RE: Great Planes Reactor GP/EP 3D ARF .46-.70  
View related threads: (in this forum | in all forums)

Tower Hobbies
Enter up to 4 keywords or Tower stock numbers
Logged in as Guest



Users viewing this topic: RCAA
  Printable Version
       

All Forums >> RC Airplanes >> 3D Flying! >> RE: Great Planes Reactor GP/EP 3D ARF .46-.70
Page: <<   < prev  3 4 [5] 6 7 8 9 10 11 12   next >   >>  

Login
Message << Older Topic   Newer Topic >>
RE: Great Planes Reactor GP/EP 3D ARF .46-.70 - 1/26/2007 3:14:30 AM   
Daniel Z



Posts: 407
Joined: 2/17/2002
From: Stgo,
Status: offline 		any updates?

(in reply to Celidon)
       Post #: 101

RE: Great Planes Reactor GP/EP 3D ARF .46-.70 - 1/28/2007 2:56:25 PM   
cmala3


 

Posts: 34
Joined: 1/15/2007
From: , AL,
Status: offline 		Well, I got mine in the air for the first time yesterday. I put an OS 46FX on it and it flys very well. It is very smooth and predictable. However, it is not 3D capable with this engine. Now I do have standard size servos in the tail (3) and I had to put a weighted prop nut on the front to balance it so it may weigh a little more than it should but I have not weighed it.

Craig

(in reply to Celidon)
       Post #: 102

RE: Great Planes Reactor GP/EP 3D ARF .46-.70 - 1/28/2007 3:01:19 PM   
JustErik


 

Posts: 564
Joined: 7/19/2006
From: Charlottesville, VA, USA
Status: offline 		Craig,

Thanks for the flight report. What is your all up weight? How much did you have to add to the nose?

_____________________________

"Toy airplanes are for people with more money than sense."
- My Ex-wife

(in reply to cmala3)
       Post #: 103

RE: Great Planes Reactor GP/EP 3D ARF .46-.70 - 1/29/2007 3:44:36 AM   
RobertC



Posts: 282
Joined: 3/6/2002
From: Redmond, WA, USA
Status: offline 		Well, we had a gorgeous weekend here in Seattle-- and I got the chance to maiden the Reactor!

First of all, WOW! This plane is "locked-in" like you cannot believe. As smooth-- if not more-so-- than my VenusII! Didn't have a chance to try all-out 3D, but I guess that I am getting ahead of myself...

First of all, I had to mount my 5-cell 1400 mAh pack in the VERY BACK of the hatch area! Even here, with the RX also in the rear, it barely balances at the recommended point. I guess that since my tank is on the C.G. this is fine. I didn't get a chance to weigh the complete airframe.

I ran a few tanks of YS 20/20 through the .63 (full-throttle runs, 3-4 minutes each and 5 minute cool-down in between). After this, I was able to get a very reasonable idle. I was running an APC 11-7 (which was recommended for break-in) and, unfortunately, I forgot my "flying-prop" at home. I was almost worried that the 11-7 wouldn't get the plane off the ground. Boy, was I wrong!

Still very rich, and running the too-small APC, I opened-up the throttle and watched the plane race down the runway. It easily took to the air and required only a small amount of trim to fly straight as an arrow. And that is exactly what it felt like I was flying! The YS .63 is plenty of power for this airframe-- it was unlimited even as rich (and under-propped) as it was! Roll-rate, as anybody who has seen the size of the ailerons will guess, was like a drill... on low-rates! Snaps were quick and felt like they stopped immediately on releasing the controls. Made a few knife-edge passes-- required very little rudder and almost no coupling! I pulled the plane into a hover-- fully expecting the plane to fall-out almost immediately with that tiny prop-- and it was rock solid! Probably easier to hover than my U-Can-Do!

First landing was an absolute breeze. The plane is very "slippery" (again, probably due to the thin airfoil), but I was still able to slow enough for an easy landing (even at the fast idle of the still-new Y.S.).

