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Reaction 54 Jet Kit

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Reaction 54 Jet Kit

Old 01-01-2008, 09:15 PM
  #1951  
Molar mender
 
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Default RE: Reaction 54 Jet Kit

Did the maiden flight on my Reaction today. It was not as snowy as WI but was sure windy and cold (38 degrees when I got there and 44 when I left). It was blowing 6-10 mph right down the runway, gusting to 15. The club had their annual Polar Bear event so I flew my electric Formosa and my Big Boomer. Enjoyed the friendship and had some hot chocolate and cookies waiting for the event to wind down. The club has a lot of guys that fly the SE-5a and it was fun to see them chase the helium filled balloons. Then a little after noon, most of the guys decided they would rather watch football in a warm house rather than be out in the cold.

I did the range check when I first got there and it was solid out to 200 ft (7" ant length). Then I did the turbine running range check after everyone left and it was solid to the same spot. So I pointed it into the wind and the rest is history. It flew just like all the others I have flown. I found I have to reduce the takeoff flaps and once the flaps were up, had to dial in some down elevator. It also took a few clicks of left aileron but was right on the rails. Because it was so windy, landing was without flaps with a couple clicks of power and it was perfect. What a fun airframe.

On the way home, I decided to take the ferry. I took a picture of the Cascade mountains off the bow of the ferry with the snow down to about 700ft. We have had 15ft of snow at Snoqualmie (one of the local passes) in the past 3 weeks so we were fortunate to have a great day today.

Roy
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Old 01-01-2008, 09:50 PM
  #1952  
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Default RE: Reaction 54 Jet Kit

Woo Hoo, looks like fun to me [8D]

I think this week is as good as any to take mine out for the first few laps of the year too...
Old 01-01-2008, 10:45 PM
  #1953  
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Default RE: Reaction 54 Jet Kit

I didn't have any flying photos but I just got a photo that Chuck's wife took. He was doing the spotting for me. Now I have proof that it flew. It was a fun day.

Roy
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Old 01-02-2008, 09:20 AM
  #1954  
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Default RE: Reaction 54 Jet Kit

Hi Roy
Congratulations on the maiden. As you know I am enjoying mine. Waiting for some warmer temps, because their is next to no snow here for flying. Maybe if the temps keep climbing, my first flights for the year will be the weekend.

Have fun with your new 54
Alan
Old 01-02-2008, 10:44 AM
  #1955  
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Default RE: Reaction 54 Jet Kit

Congratulations Roy!

However, I am not convinced that your "flight shot" is "proof", as you say, that it actually flew. It is a fairly convincing Photoshop job. Guess I'll have to see it to believe it. See you this summer!!!
Old 01-02-2008, 12:44 PM
  #1956  
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Default RE: Reaction 54 Jet Kit

Alan

Thanks. It is going to be a fun year, especially with the Reaction because it is such a low key flying airframe. There were no jitters when I took off and I was able to do all the trims in complete control because I know how well the design flies. If it had not been so cold and windy, I would have stayed until dark, flying the Reaction because it is so much fun to fly. I hope we can all get together this summer and fly a gaggle of Reactions.

Bruce

It's funny you would say that about the photo. I got several other photos sent to me of the Big Boomer flying the same day and it looks like they could be "photoshopped" also. It was an etherial kind of day and a lot of the photos turned out really wierd (as I have attached). I look forward to flying the wheels off this bird. The Reaction is such a great flying design.

Roy
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Old 01-02-2008, 03:33 PM
  #1957  
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Default RE: Reaction 54 Jet Kit

Hi guys, who here has put in the Kevlar 70 ounce fuel tank in the stock position? Recently I was thinking it would be a drop in replacement for the 50 ouncer, but realized after going through the model for this season that there is a plywood barrier that only gives about an extra inch of head room over the current 50 ounce tank. Has anyone retrofitted the bigger tank after having the stock one in there?

