Hibrass

My Feedback: (1)

Well I'm on my 2nd Bipe.. So far very happy with using the recommend Rimfire and a Thunderbird 36 ESC... I'm also using hs65's all around and a hand full of Hobby city LiPo packs.

My only compliant was that with both kits I received incomplete hardware packages... The 1st one didn't have enough clevises and the 2nd was missing 2 control horns... Go figure... Luckily I had stuff laying around to makeup for the shortage and Great planes did eventully got me replacement parts.. It was just frustrating during a pre weekend assembly thrash...

Oh and this is simply the most rugged fat fuz electric I have ever owned. And trust me it took a couple of tries to kill my first one... :-)

Ed

scalenut07

Couldn't wait to get home today from work, I knew that the brown truck would come today. Sure enough, there was a package waiting for me when I arrived. No damage to the box, WHEW!!!! I immediately opened it up and there was a big crease across the inside box, OH NO!!! I started removing the parts to inventory and........the top wing was damaged, *@#%!!!!!!!!!!! To late to call Tower tonight. Everything else looks good. This is one beautiful plane, I can't wait to get started. I will start Putting it together next week and posting pics of my progress if anyone is interested.

Hibrass

My Feedback: (1)

Scalenut,

Two maiden flight suggestions... Watch the Aileron throw... Even the low rate is kinda high for a first flight... And the low rate on the elevator is a little soft you might want to consider a little more than recommend depending on your flying style...

Sorry to hear about the wing, at least is is the top one so you will be able to do a lot of assembly while waiting for the replacement..

Good Luck,

malcolmm

Almost finished assembling my Reactor, so far so good. Lots of thought was put into designing this plane. I find bipes are usually a pain to assemble, but not this one.

I paticularily like the way the top wing attaches, the wing jig makes it easy. The magnets for the cowl are a great idea, provided they hold of course. Having the covering pre cut for the vertical and horizontal stab is also a time saver.

I like the way the wheel axles are not just screws. The only problem I've found so far is that my wheel pants don't fit properly against the landing gear. The hole for the axle isn't drilled correctly in the pants and the pant won't fit up against the landing gear. Did anyone else experience this problem?

sseward

My Feedback: (1)

Malcom,
My wheel pant holes were slightly off, but it's an easy fix. Once aligne they stay on very well. As for the cowl magnets, I've got 4 flights on mine and so far, so good!

Steve

contempo

My Feedback: (20)

Are there any plans for GP do a larger size of this plane in say a 5s or 6s setup?

Matt

malcolmm

Steve - how did you fix your wheel pants?

I could of course redrill the holes, but they would be so close together I didn't think that would work very well - is that what you did?

sseward

My Feedback: (1)

Malcolmm,

Mine were'nt too far off, so all I had to do is clean up the holes and slightly elongate the holes through the strut. Once they pants align to the wheel strut correctly they lock into place very nicely.

Steve

summerwind

i've got 2 of the Rimfire 35-36-1200's and both run as expected.
they both have what i condsider a harmonic vibration and at low to mid throttle setting..........but one has a more pronounced noise associated with the vibration that is sort of like hearing 2 pieces of tin slapping at each other. it does not appear to be any grinding or anything like that, but just some wierd noise that goes away at higher rpms.
but at full throttle there is a wierd noise too that after backing off the throttle and then going right back to full will go away.
everything is tight and i do not feel andthing being loose, nor does this motor exhibit end or side play.
it will pull 42 amps/434 watts at 9,740 rpm with an APC 11x5.5.

should i exchange this motor or just keep it and see what goes?

oh yes, sorry for the noob questions...........if it were a gas motor i would know how to analyze.

tubamike78

did you balance the prop?

summerwind

of course.............it's on it's way back now.
it had the vibes and noise even without a prop.

AOG

Summerwind,

Did you try a different ESC? The Great Planes ESC shouldn't cause any airframe vibes. I've had an ESC cause this in one of my planes. It must have been the timing of the ESC, because at certain spots, it resonated the whole airframe.

Steve

summerwind

Steve,

i tried it with both my Great Planes 35amp ESC and my Phoenix 45ampESC................i tried different props and even went to the trouble to mount it in the Bipe to compare.
i sent it back today.
there is just something that is a bit off about it.

one thing i was impressed with in regards to these Rimfires though was that with the same prop, and fully charged battery, they both produce the exact same high rpm figures.
the one i sent back just had this wierd harmonic resonance at a certain RPM.

i also went ahead and placed an order for a 3rd motor, so when i get the replacement i will have 3 to compare with. if this resonance is in any of the 2 upcoming motors then i will know for sure it's just a normal thing. kinda expensive way to find out, but i can always use a spare right?

AOG

I'm glad they took back your motor and will exchange it. I'm surprised that a defective motor will perform the same as one that is OK. Oh well, plenty of GP planes use the same motor setup. That's a great power setup for any 40" span performance plane - lots of power!

I've got to get my bipe up and running once again. I broke a prop and it seems to have loosened the motor mount box. The trouble is that I used a good bead of RC-56 to hold my cowl down and now it's tough to get off. I've been busy with my other planes and haven't gotten 'round to fixing the bipe properly, so it's been hanging around the shop.

zachmccool

I have about 40-50 flights on my Reactor Bipe and let me say that it has been a blast every single flight! If you have soft thumbs than fly it on hight rates all the time and it will reward you with smooth and slow flight, but throw the sticks around and it becomes wild on demand! I have had 3 crashes with this plan and every time the plane brook in a way that left it repairable with a little thin CA, 1/16th balsa, and time. i am flying with the recommended Rimfire 35-36-1200 and it has some climb out authority when paired with an APC 11X5.5 prop and a 2200mah Zippy-h pack. I think if I was to buy a new motor I would buy the 35-36-1000 and run an APC 12X6. MotoCalc shows 5oz more thrust for the same amp draw, wich is about 35 amps in Mississippi.

