gee Bee builders who've been there, done that
Time to wax the wings, apply the striping tape and the vinyl markings.
08-02-2016, 09:30 AM
#131
It's Mike what's yours? Richard is known to let unimportant things like working for a living get in the way of his building. We all know he'll just blow it all on unnecessary things like food, clothing, shelter, and utilities. (Sigh) The guy just has mixed up priorities. ;-)
08-02-2016, 10:11 AM
#133
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I recently moved to Oxnard, Ca. My regular field was Apollo in Van Nuys,Ca. Now I'm 50 miles away and not happy about it. Apollo is one of the larger public fields in California, (maybe the U.S.) 600'x75' paved, 400' dirt, 2 large pads for u-control and about 5 acres for helos and drones. All on about 100 acres? Part of a complex of three 18 hole courses, 2 parks with a lake, a wildlife wetland fed by a waste treatment plant all behind a flood control dam. I think the entire thing is more than 500 acres. Right in the middle of L.A.s largest suburb, the San Fernando Valley. It's an asphalt jungle.
08-02-2016, 10:25 AM
#134
Wing airfoil is twice as thick as what would be scale. While this should contribute to much better flight characteristics, it is a very noticeable deviation.
The vertical and horizontal stabilizers are also MUCH thicker than scale.
The horizontal stab is located too high on the fuselage. I can only assume Byron did this to keep it from being blanked out by the fattest portion of the cowl, especially when flaring.
The wheel pants are not exact shape and the gear placement is too far forward. The gear are also not scale length... too short.
The canopy section of the fuselage is too wide.
I wish they would have molded louvers into the forward section of the fuselage, per full scale.
Otherwise, it's PERFECT!
Bottom line for me is that I have 60 flights under my belt with two CARF Gee Bee's. After some mods, my second was about as close to scale as anything out there. NEITHER Gee Bee was "fun" to fly. VERY stressful!!
The only FUN part about flying them was the ooohs, ahhhs, and attaboys from onlookers.
I NEVER felt even remotely comfortable flying them. Once in a great while, that kind of RC stress is OK... but I don't generally do a hobby to get stressed out.
IF this Byron flies well I will consider it a triumph, despite its scale deviations.
p.s. I edited this post because I also failed to mention the Byron stab span is WAY too long... again, I believe to prevent the stab from losing its effectiveness at slower speeds and/or high angles of attack. I shortened mine to within 1 inch of scale. Byron also built in a couple degrees of negative incidence on the stab ("up" elevator) and corresponding down thrust on the engine.. WHY??? I eliminated both, but the wing still has approx. 2.5 deg. of positive incidence per the full scale. WHO KNOWS if these mods will yield good or bad dividends....
The vertical and horizontal stabilizers are also MUCH thicker than scale.
The horizontal stab is located too high on the fuselage. I can only assume Byron did this to keep it from being blanked out by the fattest portion of the cowl, especially when flaring.
The wheel pants are not exact shape and the gear placement is too far forward. The gear are also not scale length... too short.
The canopy section of the fuselage is too wide.
I wish they would have molded louvers into the forward section of the fuselage, per full scale.
Otherwise, it's PERFECT!
Bottom line for me is that I have 60 flights under my belt with two CARF Gee Bee's. After some mods, my second was about as close to scale as anything out there. NEITHER Gee Bee was "fun" to fly. VERY stressful!!
The only FUN part about flying them was the ooohs, ahhhs, and attaboys from onlookers.
I NEVER felt even remotely comfortable flying them. Once in a great while, that kind of RC stress is OK... but I don't generally do a hobby to get stressed out.
IF this Byron flies well I will consider it a triumph, despite its scale deviations.
p.s. I edited this post because I also failed to mention the Byron stab span is WAY too long... again, I believe to prevent the stab from losing its effectiveness at slower speeds and/or high angles of attack. I shortened mine to within 1 inch of scale. Byron also built in a couple degrees of negative incidence on the stab ("up" elevator) and corresponding down thrust on the engine.. WHY??? I eliminated both, but the wing still has approx. 2.5 deg. of positive incidence per the full scale. WHO KNOWS if these mods will yield good or bad dividends....
Last edited by RichardGee; 08-02-2016 at 10:42 AM.
08-02-2016, 10:40 AM
#136
I recently moved to Oxnard, Ca. My regular field was Apollo in Van Nuys,Ca. Now I'm 50 miles away and not happy about it. Apollo is one of the larger public fields in California, (maybe the U.S.) 600'x75' paved, 400' dirt, 2 large pads for u-control and about 5 acres for helos and drones. All on about 100 acres? Part of a complex of three 18 hole courses, 2 parks with a lake, a wildlife wetland fed by a waste treatment plant all behind a flood control dam. I think the entire thing is more than 500 acres. Right in the middle of L.A.s largest suburb, the San Fernando Valley. It's an asphalt jungle.
08-02-2016, 10:54 AM
#138
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Wing airfoil is twice as thick as what would be scale. While this should contribute to much better flight characteristics, it is a very noticeable deviation.
The vertical and horizontal stabilizers are also MUCH thicker than scale.
The horizontal stab is located too high on the fuselage. I can only assume Byron did this to keep it from being blanked out by the fattest portion of the cowl, especially when flaring.
The wheel pants are not exact shape and the gear placement is too far forward. The gear are also not scale length... too short.
The canopy section of the fuselage is too wide.
I wish they would have molded louvers into the forward section of the fuselage, per full scale.
Otherwise, it's PERFECT!
Bottom line for me is that I have 60 flights under my belt with two CARF Gee Bee's. After some mods, my second was about as close to scale as anything out there. NEITHER Gee Bee was "fun" to fly. VERY stressful!!
