AmigoOne

I am building a Reeve's Hurricane Kit which as, some of you may know, has fewer building instructions than a frozen dinner has cooking instructions . I also have the MR retracts which equally have very little instructions. Does anybody who may have built this kit have any suggestions on best engine (engine compartment is very small), retracts problems (if any), or any other useful suggestion. Sugested engine is .61 for a flying weight of 9 lbs. Because of the very short cowling, tail heavy is a concern.
Thanks.

thunderbolt-RCU

My Feedback: (14)

I built 3 of them twenty years ago. Se my photo gallery for a picture of one of them I flew in the Scale Masters in 1983. I flew mine with an OS 90. It was tail heavy. Make sure you balance it with the gear up as the gear retracts to the rear. It is a wonderful flying plane because of the thick wing. I also have built the 92 inch Ziroli Hurricane.
Look for a thread titled building Ginger Lacy's hurricane. Bob Ripley just finished a magnificent Reeves Hurricane and there were alot of posts on his building of it.
Good luck
Brian

thunderbolt-RCU

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Find the thread Ginger Lacey's Hurricane and there is a ton if info on it.
Brian

bobripley-RCU

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Hello Thunderbolt,

It's great to here from you and thank you for the very kind words directed at my Hurricane.
AmigoOne, Yep, the Mick Reeves kit is no Great Planes or Top-Flight kit but it is doable. In fact I loved ever minute I spent on it. Even better, the fine folks on this web site know more about the finer details of war bird modeling then you can shake a stick at. I could not have built Lacey’s Hurricane without them. I’d be glad to offer an assistance I can.

bobripley-RCU

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Sorry,

That picture did not take let's try this one.

Slug

I owned a Mick Reeves Hurricane for several years, bought it third hand and it survived into retirement, I think the airframe was over 20 years old by the end.

Mine had a Super Tigre .75 in it at first, it was under powered so I replaced with a .90. This engine was adequate for scale flight, but if you are a speed freak it's not going to light your candle!

The model I had needed lead up front, it had air retracts, sorry don't know the make, and must have weighed a lot more than 9lbs (I never actually stuck it on the scales, but I would guess at 12-15lbs).

Enjoyed flying this model at lot, it was my first decent sized warbird and was a great stepping stone into this field of modelling.

Simon.

AmigoOne

Wow Bob, great pic and of course great looking airplane. If it wasn't for the mail box behind it seems like a full scale one.
Did your model have foam core wings and no spar, if so does one just epoxie the halfs together or a spar is needed. Mi MR model does not have a cut out for a spar or any special instructions how to deal with the wings.
Thanks

bobripley-RCU

My Feedback: (1)

Hello AmigoOne,

The wing was indeed foam core based. I installed 1/4" x 1/4" square bass wood stringers laminated top and bottom with 1/4" carbon fiber tape. A 1/4'' ply wing joiner about 8" long from end to end helped to tie the two wing halves together.

AmigoOne

Indeed a picture is worth a thousand words. Some surgery you had to do to fit everything. Do you think flaps are helpful or you did it for scale purposes? Also, it may be the efect of the flash but it would appear that the bottom of the wing is not laminated? Is this correct?.
Given the lack of meaningful building instructions in this kit and if you have the time. I'd appreciate receiving any other pictures that you may have. Conversely I can send you some pixs on my progress to see if you can spot any flagrant mistakes. You can email me directly at [email protected]. Thanks again.

bobripley-RCU

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The picture that I posted shows the top of the right wing core sitting on top of the bottom wing balsa skin before the top and bottom skins were glued on. You can also see the pocket for the aileron servo and the two pockets with bell cranks for the split flaps.
Installing the quarter by quarter stringers wasn’t that hard to do. All I did was lay the stringer on the core where I wanted to recess them and then used that stringer as a straight edge for my X-acto knife. Two parallel cuts about ¼” deep were made either side of the stringer. Next I removed the stringer and took another ¼” x ¼” stringer, this one with a beveled tip and 100 grit sand paper glued to its length to sand a perfect channel for my carbon laminated stringers. I epoxied them to the top and bottom surfaces of both wing panels and the job was done.

In my opinion flaps are as important as any other control surface when it comes to flying a heavy metal war birds. Most low wing fighters like the Spitfire, Hurricane, P-51 etc. require a steeper approach to the landing flair transition then most sport aircraft fliers are use to. However, flying a steep approach without getting to fast means that you need to increase drag. That is were the flaps add value. One my old Sterling Spitfire I would drop the gear on entry of the down wind leg followed by about 10 degrees of flaps at mid field to slow the plane down. Turning downwind to base I would push the nose down and add another 15 degrees. Base to final, full flaps and keep the nose down. If you did it right the plane would look like it was descending steeply, which it was, but it wouldn’t be screaming out of the sky to certain death. At about a foot and half I would transition to the flair and pull back the power completely and let it settle in.

