need help with GP Reactor
 

a friend of mine has got me hooked on getting into some electric flying. i am at current a four stroke hotdog, so what i'm asking might be becuase we gas flyers tend to over do thing s on the margin safety.

so i have decided on the GP Reactor for my first plane, and on Towers site they list the Futaba s3114's for servos. i am using Futaba FASST systems now.
the other item i'm wanting to make sure is going to be OK is the Rimfire motor they list which is the 35-30-1250.
in the reviews they used the Rimfire 35-30-950..........so as i know nothing about these motors, which one is the greater in power?
the other servos i had been looking at were Hitec's HS65's.....a bit heavier by a few grams, but look to be more durable than the Futaba S3114's, so i need your help here as well.

thx
mike

RE: need help with GP Reactor
 

I believe the 3rd number basically represents the power band. A higher number makes more torque, and the lower is higher RPMs. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong.

The torque specs on both servos are pretty close. I've had the older, but similar servos in a flat foamy. They're pretty tough, strong and fast. I think they'd work well, and judging by the videos, they should do fine.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JjDk2X9wuM

RE: need help with GP Reactor
 

Send me a PM and I will tell you why this is a bad idea.

RE: need help with GP Reactor
 

i think you have the wrong idea here. i have been flying since '68 so it's not my first RC model.........but it will be my first electric.

RE: need help with GP Reactor
 

Summerwind,

I'm flying the Reactor Bipe with the 1250 rimfire and it is a great performer.. The 950 KV motor is a higher torque motor and will swing a bigger prop at a given voltage. The 1250 will swing a shorter higher pitch prop at a higher RPM at a given voltage...

I only have limited electric experiance as of now but short of my Larger Gas planes, Electrics will be the only small airplanes I buy again! Oh and the Bipe is a Riot to fly!

Good luck with your Reactor!

RE: need help with GP Reactor
 

OK i have received a few PM's telling me not to buy this airplane as the wings fold up..............any other suggestions?

RE: need help with GP Reactor
 

Summerwind,

The Reactor Bipe won't fold the wings... ;-) But if your looking for a single wing go check out the 3D Hobbyshop selection electric arobats.. The feedback has been great so far...

Good Luck,

RE: need help with GP Reactor
 

Just started building mine:

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/n...g?t=1212613020

RE: need help with GP Reactor
 

i like the bipe too.....so i ordered both.....the bipe and the single wing. thx

RE: need help with GP Reactor
 

Hi Summerwind.

I have the single wing Reactor and never had a problem with the wings. Yes In the past there was a problem with the way the wing join together but they fix the problem plus lots of people didnt make sure that the wing to the fuse was making full contact. For the record I have the old version of it and did a lot of reserch to find what work and what didnt work with other reactor before I build mine. The plane fly awsome you will love it I have mine with Hitec HS65 for motor I have the E-flite Park 480 with APC 10x3.8 prop. You can go with the Rimfire 35-30-1250 or the one below but not the 950. If you have any question on building the reactor send me a pm and Ill help you to build it right.


P.S. I love the Bipe also I'll get one soon.


Fernando

RE: need help with GP Reactor
 

I got some more done last night:

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/n...g?t=1212676483

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/n...g?t=1212676611

RE: need help with GP Reactor
 

Foamy and others,

A little off topic, on about the Reactor Bipe... It does turn out a little tail heavy even with a 2100mah LiPo so keep that in mind. The balence points given does make it handle a little tail heavy... I like it like that but it is kind of a surprise at first.

Oh and watch your airleron throws. This thing will literally roll faster than you can control on max rates.. I crashed mine on maiden because I forgot to make sure I was in low rates for takeoff.

And speaking of crashing... The Reactor Bipe is one rugged bird for an electric, I only cracked the outer portion of the lower right wing during my crash and had it up and running after about an half an hour of work..

Good Luck,

RE: need help with GP Reactor
 

Thanks for the heads up! I tend to be pretty anal about maidens. By the time it's on take off roll, I've checked and rechecked everything 5 times... :D Here's where I'm at now:

Now I have the tail feathers attached:

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/n...g?t=1212682441

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/n...g?t=1212682465

RE: need help with GP Reactor
 

Finally finished the build today, looked great. Took it to the field for a test flight. It flew great, until I got near the power lines. It glitched, and crashed. I could repair it, but I'm so bummed it'll prolly catch dust. I'll post pics tomorrow.

RE: need help with GP Reactor
 

Well, between the wife and my good flying buddy, I was convinced to order a new one...

It'll get here next week, and now that I have so much practice building, I bet I'll have it airborne in a day.

