Contributed by: Henry Korczak | Published: July 2004 | Views: 83517 |  Email this Article
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Great
Planes
P.O. Box 9021
Champaign, IL 61826
Phone: 217-398-3630
Fax: 217-398-0008
www.greatplanes.com
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Watch
video of the
Great Planes Gee Bee
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- Outstanding
painted fiberglass fuselage, cowl, wheel pants and rudder.
- Built
up and MonoKote covered wing and stabilizer.
- Trim
scheme expertly applied.
- Complete
hardware package includes: fuel tank, wheels, tailwheel assembly,
pushrods, control horns, clevises and misc. nuts, bolts, screws
etc.
- Pre-painted
canopy.
- Painted
pilot figure.
- Dummy
engine assembly.
- Detailed
decal sheet.
- Excellent
assembly manual.
- Foam
building/storage cradle.
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The
Gee Bee Story
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Established
in 1929, Granville Brothers Aircraft of Springfield, Massachusetts
started a business of building small private planes. In the
beginning they sold well, but the depression pretty much killed
the aviation market and almost killed the Granville's company.
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the prevailing years, the Granville brothers designed several
radical planes with high performance. The most notable of
these was the Gee Bee Model "Z" racer. Tragically
though on December 5th, 1931 during a record speed attempt,
the "Z" racer abruptly pitched its nose upward,
shed its right wing and rolled into the ground instantly killing
its pilot, Lowell E. Bayles. Undoubtedly you've seen this
spectacular crash in old newsreel footage. |
In
1932, famed distance pilot, Russell Boardman had purchased
51 percent of the Springfield Air Racing Association (SARA)
and placed an order for two racing planes with the Granville's.
The new racers were to be designated the R-1 and R-2. The
two aircraft were identical except the R-2 had a different
cowl shape to accommodate the smaller Pratt & Whitney
Wasp Jr. engine and a slightly longer wingspan. It was hoped
that the R-1 with a Pratt & Whitney 1340 Wasp T3D1 engine
rated at 550hp (jazzed up to 740hp) would be fast enough to
win the 1932 Shell Speed Dash as well as the Thompson Trophy
Race. While the R-2 with its smaller engine and greater fuel
capacity and range, was used to hopefully win the Bendix Cross
Country Race.
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How
did the Gee Bee racers obtain their distinctive barrel shape?
Racing plane design wisdom in the early '30s dictated that
the fuselage should be as narrow as possible. Zantford "Granny"
Granville and design engineer Howell W. "Pete" Miller
reasoned that a teardrop-shaped fuselage would be the best
way to streamline the big radial engine and applied the following
aerodynamics. By conducting drag tests on fuselages of varying
fineness ratios (length: diameter), tests showed that minimum
drag was attained at a fineness ratio of 3.00 to 3.50. The
Wasp engine was 54 inches in diameter and the fuselage diameter
was 61 inches at its widest point. With a fuselage length
of 17 feet 9 inches, a fineness ratio of 3.50 was obtained.
This showed that large frontal area would create less drag
than a smaller frontal area. Using wind tunnel test data,
Miller predicted that the Gee Bee would have a top speed of
298mph. This turned out to be very close indeed, as the Gee
Bee had an actual top speed of 296.2mph.
In 1932, the legendary Jimmy Doolittle flew a Gee Bee to win
the Thomson Trophy race and on September 3, 1932 he set a
world landplane speed record of 296.287mph in the R-1. Within
a year though, both the R-1 and R-2 had crashed, and in 1934
the eldest of the five brothers, "Granny" was killed
in another accident, and with the driving force missing, Granville
Brothers slipped into bankruptcy and history. |
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Full-Scale
Gee Bee Data
Wingspan: 25 ft.
Wing Chord: 4 ft 5 in.
Wing Area: 100 sq. ft.
Length: 17 ft 9 in.
Fuel Capacity: 160 gal.
Weight Empty: 1,840 lb.
Weight Fully Loaded: 3,075 lb. |
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Kit
Name: Gee
Bee ARF
Manufacturer: Great
Planes
Price: $279.99
Wingspan: 68 in.
Wing Area: 743 sq. in.