Also, who is running smoke? Where are you putting the smoke tank?
Old 01-02-2008, 03:40 PM
  #1958  
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Default RE: Reaction 54 Jet Kit

Both of my Reactions have Gary's Kevlar tanks and they are built with a standard unmodified tank bay. I use two pieces of ply under the tank and slipped under the ply doubler.
I use a thin piece of foam between the tank and the top plate.
I am sure the kevlar tank will fit Ok.

Mount it with the outlet facng foreward.
Old 01-02-2008, 03:43 PM
  #1959  
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Default RE: Reaction 54 Jet Kit

Eddie,
Same here, the tank is a drop in replacement. It fills the space more efficiently, 20oz. worth.
Old 01-02-2008, 04:29 PM
  #1960  
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Default RE: Reaction 54 Jet Kit

While I was waiting for the weather to clear and do the maiden flight, I built the infamous "smoke boat". It attaches to the bottom of the Reaction using the wing hold down bolts and sits right on the CG, holds 24oz of smoke oil, has it's own pump/controller and battery power. It has been also plumbed to hold extra fuel by connecting a Tygon jumper to the main tanks vent. Now I have to wait for another good day to try out the "smoke boat".

Roy
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Old 01-02-2008, 05:02 PM
  #1961  
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Default RE: Reaction 54 Jet Kit


ORIGINAL: causeitflies-RCU

Eddie,
Same here, the tank is a drop in replacement. It fills the space more efficiently, 20oz. worth.
Its not 20 oz.. I posted measurements in this thread ages ago, in post #680 (page 28):

The real surpise is that the DuBro is actually 1800 ml, which is 60.8 fl oz, way above the claim of 50 oz or 1500 ml.

The JetTech tank is about 2240 ml, 75.7 fl oz, about 15 oz more capacity than the DuBro.
Bob
Old 01-02-2008, 05:22 PM
  #1962  
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Default RE: Reaction 54 Jet Kit

Hey, that's actually very helpful, thank you Bob. 15 extra ounces of fuel - I'll expect 2 extra minutes or so on the safe side rather than a bit more I was expecting. I have to admit I'm a little bummed I'll only get two minutes more for a tank swap out - but, in the end, that's several more laps, rolls, passes, etc per launch. It's still a go I suppose

Tommy and causeitflies thanks for the recount of the tank install.

Roy, I like your "Smoke Boat"

Do you have any pictures of the mount? I'm very interested in your equipment layout too - I assume the pump has it's own battery in the "boat", but how is everything plumbed? How do you get the smoke oil to the turbine exhaust? I like the idea of a completely self contained, removable assembly. Save the weight for when you want to lay down smoke, and fly light and clean when you don't.
Old 01-02-2008, 08:48 PM
  #1963  
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Default RE: Reaction 54 Jet Kit

I used a piece of 1/8" aluminum bar stock and cut a slot in it to accept the flange that holds the smoke boat. It was screwed to the former that the wing plugs into. It sits on the former and only a slight amount of balsa is trimmed on the fuselage to allow a snug fit when the wing is installed. The wing butts up against the plate and the only part showing is the slotted portion.

The flange that holds the smoke boat is made from two 1/16" aluminum angle stock which are pop riveted together to form the strap. The strap is riveted to the smoke boat with large rivets through the boats cross members. The strap slides into the slot in the bar stock and is held in place by the wing hold down bolts. The boat itself is made of balsa and ply and covered with Monokote.

The smoke boat has a 24 oz. Dubro tank, 20amp ESC speed controller, 2 cell LiPo batt and an old turbine fuel pump. It has fuel in, vent out, pump out and the servo lead for control. When the boat is installed, the connectors attach to extensions that are run through the wing in a brass tube. The servo wire has the red lead cut to separate the receiver battery power from the speed controller and allows the use of the external LiPo battery. The pump output tubing is connected to the stainless steel injector tubes with a Y connector.

