I've got a Saito 180 in my GB and have a 21oz tank installed instead of the stock tank. This is adequate for the Saito, but I wouldn't hate having an even bigger tank.

Thanks for the encouragement, just a little frustrated here. I bought the Robart scale tires. (#137-4") They are really nice tires, but virtually no clearance between the tire and the fork. Also for the price of the landing gear, it would have been nice to include a few wheel spacers if even just to fit the Robart tires.

I guess if it was easy, everybody would want to do it! :~)

Thanks again for the help and links!

Great looking Miss Los Angeles but that "Y" is dressed up in the wrong livery. It's got the colors they used on the Z. Still a purty plane tho.

You are most welcome. I like Robart scale tires, but I think that you should not expect them to fit the Robart gear made for the Great Planes GB (although, I wouldn't hate it if they did fit and think that Robart missed an opportunity by not designing the GB gear to work with Robart 4" wheels). However, I would expect the Robart gear that was made for the GP GB to fit the stock wheels that come with the GP GB and that is a legitimate complaint. Reconsidering, if the Robart gear for the GP GB had fit the Robart 4" wheels, I'd bet that the Robart gear would also fit the stock GP GB wheels, so you may have a legitimate beef with the Robart gear on that account. I'm now thinking 'class action lawsuit,' are you with me? If the stock wheels couldn't be sanded down to fit, I might be more serious about a lawsuit.

If you could post a picture of what you mean by "virtually no clearance," it may make the difference between which option is easier for you at this point; sanding down the stock wheels or buying a couple of washers to keep the Robart wheels centered. Even after I sanded the stock wheels down, I had to use washers to keep them centered enough to not to rub on the forks. Washers are cheap enough not to get too discouraged over the Robart gear because of missing washers. Of course, it would have been better for Robart to provide needed washers and more detailed instructions, but nobody has a better set of gear for the GP GB, so you have to make due. I would add to your "I guess if it was easy, everybody would want to do it! :~)" comment by saying that the GP GB ain't for sissies.

Thanks again for the encouragement. I'm always up for a challenge, I just feel this is unnecessary. But... I'm back at it... I'll try your tip of installing the fork without the tire, then drill a hole to install the tire. I wish I had a band saw and would just cut off the bottom 3/4" of the pant! (just enough to give me access to the axle)

Thanks again for your advise.

(the pictures are trying to show the tire near the shoulder at the top of the fork.

dc

Hey Davcos, WOW sorry to here about the BARTS. All said and done I am sure you could return them for a refund ? I have read that people like them, but your photos do show the wheels with a really tight fit. Also the E-clip is a pain in the butt to deal with I have heard. - Steve

I think it will work out overall. I did notice that the tires don't rub all the way around. I'll try grinding them down. But, the wheel spacers will have to be perfect not to cause problems.

It is hard to tell from the pictures exactly how much clearance there is. The Robart rubber tires have too thin a wall to sand down, so if washers can't hold both sides away from the fork, you may have to go back to the stock GB, foam rubber tires that can be sanded down. I only have a very small clearance between the foam rubber tires and the fork myself and have experienced no ground handling problems as a result.

Another trick I just remembered is to bend the forks together just enough so that they can pinch-hold the axle and wheel in place while you manuever the axel screws in position with a needle nose pliers. A small hole in the pants can be drilled for an allen wrench to tighten the screws. You don't need a band saw to cut the wheel pants if that is what you want. I just used a hand-held razor saw to cut the 1" section out of my telescoping pants for the GP GB. A hack saw would work too, but the hack saw would create more chipping on the cut line because it has bigger teeth than a razor saw.

Thanks again for the info. I've got one of the struts on now... I don't want to move to fast on this or I'll have to start looking for another project!

Thanks,

Has been some time since I checked in.

My Gee Bee has been finished for sometime other than engine installation.
Still have not made a decision on what to power it with.
I originally planed to use a converted 30cc poulan conversion or a 46cc of same.
Was hoping someone else would lead the way!

I used steel cable for flying wires that are structural to deal with the added stress from weight and speed.
Biggest problem on this is no rib at the scale attach point of wires(with best info on hand)
The next chore was building structure inside the wheel pants to carry the loads of lower wires.
Below are pics of flying wire mounts.