With all this well-deserved praise, I have to mention the one minor problem that I had: the plane has a tendency to nose-over on taxi and landing. It never *actually* nosed-over, but I had to catch it a few times (and I had to hold full-up elevator-- on high-rates-- to keep the tail on the ground). Note that I am flying off grass.

This minor issue aside, I highly recommend the plane! Everybody liked the look of the plane (color and shape), and loved the way it flew! I am looking forward to putting a "real" prop on and seeing what else it can do.

(in reply to JustErik)
       Post #: 104

RE: Great Planes Reactor GP/EP 3D ARF .46-.70 - 1/29/2007 8:23:04 AM   
fayrwerks


 

Posts: 66
Joined: 10/17/2006
From: nil, AA, USA
Status: offline 		can the reactor be a good pattern airplane or second plane (on low rates). im planning to get the venus 46 as second plane but if the reactor will fly smoother on low rate then its reactor for me.

(in reply to RobertC)
       Post #: 105

RE: Great Planes Reactor GP/EP 3D ARF .46-.70 - 1/29/2007 9:07:37 AM   
fayrwerks


 

Posts: 66
Joined: 10/17/2006
From: nil, AA, USA
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: cmala3

Well, I got mine in the air for the first time yesterday. I put an OS 46FX on it and it flys very well. It is very smooth and predictable. However, it is not 3D capable with this engine. Now I do have standard size servos in the tail (3) and I had to put a weighted prop nut on the front to balance it so it may weigh a little more than it should but I have not weighed it.

Craig


craig,

could you please post a pict of the reactor with OS 46... im planning to use the 46AX. thanks

(in reply to cmala3)
       Post #: 106

RE: Great Planes Reactor GP/EP 3D ARF .46-.70 - 1/29/2007 12:58:54 PM   
JustErik


 

Posts: 564
Joined: 7/19/2006
From: Charlottesville, VA, USA
Status: offline 		Great report, Robert! I'm very enthused by it. My battery and RX are also going fully to the rear of the radio compartment in order to get the right balance point. I fly off grass as well, so knowing about the nose-over tendency is important for me. I'm getting very close to finishing mine, but have no idea when I'll get to maiden it. IF you get more time on it, please check back in with more details.

Erik

_____________________________

"Toy airplanes are for people with more money than sense."
- My Ex-wife

(in reply to fayrwerks)
       Post #: 107

RE: Great Planes Reactor GP/EP 3D ARF .46-.70 - 1/29/2007 8:16:43 PM   
Ernie Misner


 

Posts: 3160
Joined: 7/5/2002
From: Tacoma, WA, USA
Status: offline 		Craig and others who have used standard size servos..... was there enough meat to successfully open up the holes, or did you have to make any structural mods to get the openings that big?????? What about the aileron servo cutouts also? My standard servos are Hitec 475's, 1.4 oz., so probably not as big as some.

Thanks loads,

Ernie

(in reply to JustErik)
       Post #: 108

RE: Great Planes Reactor GP/EP 3D ARF .46-.70 - 1/29/2007 8:31:22 PM   
JustErik


 

Posts: 564
Joined: 7/19/2006
From: Charlottesville, VA, USA
Status: offline 		Ernie,

All the servo openings on the plane are sized to fit the Futaba 9650 perfectly. It should be a simple matter to compare the dimensions of the 9650 to your servos to determine how much cutting you will have to do. The manual shows what side of the servo openings to "relieve" should you need to do so. Finally, standard size servos are listed in the manual, so it seems reasonable to conclude that there is enough meat in the servo openings for standard size servos.

_____________________________

"Toy airplanes are for people with more money than sense."
- My Ex-wife

(in reply to Ernie Misner)
       Post #: 109

RE: Great Planes Reactor GP/EP 3D ARF .46-.70 - 1/29/2007 8:38:17 PM   
Ernie Misner


 

Posts: 3160
Joined: 7/5/2002
From: Tacoma, WA, USA
Status: offline 		Thanks Erik. You are on the ball. That's what I was hoping to hear because of my budget. Maybe Craig will confirm that after doing the cuttin'....