Hope that explains the process.

Roy
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Old 01-03-2008, 12:21 AM
  #1964  
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Default RE: Reaction 54 Jet Kit

Most definitely does explain things, thanks for that!

How much smoke time do you get with 24 ounces? Great work on your setup!
Old 01-03-2008, 01:47 AM
  #1965  
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Default RE: Reaction 54 Jet Kit

ORIGINAL: Eddie P

Most definitely does explain things, thanks for that!

How much smoke time do you get with 24 ounces? Great work on your setup!

The turbine pump I am using will pump as much as 15 oz. a min at 7 volts so a 24 oz. tank will last less than a couple of minutes. I have the pump set up on a slider switch on my transmitter to vary the voltage so it will pump as slow as a couple oz. a minute which gives a light density smoke. A few clicks more and I can get a medium density smoke and of course at full voltage, it makes a lot of smoke. I have the same set up on my Big Boomer, most of my flights last 6 to 9 min and I have smoke on at least half the flight. I have been using SuperDri but I just bought a 5 gal. can of Freedom Form Release Oil to try. I always try to empty the smoke tank prior to landing so I don't have excess weight on board.

Big Boomer with lots of smoke using my home built system.

Roy
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Old 01-03-2008, 03:10 PM
  #1966  
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Default RE: Reaction 54 Jet Kit

I DIG the pic with the sun gleaming off the airframe and a trail of thick smoke. I'm just gonna have to put some smoke on mine now, it's official. Thanks for the explanation! The best thing the reaction has going for it with smoke is a huge wing that can carry some extra weight without really complaining too much. Yes, the vertical will diminish until the smoke is gone but you get the smoke as a tradeoff and a light jet again after it's gone. The removable smoke system is also a benefit - fly light and clean when desired or make a scene with the smoke when necessary [:@]
Old 01-03-2008, 04:40 PM
  #1967  
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Default RE: Reaction 54 Jet Kit

Shawn from Yellow Aircraft has done a conversion of the F15's drop tank to be a "smoke boat" .. just saw it the other night .. a different shape, but the same great idea :-)


See: [link=http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=5573546]http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=5573546[/link]

Dave
Old 01-03-2008, 04:56 PM
  #1968  
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Default RE: Reaction 54 Jet Kit

I've seen that mode by Sean. Looks great! I'd like to make a "Wanna Be Eddie P Smoke Boat" by using a round plastic tank and carving/glassing the front and rear to resemble something similar, typical drop tank setup look.

I'd love to do two tanks, one on each side like a Scimitar or other typical drop tank setup, but I'd hate to deal with the inevitable asymmetric unloading of smoke oil and wonder if such a thing would just invite inevitable complications of such a setup.
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Old 01-03-2008, 05:11 PM
  #1969  
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Default RE: Reaction 54 Jet Kit

I was surprised to see that some of the Kingcats have their two main tanks plumbed in parallel with a "Y" connector .. with the hope that they drain evenly.

Seemed like a dull idea to me since if they do not drain evenly the fuel left in the "fuller" one is useless when the other one goes dry and draws air. Seemed to me a better idea to plumb with the usual series connection of vent to fill .. but the owner told me they did this deliberately to get even weight distrubution as the fuel drained (the series plumbing would guarantee worst case distrib since the tanks are on either side of the centerline).

He told me that if all tube diameters and lengths are identical, it really does drain very evenly. Somewhat surprising, but there you are...

Of course, if you wanted to go to the trouble of segmenting each of your tanks into a separate front and rear tank, and you series plumbed front left to right rear, and front right to left rear, you could have your cake and eat it too...

FWIW, I thought someone had already posted another elegant smoke solution here on this thread by putting the tank into the canopy hatch???