Length: 45 in.
Ready to fly weight: 12.5 lb. (less fuel)
Wing Loading: oz./sq. ft.
Engine Used: O.S. FS-1.20 Surpass 4-stroke
Fuel Used: Cool Power 15%
Prop Used: APC 15x6
Radio System: Futaba 9C transmitter
(6)
Futaba S3004 Standard BB Servos;
(2) ailerons,
(1) elevator,
(1) rudder,
(1) throttle
Channels
Used: 4 total: aileron, elevator, rudder and throttle
Required
Items:
4-channel
radio with 6 servos (minimum 40 oz-in torque)
2-stroke .91 - 1.08 2-stroke or 4-stroke 1.20 engine
Fuel tubing
2 - 12" servo extensions
Servo reverser for elevator servos
Thin and medium CA, 30-minute epoxy
Microballoons
Assorted drill bits
Dremel Moto-Tool
Standard building tools
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CONSTRUCTION
PREPARATIONS
The Gee Bee doesn't have a lot of parts and assembly goes fairly
quickly. A unique feature of the kit is included fuselage cradle.
When you unpack the box, you'll notice that the fuselage is held
in place with foam cradles. Don't throw these parts away! They are
actually part of a foam cradle that you assemble to hold the barrel
fuselage during construction. There's a total of 8 pieces, 4 cradles
for upright and inverted building/storage, 2 extensions that lift
the fuselage higher off your workbench and 2 heavy-duty plastic
pipes that slide into holes in the cradles. I thought this was very
cool of Great Planes to include such a handy accessory. |
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Before
getting started it's always a good idea to study the instruction
manual. You'll gain an insight on how the model is built and what
tools and supplies you'll need. In the Gee Bee's case there are
a few steps that I felt were out of order. I'll touch on them as
I go along.
As with most ARF's, the first thing to do is to heat up the covering
and trim iron. My Gee Bee had a few wrinkles and a couple of seams
needed to be touched up. Nothing out of the ordinary here. I also
took the time to cut up the sheet of CA hinge material into individual
hinges. While I have the iron out, I check the manual and remove
the covering from any openings (like servo pockets), this makes
assembly go quicker. For small openings like the slots for the landing
gear, I used a pencil soldering iron to melt the covering away.
This method is a lot easier than using a knife and a no. 11 blade. |
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Wing
Assembly
There's not too much to do to assemble the wing and is typical for
an ARF model. The first step is to hinge the ailerons to the wing
panels. The precut hinge slots were deep enough and only required
the weep holes to be drilled. Next the manual has you install the
aileron servos. Remember I said that a few steps were out of sequence?
Well here's the first one. If you went ahead and install the servos
and landing gear assembly, especially the aileron left servo, when
it came time to apply the rather large decal on the bottom of the
left panel, you'd have to remove the servo, linkage and the landing
gear assembly to apply the decal. It's much easier to apply the
decal now and then proceed with the wing assembly. After I applied
the decal, I installed the servos and made the linkages from the
supplied materials. Just make sure that when you install the aileron
horns, you mount them on the plywood pads. |
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instructions now have you join the wing panels together and then
install the landing gear. I decided to install the gear first as
it's a lot easier to work on the individual panels; there's less
chance of hangar rash this way. Each wire landing gear is installed
into two hardwood blocks and the main leg is braced with joiner
wire that has a "U" bend in it to absorb shock loads.
After the gear in inserted into the blocks, make sure that it has
a forward rake to it. Eight nylon straps secure the gear in place
and it's very important that the straps are place where instructed.
If not, they will interfere with the wheel pants. |
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The
painted fiberglass wheel pants add all the charm and personality
and cannot be omitted from the construction of the model. Great
Planes has done a good job here, as their installation is fairly
easy and so far, the pants have held up well on my grass field and
less than perfect landings. Before mounting the pants, determine
which pant goes on the right wing panel (to match the manual's sequence)
as the base of the pants is angled to accommodate the wing's dihedral.
Placing the pant over the installed gear leg and temporarily installing
the wheel and its axle determine its location on the wing. Center
the wheel in the pant opening and make four marks on the base of
the pant for the mounting screws. Make sure that the marks are over
the hardwood rails that the nylon straps are screwed into.