Postmortem:

The nose is crushed, but repairable( I don't like to fix crashed planes, I replace them)
3 stripped servos, and a broken prop, that's about it. The rest of the electronics are all in good shape, and the bulk of the airframe looks perfect(it should I flew for like 5 minutes)

I really impressed the 10-15 onlookers that happened to be there. I prolly scared the hell outta the poor guy walking his dog... it splatted right next to him on the street.

It was flying very well, I really enjoyed it. I decided it was time to land, and on approach, I came really close to the power lines. That's where it glitched, nosed straight down, and went in.

RE: need help with GP Reactor
 

now that's a lousy way to lose a new plane..........they should move those stupid lines, or better yet, just chop 'em down i say[sm=lol.gif]

glad you are getting another one.
BTW, are you using a 2.4Ghz system?

RE: need help with GP Reactor
 

Nope, my trusty old FM system from the days of Yore... :D (5 year old digital Futaba 6 channel) Works very well, I doubt it's at fault, the range check went well. I could walk pretty far away, no glitches. I plan to go through everything more thoroughly tomorrow. The pics should say allot... [:@]

Next time I'll keep it closer to me(far from those pesky lines), that's what I intended to do...normally. I've flown out there several times with my park fighters, easily maneuvering around inside the lines. On Maidens, I'm very careful. Unit I prove an airframe, I rarely even do rolls or loops! I did a few basic aerobatics with it before deciding to land. I really like the plane, so I'm stoked about the new one... this build should go really fast... :D

I'm donating the corpse to my buddy that talked me into another. He should be able to fix it...

RE: need help with GP Reactor
 

That sucks to crash your new plane on the maiden. Foamy Im sorry to hear about your bipe. Dont matter how long you have been in the hobby it always make you nervous to think that you may crash your plane on his first flight. Im glad your getting a new one hope this one last you way longer.

Fernando

P.S. Probably that dog will run away next time he see you and your bipe. :D

RE: need help with GP Reactor
 

Damn Shame Foamy,

I do the same thing you do when it comes to ARF's, unless the damage is minor and does not effect a major structerial element I just toss them or pass them to someone else then buy a new one... Considering your description of the crash it sounds like the Bipe really held up well under the circumstances...

Stick built is a different story.. :-)

Good Luck with your next Reactor Bipe

RE: need help with GP Reactor
 

Here are the pics:

Finished:

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/n...g?t=1212760628

and then...it's FINISHED!

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/n...g?t=1212760657

Look at the spinner, there's not a scratch on it! I was pulling up when it hit... almost made it by the looks of it!

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/n...g?t=1212760705

The rest of the plane is practically flawless. Only one of the servos wasn't stripped, kinda surprised at that. But it did hit pavement...

Oh well, the new one is on its way.

RE: need help with GP Reactor
 

Again, I'm impressed with the strength this design has shown.. Not bad considering...

What servo are you using? I have HS65HB's in mine and stripped the rudder servo gears when I went in... The gear sets for these are cheap and easy to replace, I have done several times on the HS65 series. Hell I understand you can convert them to Metal if you want by just installing the metal gears replacement set... ( I haven't tried that. )

RE: need help with GP Reactor
 

The recommended Futaba 3114s. They worked very well, all 5 or so minutes I got to fly with them... :D I could fix the 3 that got damaged, but I'd rather just replace them. I'm real finicky about my flying equipment.

RE: need help with GP Reactor
 

I just flew mine with a HT65 servo on rudder. Now it will hold KE easily with minimum throw. The 3114 was getting blow back big time. Still have 3114's on the other surfaces and they seem adequite for the job but rudder needs a strong servo. Before learning about the planes tendencies to fold wings I had put a piece of 1/8 on the other side of the spar joiner because that didn't ever look like it was gona last the way GP wants it done. I've done a few power on blenders and so far so good. But I'll try to remember to not do power on blenders with the 2100mah battery in there. Don't know who wrote the manual but the thing is a rocket when landing at recomended CG. Balance it like a typical 3D plane for best flying, about 1" behind recomended. It still floats forever but harries will kill the glide to get it ligned up to land with better manners. Now that my balance and rudder issues are getting solved I am starting to really be impressed with it. Next issue to cure is the slight downward dive when applying power. But it is arrow straight when chopping power so the fix might take a bit to find.

RE: need help with GP Reactor
 

i have one of the kits that has a balsa wing joiner where there is a strip of 1/32 balsa sandwiched on to make contact with the spar between the carbon fiber.............they must be kidding right?
no freakin way is a piece like that going to suffice unless one flies this model at 1/4 throttle all day. i would have thought they would update all these kits and supply at least 2 lite ply doublers.

RE: need help with GP Reactor
 

I used the supplied parts, and the plane built up strong. GP knows what they are doing.