The only FUN part about flying them was the ooohs, ahhhs, and attaboys from onlookers.
I NEVER felt even remotely comfortable flying them. Once in a great while, that kind of RC stress is OK... but I don't generally do a hobby to get stressed out.
IF this Byron flies well I will consider it a triumph, despite its scale deviations.
p.s. I edited this post because I also failed to mention the Byron stab span is WAY too long... again, I believe to prevent the stab from losing its effectiveness at slower speeds and/or high angles of attack. I shortened mine to within 1 inch of scale. Byron also built in a couple degrees of negative incidence on the stab ("up" elevator) and corresponding down thrust on the engine.. WHY??? I eliminated both, but the wing still has approx. 2.5 deg. of positive incidence per the full scale. WHO KNOWS if these mods will yield good or bad dividends....
The vertical and horizontal stabilizers are also MUCH thicker than scale.
The horizontal stab is located too high on the fuselage. I can only assume Byron did this to keep it from being blanked out by the fattest portion of the cowl, especially when flaring.
The wheel pants are not exact shape and the gear placement is too far forward. The gear are also not scale length... too short.
The canopy section of the fuselage is too wide.
I wish they would have molded louvers into the forward section of the fuselage, per full scale.
Otherwise, it's PERFECT!
Bottom line for me is that I have 60 flights under my belt with two CARF Gee Bee's. After some mods, my second was about as close to scale as anything out there. NEITHER Gee Bee was "fun" to fly. VERY stressful!!
The only FUN part about flying them was the ooohs, ahhhs, and attaboys from onlookers.
I NEVER felt even remotely comfortable flying them. Once in a great while, that kind of RC stress is OK... but I don't generally do a hobby to get stressed out.
IF this Byron flies well I will consider it a triumph, despite its scale deviations.
p.s. I edited this post because I also failed to mention the Byron stab span is WAY too long... again, I believe to prevent the stab from losing its effectiveness at slower speeds and/or high angles of attack. I shortened mine to within 1 inch of scale. Byron also built in a couple degrees of negative incidence on the stab ("up" elevator) and corresponding down thrust on the engine.. WHY??? I eliminated both, but the wing still has approx. 2.5 deg. of positive incidence per the full scale. WHO KNOWS if these mods will yield good or bad dividends....
Last edited by MLibman; 08-02-2016 at 11:05 AM.
08-02-2016, 10:57 AM
#139
I consider beer to be one of the four food groups (along with bacon, cheese, and mixed nuts)
While I like and appreciate virtually all well-crafted beers, the ones I always seek out and crave are highly hopped ales (IPAs, Double IPAs, Imperial IPAs)
When the colder weather hits, I do find the occasional wheat beer or stout to be a nice change of pace, but IPAs are the beers I adore... the hoppier, cloudier, more citrusy and floral.. the better!
I have sampled many German beers, from Denmark to Bavaria. After two weeks in Germany I am starving from something OTHER THAN a LAGER!!
The only beers they brew that technically fall into the "ale" category, are wheat beers, alts, and Kolsch, although even those have more lager than ale characteristics. And when it comes to HOPS, their most hoppy beer would be a Pilsener, which in my world, tastes like the hops walked through the boil on stilts.
I was once on a plane with a German guy and we got on the subject of beer. I asked him what I considered to be a loaded and rhetorical question: "What country do you think has the best beers in the world?" He told me without hesitation, "why, America of course." He said that while Germany certainly produces a nice variety of high quality beers, America offers everything Germany does TIMES 10!
I agree.
08-02-2016, 12:46 PM
#142
Did you manage to get it to balance without adding too much weight to the nose? Also, I've seen you fly the CARF on youtube and you looked steady. I've seen quite a few videos with Hans flying a CARF with various set ups. Did he ever get comfortable with his? It's still one of my goals to build one.
Bottom line is that a scale Gee Bee R1, R2 or Z are NOT airplanes for the faint of heart. They are not good "sport" airplanes nor are they any good for the pilot who occasionally loses concentration or focus. Neither are these airplanes right for the builder that isn't a stickler for set-up details, as even the smallest in flight emergency can exceed ANY remaining bandwidth you may have for additional focus and concentration. Every landing requires 100% attention, and even that does not guarantee success. Big Extras, Edges, Yaks and other marvelous flying thingz are TERRIBLE practice planes for a scale Gee Bee.
08-02-2016, 01:03 PM
#143
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I've wrecked every one I've ever had. I did, however get quite a few flights in with the Page knockoffs, 30cc. The one that flew the best (and landed best) was the Haffke 1/4(R-1). with the 50cc. It really did everything well. Couldn't save it from dumb thumbs, though. Still haven't decided on my next one yet. Maybe that Byron if yours flys well.
08-02-2016, 09:40 PM
#145
I've wrecked every one I've ever had. I did, however get quite a few flights in with the Page knockoffs, 30cc. The one that flew the best (and landed best) was the Haffke 1/4(R-1). with the 50cc. It really did everything well. Couldn't save it from dumb thumbs, though. Still haven't decided on my next one yet. Maybe that Byron if yours flys well.
08-04-2016, 08:05 AM
#146
Looks like your GeeBee is going to be a gorgeous plane. You cant argue with good results but I have a question. On more that one occasion you have mentioned waxing and then applying the striping tape. Usually waxing is the last thing done. Am I missing something?
08-04-2016, 07:17 PM
#148
AT this stage of the build, I am in full "finishing mode" with no real direction other than to address each remaining item as I am motivated to do so. Paint is DONE. Striping tape is DONE. Additional markings remain... Here is where the project is today...