On the froward wires the tear drop pads are ply wood covered with econokote,one on top and one on bottom of each wing and a peice of
aluminum inserted through the wing and then bent to carry loads through wing section.
On the rearward wires the aluminum brackets are held on with bolt through T.E. There is a piece of tubing inserted in T.E. to avoid crushing when bolt is tightened down.

I don't remember what I did inside of the fuse.--it is solid though(will look next time wing is removed)

The lower wing center wire mount is from 1/4 ply.

The next problem is redeveloping my skills at landing high wing loading airplanes.
Chem o seems to have blown my coordination! Slowly improving.

any thoughts on power plant?
really dot look forward to expense of large glow 4 or 2 stroke and the fuel consumption.

Pic of dummy engine.
Note the spark plugs.
made from white painted tooth picks pushed through 2-56 nuts.
wires are stranded and stuck on with short piece of wire insulation with wire removed to simulate wire boots.
sorry for pic quality--best that camera will do.

Looking at my pics I see hinges are not glued! something to do tonight.
also wires are not adjusted.

Ya hear that kids? Just say no. Don't do drugs. Supertiga had to learn the hard way. Supertiga, glad to hear that you are recovering from Chemo. Nice work on the engine and wing wires too! My Saito 180 weighs about 32oz and balances just right, so I'd recommend an engine that weighs at least that much unless you are up for modding your GB to lighten up the tail section. The latest 20-30 cc gassers should work nicely in the GP GB if you are concerned about fuel economy. The high wing loading just takes getting used and that is not an insurmountable task. I find my 12 pound GB to be easier to manage in 10+ mph winds than my 8 pound H9 Corsair and they have about the same wing area. Just shoot for the first flights with the wind parallel with the runway for best results.

Williams Bros used to make a "Golden Age" style wheel that would work well if you can still find them. This is a photo of an installation on my Gee Bee Y.

Those pants look nice. Any photos of your "Y"?

Thanks for the photos!... and best of luck with everything else. Glad to have you back in the forum! The photos you have look great! I'm kind of collecting them (photos of the gee bee) if you have more, that would be great! I'm thinking of doing the pull pull wire system for the rudder and elevator. If anyone has some pics of that setup, it would be great.

I also purchased the Saito 180 for this plane based on a friends recommendation who flies the same setup. He also said the balance was right on with that engine. I just hope it survives my first landing! I've always thought that I could at least, re-use the motor, until I augered in the Somethin' Extra! (broken crank) But, I still have the motor on the Shoestring and it's doing great! ($45 crank repair)

Thanks again for the info!

Several photos of the Y in my gallery. Thanks!

Good to be back!
Was lost for awhile on another site and couldn't find the Gee Bee thread---and thats confusion from life saving legal drugs!
I dont even want to know what confusion of voluntary drug use is like!

I am still trying to make up my mind on engine choice.

I would like to use my biggest gas engine(46cc) on the Mulligan and the smaller 30 or 35cc on the Gee Bee.

The biggest fear I have of going with big gas engine is that the wing and elevator will give up in a not so elegant manner.

The bigger engine will help balance after cockpit details are added and am considering placing elevator and rudder servo in rear of fuse.
Servo location will be last to item to solve.
Possibly hide the servos under cockpit floor?

Glad to see interest in 30s race planes!
What I like is for 1/4 scale size is one can have almost any size airplane span/power and stay at same scale!
Makes for better looking hanger!

Next on my list of build projects will be Keith Ryder's R-4 in 1/4 scale with K&B 7.5 duct fan engine.
Should be fast!
Looking for good 3 view of R-4--any ideas?

Good looking Mr. Mulligan. Mine flew great with a Zenoah G-38. Also had the "civilian" version Howard DGA-15 with a Quadra 35 and it had plenty of power too. My servos were under the cockpit floor in both airplanes and everything worked fine through many flights. Love those 30's racers!

GaGeeBee,

That's an amazing collection of Airplanes! If you get tired of any of any of them, give me a call! Amazing... and great craftmanship. Good job.