Dave
Old 01-03-2008, 08:50 PM
  #1970  
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Default RE: Reaction 54 Jet Kit


ORIGINAL: ww2birds

I was surprised to see that some of the Kingcats have their two main tanks plumbed in parallel with a "Y" connector .. with the hope that they drain evenly.

Seemed like a dull idea to me since if they do not drain evenly the fuel left in the "fuller" one is useless when the other one goes dry and draws air. Seemed to me a better idea to plumb with the usual series connection of vent to fill .. but the owner told me they did this deliberately to get even weight distrubution as the fuel drained (the series plumbing would guarantee worst case distrib since the tanks are on either side of the centerline).

He told me that if all tube diameters and lengths are identical, it really does drain very evenly. Somewhat surprising, but there you are...

Dave
The parallel tank setup was pretty much mandatory back in the glow engine ducted fan days. With series tanks, you would get a big change in flow resistance after the first tank emptied, and that meant the engine would go very rich.

Its not a critical deal for turbines, since the ECU compensates for resistance variations, as long as all the plumbing is large enough diameter that the extra resistance of the series tanks is not a problem with full fuel and full throttle (but you need some big fittings if you want to run a 40 lb thrust engine with series tanks!)

The parallel tanks worked just fine, and if you did them carefully, they would always empty within a fraction of an ounce of each other.

Bob
Old 01-07-2008, 03:53 PM
  #1971  
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Default RE: Reaction 54 Jet Kit

Another R54 just about ready to fly.

This one is covered with Monokote, and has the rear access hatch hinged so that it can be experimented with as a speedbrake. Some of you may have seen my earlier post on this, and the discussion about speedbrakes in general. Right now, it's just a hatch, with a magnetic latch. Other than the hinged hatch, it's pretty much box-stock. I did fully sheet the wing, as I was considering doing glass and paint.

I used stock retracts, Robostruts on the mains, and a Dreamworks trailing link nosegear, mounted in the standard nose unit. Trim wheels and brakes, JetTech main fuel tank.

Radio is a Futaba 14MZ with the TM-14/6014 2.4GHz module (test flew the 2.4GHz Rx and module yesterday in a 35% Pitts Special .. rock solid .. have had the 14MZ for a few years now).

Power is a Wren54SS. Has run on the test stand ... nice motor. UAT and ECU are in the boattail. Will use "off board" propane start with the Great Northern regulator. Empty weight is 17#, looks like we'll need a little over a pound of lead to balance, I'll report once it's balanced.

I "sort of" followed a full scale Panther color scheme, see photo below.

The R54 group represented here has created a simply outstanding information resource for this aircraft, and I have used it and Bruce's index extensively .. so a big thank you to all of the R54 thread community .. and of course a mega thank-you to Bruce for an outstanding design and kit, and first-class customer support. The "BT" in the nomenclature is a tip of the hat to Bruce .. I guess the "54" is obvious :-) The graphics are Jerry Caudle's Pro Mark dry transfer .. first time I have used them .. highly recommended.

Dave McQ
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Old 01-07-2008, 04:15 PM
  #1972  
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Default RE: Reaction 54 Jet Kit

Looks fantastic, Dave! The color scheme definitely gives it a Panther-ish look. Thanks also for the BT on the fin; what an honor!

Best wishes for a successful maiden - we'll be looking for your report...
Old 01-07-2008, 05:53 PM
  #1973  
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Default RE: Reaction 54 Jet Kit

very nice scheme dave. you will enjoy her. barry
Old 01-07-2008, 07:22 PM
  #1974  
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Default RE: Reaction 54 Jet Kit

That is a fine looking machine, love the paint scheme!
Old 01-07-2008, 09:38 PM
  #1975  
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Default RE: Reaction 54 Jet Kit

You are going to love the R54/Supersport combo. Just be sure to pull the throttle a little when heading downhill. Going up you can give it all it has. Mine will go up further than I am comfortable with. Yours weighs less than mine so it should climb better.

Regards

R54/Wren SS owner


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