The harmonic thing you are talking about is not normal, at lest not on my motor.

I fly mostly hard 3-d with this plan and have all the surfaces maxed out on throw and have moved the cg ~1/4" back form the recommended range. I also have the recommended s3114's in the wings and the digital s3154s in the tail with out any problems (other than easy to strip in case of hard landing). So I think that the recommended set up has more than enough power to satisfy most flyers, and if you want more power then go with the 35-36-1000 and have fun!

AOG

Zach,

If you try the 1000kv motor with the APC 12x6, let us know your opinion of it. I'd be curious to see what you think. Some motors I've seen seem that they should spec out great, but don't end up delivering. My experiences with the 35-36-1000 motor is that it is a bit weak by comparison, but that's just my opinion. I wonder what a 4S setup would do with the 1000kv motor? Hmmmm sounds like a fun experiment!

summerwind

zach,

that's the same prop i'm using on my Bipe too.........i was really shocked at the first take off as i really expected some kind of roll off to one side or the other..........well Nada, notta a single bump in the first flight.......took 3 clicks of right rudder but that was it..............it gave me a thrill i will not soon forget. i usually will miaden a new bird and give it 3 flights and then take her home for a going over.
not this plane............most addictive plane i've owned yet and i'm really glad i took all the advice here and on another forum and used the 35-36-1200 and 11x5.5.........

i had another plane with my on Sunday which is the brother ship to this bipe, the single wing Reactor.........flew great, but into the 2nd flight i got a good scare as the stab fluttered, stipped the servo and lurched down right at me..........was able to get it down in one piece, but i'll have to do some major surgery on the stab as it broke in 3 places.

this of course left me with wondering about the stab on the Bipe................has anyone experienced any flutter?
should i avoid full power with the Bipe?

zachmccool

From all that I have read the stab on the reactor is 3mm think and the stab on the Reactor Bipe is 5mm think. This should keep it nice and stiff. Great planes also irons on the covering exactly where it needs to be on the Bipe while the Reactor has covering that needs to be trimmed. When people trim this covering they score the wood against that gain which severely weakens the stab. When building the reactor they now advise to wick thin CA over the cut line before installation.

I have flown full power into a dive to enter a blinder with no ill effect.

AOG

I've never heard of any flutter issues with the bipe. Like Zach said, the center section is uncovered and is never touched with a knife so it stays strong. The monoplane reactor uses 3mm thick balsa for the horizontal tail, while the bipe uses 4mm wood with an additional piece of hardwood just forward of the TE of the stab. The bipe uses a thicker steel joiner wire (I think it's at least 0.5mm thicker gauge wire). Also, the large counterbalances of the monoplane reactor were greatly reduced.

I wouldn't worry about flutter with the bipe, just fly it...

If you're rebuilding your monoplane reactor, order up the horizontal tail for the bipe and re-cover it in yellow. I did that and have had no problems with my monoplane reactor.

summerwind

you know, that's what i was thinking..........i am at the stage of uncovering the bottom of the stab on the mono, but like you said, the stab assembly from the bipe would take care of future issues.....
that's great advice and well taken........thx, and thx for the reassurance on the bipe.

hellblastervolly

Summer.

If your going to keep the stab of your mono use the hot iron like they recomend or you can do what i did with my mono and peel the covering from the bottom up to a line a trace and then cut it with a razor wile been off the wood. I still have my Reactor mono in one pice and don't have any problem. Well not really, I strip a servo like a month ago and is grounded for the moment. lol

Fernando

summerwind

i stripped the covering they way GP recommends with a hot iron. works great, doesn't cut into the wood. i did this same technique on my GP Super Skybolt as well and it's been flying over a year with an OS 91 4 stroke which vibrates the tail quite a bit...........no problems.

with the Reactor, the Stab/Elevator went through some momentary flutter that did a number on the 3114's gears, and put a crack in the stab just outside the fuse area. about 3/4" out to be exact. it's actually where the center section is notche into the trailing edge.
what it needs here is a new stab.................i may go ahead and try laminating some CF from tip to tip and see if that holds.

Hibrass

My Feedback: (1)

Summerwind,

My limited experiance with the 3114 and 3156 is from flying friends with 450 size electric Heli's and Reactor size 3d planes... So far none as been positive.... I run HS65 and HS65mg's in my Reactor Bipe and I have only stripped one servo in 3 crashes.

Good luck,

Ed

hellblastervolly

Summer.

Im sure laminating the stab will help make the surface stronger. You can also add CF rod to go from Stab to Elevator to make it more rigid. I don't know about the 3114 and 3156 but Im not even going to try them to many people have problem with them. Im a JR guy but for this size Im staying with my HS65 all around. The servo that I stripped was one of my JR during a blender and this was one of the aileron so just think if it was the elevator or ruder. I think and they feel like they hold stronger the position they are.

Fernando

hobdean

My Feedback: (11)

Anyone try the axi 2814/16 ?