I would be happy to help you with your project but I have far to many pictures of the Hurricane project to e-mail them all to you. However we could do one of two things. As you progress through your Spitfire build I could send or post pictures as appropriate or burn you a CD of all of my pictures. Let me know what would work the best for you and yes please keep me posted on your MR Spitfire. My e-mail is [email protected]

Rip

AmigoOne

Bob,
I bought this kit at the club's auction and the wings were already started. The wings are already covered in some kind of veneer and I want to think the kit came this way or the guy would have buried the wiring for the servos, cut the servo bays, etc (unless he forgot). Now cutting all these thru the wood and the foam is a bit messier.
Your suggestions/instructions on how to join the wings make a lot of sense, I will follow your technique.
The way you talk about flaps make me think you are a full scale pilot, I am and fully understand what you mean about their usefullness. But they are a lot of work so I have to think if I have the ability to do them. I'll see how I do with the ailerons, that will be my test.
I have made note of you email and will consult you as needed but will try not to pester you unless I'm stuck. I have a digital so sending pics will be easy. Thanks.
Jose

bobripley-RCU

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Jose,

Please don't think that you will be pestering me! We are scale guys and given a chance would talk about our current or past projects all day long.

It sounds like you have one of the Mick Reeves full kits with wing cores covered with an Obechi wood veneer. Mine was a short kit, whereas only the foam cores are provided. Now, you and I are exploring new territory regarding adding flaps to a presheeted wing let alone joining the two wing halves together. I need to ponder this one for awhile.
Off the top off my head, you can probably cut out the four flaps from the bottom of each wing panel up to BUT not into the top wing skin. Now peal off the lower wing sheeting over each flap. Pick out the foam up to the upper wing skin under the area where the flaps would be. Sand the inside surface of each flap pocket and laminate two layers of 2 oz. fiberglass cloth onto the inside of the pocket and onto the bottom portion of the upper wing Obechi sheeting only. In the mean time mark the bottom wing sheeting from the leading edge inside corner of each inboard flap straight back to the wing root and parallel to the line of the inboard flap hinge point. Once dry torch the end of a 1/8th inch two-foot long piece of piano wire until it is red hot. Insert the hot piano wire into the wing root in line with your marked line to the leading edge off the inboard flap. Now, make sure if you decide to follow this insanity that you quickly insert the hot probe up against the bottom of the lower wing sheeting until it pops through the pocket of the inboard flap right at the hinge point where this flap will pivot. If you look at my wing core again you can see the horizontal hole where my landing light will be placed. I also did the navigation light at the wing tip and my flaps this way.

Rip

Steve Collins

My Feedback: (8)

I built one of these a few years ago. I used an O.S. 1.08 engine which makes this plane fairly aerobatic. I had fixed gear in mine. Mine was like yours with the wings already sheeted with obechi wood. Mine was built without flaps and I can tell you that this plane both takes off and lands wonderfully without them. If you want flaps, fine, go ahead and do so.

Mine came out quite tail heavy. I don't remember how much nose weight was required but it was a great big piece of lead mounted above the inverted engine. Even so, mine weighed 13.5 lbs.

I don't know whether your kit has the same setup for the tail wheel as mine did but I had a problem with it. My tailwheel wire inside the fuselage was passed through a piece of wood routed with a channel in it and this, glued to a bulkhead held the tailwheel wire. I think after the second or third landing this wooden block had split. I had to make a small hatch in the fuse side next to where this assembly was in order to do a repair which was a replacement of this wooden block with a nylon nosewheel gear block. It would be wise to do this mod while building the plane.

My kit had white plastic wing fillets in multiple sections. If yours has the same, do not use them! My plane had not very many flights on it when these plastic fillets started cracking and falling apart. What a mess.

My kit also had a black plastic cowling which did not look very good and a black plastic piece which was supposed to be the bottom of the nose between the rear of the cowling and the leading edge of the wing. I thought these were rather substandard pieces and did not use them. I bought a replacement fiberglass cowl and used wood to replace the other piece.

bobripley-RCU

My Feedback: (1)

Hello Steve,

My Reeves Hurricane weighed 14.5 lbs with an ASP 1.08. when it was finally finished. However it took another pound and a half of lead in the nose to get the correct CG. Yikes! So, now I have a 16 lb. Hurricane to test fly if every our flying field drains.

Rip

AmigoOne

Hello Steve,

Thanks for your comments, I need all the help I can get, Bob has been kind enough to send info and pics which are helping me along. I'm pondering about the flaps (don't feel I can do a good enough job!), I do think they can improve the looks of a scale model. Also by reducing the stalling speed maybe my retracts will last a bit longer. Unless one beefs up the attaching point substantially - or consistently makes great landings which then wouldn't be me - there is a lot of energy concentrating in a very small area, specially in a foam core wing - Any ideas how to improve this will be appreciated. I have the MR set of retracts.
I totally agree that the the tail wheel set up was not good, that it was a break up waiting to happen so I had already modified it. Furthermore I have built a hatch in case my own beefed up mod also fails.
As to the fillet, cowling, etc, I also agree that it is a very substandard set of parts, in fact the whole plastic set of parts are very poor so please let me know where I can find replacement fiberglass parts.
Other questions I have now are:
Will a 4 cycle OS .91 fly this airplane to scale with some mild acrobatics?
I'm tempted to place the servos in the wings rather than using the kit's set up (as used by Bob), any disadvantages other than looks? I haven't been lucky with bell-cranks, they always seem to bind.
How is the plastic cockpit atached to the fuse?
I was planning to use standard servos throughout but maybe I should I use high torque for the rudder and elevators.
I'm shure I'll have more questions and the next time I'll post some pics of my progress.