When I made the marks, I used a couple pieces of masking tape to
hold the pant still and made reference marks on the wing so I could
place the pant back in exactly the same position. Now remove the
pant use a 1/8-inch drill bit and drill the holes at an inward angle.
Don't drill the holes near the lip of the pants, you'll crack and
chip the fiberglass. Remount the pant and transfer drill the screw
holes into the wing and then use the supplied #4 screws to secure
the pant. It's a good idea to remove the screws and harden the screw
holes with a few drops of thin CA.
The pants are reinforced inside on both sides of the wheels with
plywood pads. Make sure you use course sandpaper to thoroughly roughen
the fiberglass and then clean the area with rubbing alcohol. The
instructions state to use 6-minute epoxy mixed with microballoons
for a stronger bond when gluing in the plywood pads. I agree with
the microballoons but not the 6-minute epoxy as it doesn't give
you nearly enough working time before it starts to setup. Thirty-minute
epoxy is a better choice. Repeat the process for the other wheel
pant. |
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wing joiner is laminated from 3 pieces of plywood and to make gluing
them together easier, I drill a guide hole on each end and insert
a 1/16-inch diameter dowel into the holes. This keeps the parts
from sliding around when the epoxy and clamps are applied. To securely
hold the wing panels together while the epoxy cures, I wrap rubber
bands around the wing hold down bolts and the dowels in the leading
edge of the wing. Now join the wing panels as instructed to complete
the wing. |
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INSTALLING THE BELLY PAN
I'd like to be able to say that the belly pan (BP) fit perfectly
but that wasn't the case on my model. After reading different threads
on RCU, I could see that some belly pans fit well and others didn't.
The first task is to cut a notch in the center of the front face
of the BP so it'll fit over the leading edge of the wing. Next install
the wing onto the fuselage and position the BP on the wing. It was
immediately obvious that the BP was a little too long. If forced
to fit in the fuselage opening it would slightly buckle and wouldn't
seat on the wing. If the BP were fitted flush at the front or rear,
it would seat very nicely on the wing but the opposite end wouldn't
be flush with the fuselage. After pondering the problem for a while,
I decided to sand the rear of the BP and the rear of the fuselage
opening. It took a fair amount of sanding to make it fit half way
decently. |
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I
next drilled the holes for the wing hold down bolts and used a Dremel
tool with a stone bit to enlarge it to the proper size. If you use
a large drill bit, you'll surely crack and chip the fiberglass.
Using a black marker, I traced the outline of the BP on the wing.
Following the "Expert Tip" in the manual, I used a soldering
iron to remove the MonoKote from the gluing areas where the BP was
to be attached to the wing. Instead of using 6-minute epoxy, I again
used 30-minute epoxy and taped the BP in place until the glue cured.
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FUSELAGE
ASSEMBLY
Because the fuselage is so large in diameter, it presents some unique
problems that Great Planes solved rather nicely. Items like routing
the engine's exhaust out of the cowl, mounting the cowl cleanly
and throttle pushrod hook up are all well thought out and easy to
implement.
First is the exhaust. To make room for the muffler, a tunnel in
molded into the bottom of the fuselage that the muffler nestles
into. Your choice of engine will determine if any cutting of the
cowl or fuselage is needed to accommodate your installation. One
thing that Great Planes neglects is to mention that you need to
use some type of exhaust diverter. If you don't, the hot exhaust
gases will hit the front of the belly pan and burn a hole in it.
Exhaust fumes will also fill the inside of the fuselage. To compensate
for the really short nose moment, the throttle servo is mounted
on the firewall near the engine to move as much weight forward.
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assembly starts by mounting the engine. I used the included engine
mount as the O.S. 1.20 4-stroker I was going to use fit the mount
perfectly after I ground away the supports for the nose gear leg.
Thrust line reference marks are molded into the firewall and use
need only to use the proper engine mount template to locate the
engine and its mount. Next I built the plywood throttle servo tray
and fuel proofed it with a coat of alcohol-thinned epoxy. I installed
the tray on the firewall where suggested and this worked out well.