Ernie

(in reply to JustErik)
       Post #: 110

RE: Great Planes Reactor GP/EP 3D ARF .46-.70 - 1/30/2007 1:48:20 AM   
bluehawkbm


 

Posts: 94
Joined: 8/11/2004
From: Spruce Pine, NC, USA
Status: offline 		Well guys I got to maiden mine saturday in pretty windy conditions. This one is a keeper. I have a new magnum 70FS on mine and even running rich it had plenty of hover power although trying to hover in that much wind was a challenge for me. I would be hard for me to say how it lands because I was landing into the wind and it came in pretty much like a harrier landing. My plane was going to be a littlle tail heavy using the magnum 70 even with everything shoved as far back as possible, so I cut the covering at the last hole in the bottom of the fuse and stuck the battery all the way back to the servos in the tail. I stuffed some foam around it and glued a scrap of balsa sheet in the last former to keep it in place and patched the hole with yellow monokote. She then balanced at the recomended spot. As others mentioned mine had a tendency to want to nose over on the ground. I tried turning the gear the opposite way and then she wouldn't leave the ground until I hit a hump in the runway. Seeing that was not working I slightly modified my landing gear. I used the original outside holes for the gear and drilled new ones for the inside holes right in front of the original holes. The holes almost touch. This positions the gear farther forward. The axles are now almost in line with the leading edge of the wing as they should be. You do have to slighly grind a little in the front of the slot where the gear goes in with a dremel tool to be able to rotate the gear. Also the wheels will be toed in. So I just took the wheels off and bent the gear at the axle holes so that the wheels whould be straight. I havent flown the plane since this modification but believe that it will solve the only probem I had.
You guys are gonna love this plane

(in reply to Ernie Misner)
       Post #: 111

RE: Great Planes Reactor GP/EP 3D ARF .46-.70 - 1/30/2007 3:30:41 AM   
cmala3


 

Posts: 34
Joined: 1/15/2007
From: , AL,
Status: offline 		I will try to get a picture of my engine mount but I just mounted it the way the manual stated to. I took the engine and rotated it (sitting in the plane) 45 degrees to the right.

As far as the servos go, I used Futaba S3151's in the rear and I had plenty of meat if you relieve the holes where the manual says to. I just used an xacto knife and opened it up a little at a time till the servo would fit in.

I have not weighed my completed plane and I don't know the weight of the large brass prop nut that I used but it was enough to balance the plane. I may try to move the battery pack more forward like under/over the fuel tank and try to reduce the prop nut weight.

I flew off of asphalt so I didn't experience any tipping on taxi but I had planned on flying off of grass so I changed the wheels to 2 3/4". I am going to change them back to stock and put the wheel pants on since I will be flying off of asphalt now. I also had to move my antenna out of the plane because I was getting interference with it running inside parallel to the three rear servo leads.

It will probably be at least a few weeks before I can get it out again.

My only complaint about the plane is the way they have you install the radio system. You have to cut the covering under the canopy and then install the radio and then iron back the covering. I don't know why they did this when they gave the cool magnetic panel on the bottom of the plane. I am going to have to get a piece of balsa and cover it with some black covering and make a removable access panel under the canopy.

(in reply to bluehawkbm)
       Post #: 112

RE: Great Planes Reactor GP/EP 3D ARF .46-.70 - 1/30/2007 2:23:47 PM   
bluehawkbm


 

Posts: 94
Joined: 8/11/2004
From: Spruce Pine, NC, USA
Status: offline 		Cmala3,
Why didnt you just put the receiver under the magnetic hatch. There is plenty of room since all rudder and elevator servos are in the tail. I believe the instrucions called to install it that way if you go with an electric setup. Then all that room will be used by the flight pack battery. When I build a plane my I put things where they work out best for the balance of the plane and for my convience.

(in reply to cmala3)
       Post #: 113

RE: Great Planes Reactor GP/EP 3D ARF .46-.70 - 1/30/2007 7:57:16 PM   
rc darin