Hello all, I have this thing for Gee Bee's and am considering getting one, but i have heard some complaints about the their flight characteristics. I have a kit corsaor that i fly around so i have experience with fast taildraggers with higher wingloads. I was debating about the Kyosho 40 size ARF and the huge great planes Gee BEE ARF with the 68" wingspan. I was looking at the wingloading on both of them and they are very high. I'm guessing that the are more or less really fast, flying bricks. SO, what I am really trying to say is that woth experience in the area, are these two planes difficult to fly and which one is easiest to fly.
Thankx for you imput

Howdy, I havent flown either of the Bee's you mentioned but I built and fly an Adrian Page version with a Saito .91 in it and the only tricky part for me is the landing - you gotta bring it in with some speed on and fly it all the way to touchdown, there aint no "chop the throttleand flare it in" another thing; right after landing you gotta get on the elevator and feed in some up to keep the tail down or she'll flip over - If you want a great flying Gee Bee and don't mind not having the R2 I would reccomend the Pacific Aeromodels Gee Bee "Y" - it's bigger - a 120 size bird I fly one with a Saito 180 in it and it is a dream - great easy flying characteristics - slow, uneventful landings and it's sexy as He#L looks beatiful on a "show" pass - a bit pricey though ....

Yah, I was watching the video on the full review of the Great Planes version and the pilot was coming in very fast and then when to put it down and it sunk and he almost smashed it into the ground, but instead he ballooned it 3 times. From what i could tell it needs to have high speed landings. Thanks for you opinion. I think i'll check the one you suggested. Thanks again.
oh yah and just one other question. Overall, do you enjoy the plane and would you recomend it to others?

The Page 1/5 scale will slow down to nearly a walk (if built and powered as recommended) and likes landing better if there is a headwind which helps keep it from nosing over. Other than the nose over tendency it is a truly nice flyer, very stable and it goes where you point it. It flys quite a bit like an extra, cap, edge, etc.
I have the 1/4 scale under constuction and look forward to similar performance.
If you build one I would suggest some LIGHT reinforcement in the rudder/fin area to strengthen it a bit against a nose over.
ie some carbon fiber strips or 1/64th ply to strengten it a bit in the vertical.

I have flown both versions. I love them both, but the GP version is easier to fly then the Kyosho version. I fly off grass and the wheel pant are a pain on the smaller one. If you spend tons of time and make sure the CG is right and the throws are set right neather is that hard to fly. If you fly a warbird you will have no problem with the GP version... ON Sale at Tower Hobbies for just over $200 right now. GREAT DEAL... Also no telling everyone there not that hard... We dont want everyone to get one! LOL

PS Kyosho with Saito 82A 52 is not enough power for this plane I tried it ... GP with Saito 150... 120 will work.

Wow,

Those are some nice looking planes!

Well, I got the GP version, on electric setup.
Flew on grass too...The pants are a pain... I had some CG differences (I wanted to have batteries inside the cowl)..
It went down in a spin after some flights, hard to recover...RIP

A guy in my club has the Pacific Gee Bee Y with a FPE 2.4 on it. It is a great flyer and looks great on a low pass. The longer wing and fuse make it easy to handel and lands nice.

Hello,

I am not sure if any one can help, but I really need some comments on my KMP GEE BEE with the GMS 1.20 engine....
I just bulit it up, have no idea what size of prop to use, the owner of the hobby shop told me to use 15 x 13, but according
to the instruction manual of this engine I have , the range is within 14x 8 ~ 16 x6..... and I just learned from the introduction paper
of my friend's GMS .47 , it says GMS1.20 uses 16x10 for sports,16x8: for racing, 18x5, 18x6 for scale ??!!
Does anyone have the experience on this engine with a scale plane like Gee Bee ??
Thanks...........

THe KMP is like the GP just a little heavier and the wings are 72"insted of 66" In my pic I posted one is GP and one is the KMP. I'm not to familure with the GMS, but I would start with the 16X8 or 18 x 6 as my second choice. The 15 in prop won't be out past the cowl very much.The first # is length and second is pitch. The reason he is saying go with the 15 x 13 is that the motor will rev high and the pitch will give you more forward thrust. Pitch equates to feet forward and will mean speed, but will also load up the motor and you need wind across those wings. I'll check and see whatI have on mine later and get back to you.