If you chose, you can install the throttle servo inside the fuselage;
it's up to you. Given that the engine is mounted more inverted than
sideways, I decided to install an ElectroDynamics EDR-103 on-board
glow system to ensure the engine wouldn't quit at low throttle settings. |
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included fuel tank and setting it up is pretty standard stuff and
I included a third line in it to make fueling the model easier.
The tank is then installed with the neck protruding through a hole
in the firewall and secured at the rear to a bulkhead with a #64
rubber band. Before installing the tank, I applied a generous bead
of PFM adhesive around its neck, it would help keep the tank in
place and provide some vibration damping. |
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COWL
ASSEMBLY
The cowl on the Gee Bee is a focal point of attention and Great
Planes has paid a lot of attention to this area of the model. Instead
of simply gluing hardwood blocks around the perimeter of the firewall
of the fuselage and then screwing the cowl to the blocks, Great
Planes has designed a simple and effective method of hiding the
cowl's attachment screws and preserving the clean looks of the model.
Great Planes also includes a dummy radial engine that looks great
and completes the scale look of the model. |
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the cowl installation isn't difficult, it does take a little patience
to line things up properly. Four 1/8-inch plywood mounting tab are
glued and screwed to the firewall at approximately 90 degrees intervals.
You can juggle them a little for the best clearance, but they must
still line up with the cowl ring that is glued to the inside of
the cowl. When placing the cowl ring on the fuselage, make sure
that it's spaced equally around the sides of the fuselage. After
the mounting tabs are glued into place, use some small clamps to
hold the cowl ring in position on the tabs. When all looks right,
number the tabs and the cowl ring so you can match them up later.
Next drill holes through the ring and the tabs and then insert the
4-40 blind nuts into the ring. The dummy engine is trimmed, fitted
and painted next but not glued into the cowl until later. |
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the cowl-mounting ring is still attached to the fuselage, the cowl
is fitted and glued to it. First thoroughly sand and clean the inside
of the cowl where the mounting ring is going to be glued. Next I
made a reference line on the inside of the cowl 2 inches in from
its back edge by taping a marker on a box of the appropriate height.
The cowl is then placed onto the mounting ring and is centered using
the engine's crankshaft and the reference line on the inside of
the cowl. When it looks just right, tack glue the cowl to the ring
with CA. Don't try to remove the cowl before the glue is fully cured. |
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Mounting
the Cowl and the dummy engine
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the cowl and mix up a batch of 30-minute epoxy and microballoons
and apply a generous fillet to the ring and cowl. When fully cured,
place the dummy engine over the engine and then attach the cowl
to the fuselage. Take a couple of long balsa sticks and rubber bands
and loop a rubber band through a couple of the aluminum tubes on
one side of the dummy engine. Slide one of the balsa sticks through
the rubber band and center it onto the front of the cowl and repeat
for the other side of the cowl. This will pull the dummy engine
into the front of the cowl and hold it in place. Center the dummy
engine over the engine thrust washer and the cutout in the dummy
over the cylinder head. Now carefully remove the cowl without disturbing
the dummy engine. If it moves you'll have to start over. Tack glue
the dummy to the cowl and reinstall it on the fuselage to verify
that the dummy is properly placed. When satisfied, permanently glue
the dummy to the cowl; I used PFM adhesive instead of epoxy and
microballoons as recommended. |
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TAIL
FEATHERS
The vertical fin is part of the molded fuselage so only the stabilizer
needs to be glued into the fuselage. There's nothing tricky here,
just make sure to remove the MonoKote from the gluing area and square
it up with the wing before gluing it into place. Because the fuselage
is so short and large, you can easily apply glue to the stab/fuselage
joint from the inside. Another task that I felt was out of sequence
is cutting the pushrod exits into the rear of the fuselage. Having
the stab glued in place before cutting them out limits your working
room so I made the pushrod exits before I glued the stab in place. |
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Installing
the Tail Feathers
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Next
a slot needs to be cut in the tailpost for the tail wheel bracket.