For now thanks, Steve, Bob

Slug

My model did not have flaps fitted, on a day with a headwind this was no problem, but on a calm day it just floated on and on and on and I had real problems getting it over the bushes off one end of our strip and down before I ran out of runway. If I was building one I would fit flaps.

I smashed up the plastic radiator under the wings on my first wheels up landing. It is possible to make molds from these plastic parts in which to make you own glass fiber replacements.

I don't think a .91 4 stroke will get this model off the ground, much less fly it or allow any aerobatics. A .90 2 stroke will (just) but again if I was building I would go for a 1.08 or 1.20 2 stroke.

Simon.

Steve Collins

My Feedback: (8)

If you are going to use a four stroke, you will need at least a good 1.20 for reasonable performance. Do not use the ASP 1.08! I experimented with one in my Hurricane and it was very underpowered. The plane could not even do a loop. The OS 1.08 is by far more powerful and is the right choice in this size range. Do not go smaller than the OS 1.08 if you decide on a 2-stroke.

At the time I built mine, Fiberglass Master was still in business and I got a fiberglass cowling from them. They sold out to another company in Tennessee but I no longer can recall their name or contact information. A search on RCU for "fiberglass master" might turn something up. Otherwise, call Stan and see if he will make you one using the one from the kit as a guide.

I don't know of anyone who makes fiberglass wing fillets. You will probably have to make your own fillets with microballoons and epoxy.

I totally agree about the servos out in the wings. I first built the plane with the servos in the center section and had real trouble with aileron flutter. I retrofitted mine with servos out in the wing and the problem was solved. With one servo on each aileron, a standard servo will probably suffice. My aileron servos were standard Airtronics servos. I also used standard servos for the tail surfaces but it would probably be wise to use some with a little greater torque rating, whatever your favorite brand is.

I always glue my canopies on. In my opinion, it ruins the looks of a plane to use sheet metal screws. I use PFM/E6000 exclusively for canopy glue. Other types will work but I have found this glue to be superior. In the case of the Hurricane, I glued the canopy on after glassing and before priming/painting.

Slug is quite correct. This Hurricane is a real floater.

Forget the 9 lbs. You will never get it that light. The wing on this plane is capable of a lot higher wing loading and still flying very well.

bobripley-RCU

My Feedback: (1)

Hello Jose,

The plastic parts in the kit were of some use. I kept the air scoop in front of the oil cooler and took the wing filets reversed them and used them for the fillet around the fin stab junction. The rest was added to the spare stuff box. Next I carved plugs for the oil cooler and exhaust headers, made molds, and fabricated my own fiberglass parts. The fiberglass cowl came from Fiberglass Masters if I remember correctly. The wing filets were done the traditional way (balsa triangles, filled with micro-balloons and epoxy slurry). The rest of the lumps and bumps were done with lightweight Bondo.

I can't remember exactly what I did to reinforce the retract mounts but it did involve using carbon fiber matting. Once again my wings were not sheeted so handling your particular situation might require some head scratching.

Aptar,

I have no experience with the ASP Engine, in fact I'm an OS fan myself but a fellow club member gave me one that he had on 14 pound Extra. The plane flew with great authority and would do everything but accelerate vertically. We will see what happens during the high speed taxi test.

bobripley-RCU

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Air plane in primer. Note the wing filet.

bobripley-RCU

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Here is a picture of the plastic filet around the fin/stab junction.

AmigoOne

Hello guys, back to building after a pause to help some friends with their projects. Lots of snow here in No Va so there is very little flying since the field is snowed-in.
First question is on how to mate the cowling and the othe other bottom piece (for lack of better word). I take it these two pieces ara butted - see picture below - and I guess plastic cement will result in avery weak joint so I ask what is the best way to do it. Please see next thread some retracts question

AmigoOne

This is the Mick Reeves retractable gear already mounted. The next thread shows the MR retract servo, an interesting piece of engineering but not easy to mount.

AmigoOne

This is the MT retract servo, shown in its intended location between the wings. If anybody has any experience installing this unit I'd appreciate this pointer. This is my first retractable gear airplane and it seems to me is not an easy one, particulary with this servo. Thanks, Jose

greyfly

A word of warning, be careful with this servo, its very ...very powerful. If you don't get the lengh of the rods correct, first time, the chances are it will rip your retract unit out. Its very strong.

I learnt the above the hard way, I can tell you.

Measure it two or three times before you commit.

bobripley-RCU

My Feedback: (1)

Wow!

That is one amazing servo thing-ma-bob you got there. It looks like a sail winch servo from where I'm sitting. I have absolutely no experience with that set up so I will default to Grayfly’s knowledge. However I can take some pictures of my retract installation and post them here if you think that might help.

Rip