Ive been interested in the Gee Bee r2 for years- and recently see some video that looks good. But I fly off a paved field,
and have had some troubles with certain shaped aircraft- ie short tail moment, and ground looping.

Anyone out there with experience w/ great planes Gee Bee r2 on paved strip? is in managable?

Heard some talk of a guy at our field with one a couple of years ago who never could get it to take off well. but dont know who he was or how skilled he was.

Thanks
George

Hi!
I have one. Taking off would be no problem because it tracks straight as an arrow...but the landings could be a little harder as the GEE BEE R-2 is not that forgiving.
Keep it light and it will behave OK. Mine weights exactly 5kg with some slight modifications.
I fly mine with a 15cc MVVS engine and a 14x6 APC prop.
Fuel I use is 15% Motul "Micro" all synthetic oil and 5% nitro and the rest methanol.


Regards!
Jan K
Sweden

George,
Just as Jan says, it tracks real well on take offs. Landings are the difficult part. It's hard to say how it will land on pavement, but one thing's for sure, you don't have to worry about the wheel pants digging into the grass, which is what has happend to a few of us. It does have be landed with some speed and you'll have lot's of roll out on the pavement. Other than the landings, it's a real hoot!

Steve

Jan/Steve

Thanks for your comments.

Jan I like how you have tha tank in front of the firewall!

What kind of servos do you guys use? are high torque required?

thanks!

george

George,
I used standard servos (Futaba 3004s) for all functions except rudder, where I used a Hitec HS-645MG. I believe that's how they recommend setting it up. I also put a RAM glow driver on mine, mounted right up behind the firewall. Mine is powered by and OS FS120 w/pump, and with the glow driver it idles really nice.

One more thing to note on the flight. This is the first "high drag" airplane I've flown, and it flew really nicely, but it doesn't just instantly accelerate when you apply throttle. I played with this a whole lot when practicing and testing stall characteristics. Once you bleed off speed, if you throttle up there's a little lag. This is crucial when setting up for landings cause you don't have as much room for error if you slow it too much.

Steve

George,
My brother is in love with GeeBees. Had two Kyosho's last year, my son and i helped him learn to take them off. Make sure you have enough speed before even thinking of applying up elevator. I was surprised they don't want to ground loop as much as a "51", but they will tip stall if you haul them off the ground too early. The pants are a pain and easily cause damage to themselves or the wing if flown off grass. The best thing about a GeeBee is a high speed, tilted at 15 to 30 degrees towards the crowd, photo pass!!!
Jim B

Jim,
You're right about the photo pass! This thing is a real hoot to fly and get's everyone's attention, even if you're just flying around in pattern. It will be interesting to see how George does flying off pavement!

Steve