After measuring and marking the tailpost, I used a Dremel tool with
a cutoff wheel to cut the slot in the fiberglass. The rudder is
molded of fiberglass, so follow the same procedure to make a slot
and groove in it so the knuckle of the bracket is recessed into
the rudder. The instructions have you hinge the rudder in place,
but I waited until after I have the elevators setup. It's a whole
lot easier to make the elevators parallel with each other when you
can sight down their trailing edges. With the rudder in place, this
is impossible to do.
I hinged the elevators to the model and attached the control horns.
There are plywood mount pads in the elevators, make sure to harden
the horn's screw holes with some thin CA.
RADIO INSTALLATION & FINAL DETAILS |
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far as radio installations go, this has to be one of the easiest
to do. There's so much room in the barrel-shaped fuselage it isn't
funny. You have to build the receiver/battery tray and the two servo
trays and glue them into the fuselage. They're laser cut, so assembly
is a snap. Again nothing tricky here, just follow the instructions.
The rudder and elevator pushrods are made from dowels to which you
need to attach a threaded wire to each end. The wire pushrods are
recessed into grooves that you make and then they are held with
CA and heat shrink tubing. For extra security and piece of mind,
I wrapped the pushrod/wire assembly with thread and soaked it with
thin CA before applying the heat shrink tubing. |
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Installed the servos, pushrods and hooked
up the elevators
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I
installed the servos and hooked up the elevators. Instead of using
a "Y" harness for the dual elevator servos, I used a
Futaba MSA-10 10SX Synchronizer. This neat little unit couples
up to 4 servos, and electronically balances them to start and
stop simultaneously. It also allows you to adjust the end points
and travel for each servo. The MSA-10 made it very easy for me
to make both elevator servos move exactly the same amount from
full up to full down. With the elevators all set I hinged the
rudder and hooked up the servo and pushrod. When the pushrods
are in place you need to support them in the fuselage behind the
wing saddle. Balsa sticks are supplied that you cut to length
and glue into place over and under the pushrods. Simple and effective.
It
was now time to add the rest of the radio system and the on-board
glow. A quick check showed that the model was going to be a little
nose heavy, so I installed the receiver against the firewall along
with the MSA-10. I mounted the receiver battery and the on board
glow battery on the aft end of the radio tray. I installed the
receiver switch in the side of the fuselage and ran the antenna
through a hole that I drilled in the fuselage behind the wing
and tied it off at the tail wheel. I used a short length of fuel
tubing and snaked the antenna through it where it exited the fuselage
to prevent it from being cut.
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The
last items to be completed was trimming the canopy and pilot and
installing them, applying the rest of the decals, balancing the
model and setting up the control throws. To dress up the cockpit,
Great Planes thoughtfully includes a painted pilot bust. To make
it fit inside the canopy, you'll need to decapitate it and use
only the head. I used PFM adhesive to glue the head in place.
The canopy framework is painted and it only needs to be trimmed
to fit on the fuselage. Canopies, glue and I don't get along very
well so I used three small screws and screwed the canopy in place.
Applying the remaining decals went very easily and really dresses
up the Gee Bee and brings it to life.
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Balancing the Gee Bee is very critical to the performance of
the model and I used my Great Planes CG Machine. To use it though,
I had to replace the rods at the base with longer ones so the
machine would accommodate the wide Gee Bee fuselage. I used
some carbon fiber rods that I had lying around and they worked
perfectly. The recommended CG is 2-3/4" back from the leading
edge of the wing and Great Planes highly sticking with this
CG. After I setup the CG Machine and placed the model on it,
I was surprised that the model was a little nose heavy. No doubt
the on board glow system contributed to the condition. The model
needed an ounce of weight in the tail to bring the CG spot on.
This brought the model's overall weight to 12.5 lbs.
I
setup the control throws as recommended, which are as follows:
Elevator: 5/8" up/down
Aileron: 7/8" up/down
Rudder: 1" left/right
As
a safety buffer against an overly sensitive model, I used 50%
of the throws on elevator and aileron as low rates and also added
exponential to both. I double checked all systems and pronounced
the Gee Bee ready for flight.
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ADDING
FLYING WIRES
When I took the model outside and placed it on its wheels for
the first time, it looked like the model was missing something.