Craig,

Do you have any photos / much modification? Where did you find the tank? Our field is pretty busy, when I get up, I'd like my 15 minutes, especially if I auger in in on the landing! :~) Also the alum. tubes and fuel line with the kit seem kind of small, am I going to starve the 180? Thanks!

Well I think the Robarts will work out, just a bit of a pain... But looking at the weather forecast, I should have plenty of opportunity to build over the next couple of weeks with snow predicted basically every other day for the next couple of weeks! Man, I hope this makes it to MI., I'd hate to think that you were out flying. :~) It was 60° here today!

I didn't do much modification to my GB other than the telescoping pants. I superglued carbonfiber to secure the metal pushrod extensions to the wooden pushrods. I didn't like the shrink tubing technique to fasten them together. I bought my tank at the local hobby store. Tower has them too. Mine is a 21oz Sullivan. If you want to be sure to get 15 minutes, you might go with a 30oz tank. My 21oz tank required carving up the tank mouting bracket a bit. Its a bit of a rinky-dink setup as is. I would completely cut off the wood mount for the smaller, stock tank, and do it like the picture below, if I were to re-do it (minus the removable firewall of course). The Saito 180's inner diameter of its carburetor fuel nipple is smaller than standard fuel plumbing's inner diameter. You can try bigger tubing, but it shouldn't be necessary.

You know, I think that is the best thing about this hobby.

Just seeing how people solve some of the problems and make modifications is great! I'm so glad that I got back into this hobby when I did.
This forum has been great.
Remember when your only resource was your friend down the street!
This is great, and thanks to everyone for your help. I know I'm a little late to the Great Planes GB forum, but I'm really glad that you all are still here.

Thanks for all the help on this project.
dc

As always, you are very welcome. Yes, the internet has been a boon to this hobby. People who love airplanes can share their successes and failures for others to learn from. Following a build thead is better than reality TV especially since you have a chance to put in your two cents. It's nice to get the help that you need and its nice to see sombody that you helped succeed. Its a win-win situation.

Hi...

Just having a quick look at the forum after a couple of months away and saw your post.

I had EXACTLY the same problem with the Robarts and 4" cross tread Robart wheels on my GEE BEE.

At first I sanded down the edge of the tyres and used washers to space the wheel into the centre of the fork, but when all said and done, the wheel still slightly fowled the fork. I figured when the tyre deformed under landing, the clearance would not be enough to clear the fork itself and thus the model would tip right over....disaster.

After a lot of head scratching into this problem, I ditched the 4" wheel and fitted the same Robart wheel in a 3 3/4" size. I also sprayed the plastic Robart rims white. I used the Corsair rim on the outside of each wheel and the flat smooth disc on the inside of each wheel. It looks really nice....especially painted white.

The fit is ALOT better. I have not sanded anything, but have still had to use washers in the axle as spacers, as well as a Great Planes wheel spacer collar inside the wheel rim in order to seat the wheel in the correct place on the axle. I forget the size of this spacer but can find out if you need to know.

In my opinion, the 4" wheel is simply too wide to fit between the fork of the Robart Struts without it fowling somewhere. During a rollout after landing, if it caught, to be this would be like slamming on the brakes and would tip the model for sure.

If I were you I would discard the 4" wheels and go with the 3 3/4" instead.

My Gee Bee was finished about four months ago now. She is a thing of beauty, yet I have not flown her. I am not an experienced model flyer although I can fly reasonably well and am a pilot by trade, so I understand exactly how planes fly, but having read this forum, I am reluctant to let my Gee Bee come to any harm.....mad some will say.

I fitted her out with OS 1.20 pumped, on board glow, and I have all the charge points and wiring behind the cowling. I have drilled no holes anywhere in the fuselage to fit switches etc. It is a very neat installation and keeps the aircraft looking nice and clean.

I did not install the pilot, but instead fitted a headrest to the back of the cockpit as I felt the pilot figure made the model look too 'toy' like.

I have pictures and can mail them if you like. Also if you want to know any more then let me know and I'll do my best to answer.

Mine took nine months to build.......but what a baby I had at the end!

Regards

Mike G