After a few minutes it dawned on me, flying wires! Comparing the
model with pictures of full-scale Gee Bees showed that flying
wires were a distinctive feature of the airplane. I decided to
add flying wires to the model and it was a relatively simple task
to complete.
First I determined where the wires needed to be attached to the
model and the materials to be used to duplicate the wires. Using
3-views and various photos made locating the wires easy. For the
flying wires themselves, I used plastic lacing from a craft store,
metal Du-Bro landing gear straps and unthreaded 4-40 clevises.
The lacing is the same type that kids use at summer camp and is
perfect for flat flying wires. It has a flat cross section, it's
light, cheap, easy to use and the effect is very convincing when
in place.
I did the top of the model first and drilled pilot holes in the
wing spars and in the fuselage where appropriate. I glued plywood
pads in the fuselage so the anchor screws would have something
to bite into. After threading the screws into the wood, I hardened
the holes with a few drops of thin CA. Next I bent 8 of the landing
straps to about a 30-degree angle and screwed them in place. I
cut an angle on the end of the lace and worked it through a clevis
and tied a knot in the lace. Now pull the lace so the knot seats
in the clevis and apply a drop of thin CA to lock it the clevis.
Attach the clevis to one of the anchors and another clevis to
the mating anchor. Run the lace to the anchor leaving extra to
thread through the clevis and for a knot. For the best effect,
the lace needs to be pulled tight so it doesn't sag when it's
on the model and here's the tricky part, placing the second knot
in the right place. You want the lace in a relaxed state to be
about 1/2 inch short from anchor to anchor. In other words, if
the distance from anchor to anchor is 24 inches, the lacing with
the clevises attached should be 23-1/2 inches long. When you attach
the lace to the model, it'll easily stretch the 1/2-inch and stay
tight. I made two sets of flying wires for the top of the model
and they stay attached to the wing when it's removed from the
fuselage.
Adding flying wires to the bottom of the model required a little
more thought and they run from the wing to the wheel pants and
then to the belly pan. Anchoring them to the wing wasn't a problem;
I used the same process as on the top of the wing. Attaching the
wires to the belly pan turned out to be a non-issue. I remembered
that there were plywood reinforcement rings in the belly pan and
I could make out their outlines for the anchor screws.
The biggest problem was attaching the wires to the wheel pants.
I noticed that the wheel pants had slots molded in them where
the scale flying wires would pass through. I used a Dremel tool
and carefully ground open the slots. I then glued short lengths
of carbon fiber rod across the slots on the inside of the wheel
pants as an anchor point for the lace. I wound the lace around
the rods and secured it with thin CA and then attached a clevis
at the other end. I didn't pull the lace as tight as on the top
as I didn't want the lace to pull the wheel pants apart. So far
on my grass runway, the flying wires have held up well and haven't
presented any problems. It took me a little over an hour to add
the flying wires and was well worth the effort.
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Flight
Report:
Here's where all of the work pays off, at the field! Would the
Gee Bee live up to its reputation as a difficult model to fly
or would it be a pussycat? Before any flying could commence,
the O.S. engine needed to be broken-in. I ran several tanks
of fuel through it following the manufacturers recommendations.
I also setup the on-board glow system to engage at 1/4 throttle
and it work flawlessly.
Takeoff
and landing
The weather for the first flight was perfect, a nice bright
sunny day with light winds right down the runway. After the
engine was fired up, I taxied the Gee Bee to the end of the
runway and made a couple of practice runs. I'm happy to say
the Gee Bee ground handles well. Be advised though that it's
not very tolerant of crosswinds.
Now that I was a little more confident, on the next run, I slowly
applied the throttle and the Gee Bee accelerated quickly and
was airborne in about 80-100 feet at about 3/4 throttle. Nice!
I let it gain speed and then started to gain altitude. After
a few trim circuits around the field the Gee Bee was flying
hands off, straight and level. Some up trim and a little left
aileron were needed. So far so good and it sure looked awesome
as it motored by!
After my nerves settled down a little, I practiced some landing
approaches. When you reduce throttle, surprisingly, the Gee
Bee glides fairly well but it does bleed off speed quickly.
You do need to keep the nose of the model pointed slightly down
to maintain speed. If at all possible, land directly into any
wind. The model is very solid and responsive all the way down
to the runway. Tail high, wheeled landings are the way to go
with the Gee Bee and they sure look great! If you slow the model
down too much before touchdown, it'll bounce a few times before
settling down.
Slow
Flight and Stall Characteristics
The Gee Bee is a racing plane that was designed to go fast.
With this in mind, slow flight is relative. With its wing area
of 743 sq. in. and a wing loading of 38.7 oz./sq. ft. it isn't
a floater. It is however well mannered during slow flight. Control
response is good and not aggressive. Again surprisingly, stalls
are not what you expect as my Gee Bee would stall by dropping
a wing and its nose. I'm sure it could snap if the CG was aft
of where recommended. The main thing to keep in mind with the
Gee Bee is to not let it fly too slowly as it slows quickly
due to its large frontal area. It would be wise to trim the
throttle a little high. There's nothing to be afraid of here.
High
Speed Flight and Aerobatics
Here's where the Gee Bee really comes to life! At full throttle,
the O.S. 1.20 hauls the plane around at a fast clip and is faster
than I thought it would be. No trim changes were noted between
slow and high-speed flight, this means Great Planes did a great
job building a true model. It was time to turn this beauty loose!
First off, can you say graceful? The Gee Bee does all aerobatics
is a stately manner that's fitting for this type of model. Make
no mistake, it's not an Extra 300 or Cap 232, nor does it claim
to be, but it will do any maneuver you ask of it.
Rolls are a thing of beauty, they're fairly axial and it's very
cool to watch that big barrel fuselage rotate. Loops are spectacular,
nice big and round, oh man this model is fun! Cuban 8's, reverse
Cubans, Split S's, spins, snaps are all within the Gee Bee's
abilities. The plane flies very well inverted and only requires
a touch of down elevator. Most impressive though is how it performs
knife edge flight. I've never flown a model that knifes so easily.
Roll it on its side, apply a little rudder and the Gee Bee will
easily knife until it's out of sight.
Watch the video of the
Great Planes
Gee Bee in Action
Takeoff, loops, rolls and knife edge 3.42
MB
Takeoff, rolls, flight, a landing 5.25
MB
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The Great Planes Gee Bee is a spectacular model! Its flight characteristics
could be considered docile and not at all what you would expect.
In fact for my liking, I thought the recommended control throws
were a little soft. But not by much. Putting the Gee Bee together
for the most part is trouble-free and undemanding. The only area
I would fault is the fit of the belly pan, as it required more effort
than necessary to fit properly. If you really want a model that's
not run of the mill and just plain fun to fly, then the Gee Bee
is what the doctor ordered! It truly is a Great Plane!
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Great
Planes
P.O. Box 9021
Champaign, IL 61826-9021 USA
Phone: 217-398-3630
Fax: 217-398-0008
Website: www.greatplanes.com
email: productsupport@greatplanes.com
OS
Engines
Distributed Exclusively in the U.S.A., Canada and Mexico by:
Great Planes Model Distributors
P.O. Box 9021
Champaign, IL 61826-9021
Website: www.osengines.com
Futaba
Corporation of America
Distributed Exclusively in the U.S.A., Canada and Mexico by:
Great Planes Model Distributors
P.O. Box 9021
Champaign, IL 61826-9021
Website: www.futaba-rc.com
Landing
Products
(APC Propellers)
1222 Harter
Woodland, CA 95776
Phone: 530-661-0399 Fax: 530-666-6661
Website: www.apcprop.com
email: apcprop@aol.com
Coolpower
Fuel
(By Morgan Fuels)
Website: www.morganfuel.com
ElectroDynamics
31091 Schoolcraft Road
Livonia, MI 48150
Phone: (734)422-5420
Website: www.electrodynam.com
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The comments, observations and conclusions made in this review are solely with respect to the particular item the editor reviewed and may not apply generally to similar products by the manufacturer. We cannot be responsible for any manufacturer defects in workmanship or other deficiencies in products like the one featured in the review. |
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EMAIL THIS ARTICLE OR CHECK OUT THESE OTHER GREAT REVIEWS! |
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