anybody heard of the new harmon rocket 46 arf made by seagull models. im thinking of getting one, how about you guys.

One of the guys I fly with has one, it is QUICK! Cant remember right off the top of my head what engine he has on it, though. I've looked it over pretty good, and it seems to be well made. Actually thinking of getting one myself!

Hey Dude,

I own one of these planes and did a repair job and flew her again today, she flew really nice after strengthening the elevator. Both sides snapped in mid air with a high speed dive. It was my fault because I was doing a very high speed dive with full rate elevator. Don't try that. The plane doesn't really like the wind too much either. Make sure it is also slightly nose heavy or you will find your landings very snappy.
It looks great in the air and performs well with an os 46AX. If it was up to me i'd put in a 53 Irvine or something. Here is a few pics.I say you should get it.. fly it only on windless days though.

Sal

nice plane im thinking of getting one, what amount of wind dosent it like, normally low wing aircraft thats stream line like the rocket is supposed to handle some wind. my spacewalker loves the wind and looks just like it. i hope im not scared

Lowlevel,
That's an MDS .78 on his, I'm pretty certain. It is fast--but very over powered. Seems to hold up well to the gross overpowering, so that says something for the model itself!

well, don't fly the plane in excess of 13km winds.....I mean, it will still fly...BUT!! the 46ax just drags it against the wind in the air, the model goes really slow and before you know it a stall will come your way.
what motor are you planning on using??

im going to use the evolution 46.

I'm in the middle of a "build" of this ARF. So far, I'm impressed with it. For now, I'm planning to power it with a .46 to keep the cowl more intact.
Also, from what I've read and heard, I might consider pull-pulls for rudder and vators to keep weight forward (I'm imagining a worms nest of cables). Any suggestions from others on this?

Stallwart

I have one of these and it is a really nice aircraft! I cut out for all the rear servos before reading on RCU about pull-pull system and so i decided to use all 3 in rear, and with about 2oz of lead fixed in front of the firewall it is perfectly balanced and flies like a dream with 46 in it - however, i intend to put a 53 in it becuase it has no grunt with 46, and i also bought a smoke system to put in ,so the 53 will handle the extra weight.

Also take care in windy conditions, the rocket really doesnt like it to windy, especially on take of and landing - watch out for the crosswinds, they are deadly!

Good luck - happy flying!

Windsurf1

Windsurf,
I recently completed and maidened my HR-3 (Evo .455/ APC 11x7/ elevator and rudder servos mounted in the tail).

You are right about the wind, for there was a 15mph sustained with 25mph gusts on that day. I had added a prop spinner weight for safety's sake, and had several flights with no real issues, adjusting 4 clicks of right trim for ailerons and 2 clicks down for elevators. Rolls, loops and inverted flight were amazingly easy. The wind tended to cause "weathervaning" in the air and on the ground. There was too much wind to test stall characteristics. Luckily, there was only about 15deg of crosswind.

The next day was a different matter, and the winds were a bit stonger. I had removed the nose weight, changed wheels (grass field), and changed throttle linkage. On take-off, the plane rolled hard to the left. I handed the tranny to a more experienced pilot and he managed to get her down. Although the wind was worse than the day before, I re-trimmed and flew several more times with no problems.

I discovered a few days later that the horizontal stab had some recurring warp issues. I thought I had straightened this problem out beforehand, but overnight, the leading edge of the port horiz. stab had taken a warp downward that had gone unnoticed. Since I used heat to straighten, I suspect the heat of the sun and 85+ deg F temps on that day undid my work.

Has anyone else experience this warping problem with this plane or other Seagull ARFs?

A fellow flier at our field had one with a Saito 100 in it! No kidding. It flew really nice and with lots of authority from that big Saito, although I am sure he was using throttle management.... I think he said it actually balanced okay. It did super nice, slow, and graceful flat spins. He used a Sullivan FLEX tank, perhaps so he could cram more fuel into that compartment. He wrung it out repeatedly, as he is an accomplished pilot, and it was impressive to say the least.

Ernie

I've got one of these, and one change I plane to make is to do away with the dual elevator servos and just add a "U" bracket between the two elevator halves. To me it's overkill to use two elevator servos on this type/size plane. And to arrange them in such a way that a computer radio is needed to operate them- well, that's just plain silly in my book.

I maidened my Harmon Rocket two weeks ago. I have an os 46 fx on mine, with all the servos in the designed locations, with the receiver battery mainted under the fuel tank. I started with an 11x6 prop, but was not able to get much speed out of the airplane (even downhill) and will be trying different props to get more speed out of it. I have read a lot of complaints about the landing gear being soft, but I did not have any trouble with mine.

I also have the HRIII and love the plane. I say go for it. A very well mannered and well built plane. If you have the money or the patience get a fourstroke for it. I run a Saito FA82 and with a Higley prop nut/washer and a 14x6 Master Airscrew it balances perfectly, no weight added? The extra power must also help with the wind problem as mine fly's fine at 15 to 25 mph gusts? The landing gear will not take much abuse, but the plane is not hard to land you just have to be commited to putting it down.

MinnFlyer: You do not NEED a computer radio to operate the elevator servos, A servo reversing y-cable does the job?

I have now put the .53 in it and got Cof G spot on, and it really flies nice. I think drtjnky is right about the extra power helping with wind problems as mine is pretty good now and the extra weight of the bigger lump deffinately helps with beautiful landings!!!

Also, I did upgrade my landing gear. I used a composite set up from a Wot 4 and cut it in half, filed it down to fit - This is deffinately a recomendation as it is almost indistructable now! Oh dear, shouldnt have said that should i LOL

I used the term "Mine" loosely. It is actually my son's who is doing it for an RCU Magazine review. He DID add a "U" bracket to the elevators, which resulted in only needing 2 servos in the tail instead of 3, and even at that it still needed about 4oz of lead to make it balance (With an Evolution TPS and the battery inside the cowl)

So I would say to avoid using two elevator servos, and maybe even consider moving one to the radio compartment.

I've gotten mine trimmed out and balanced with the 3 servos on the tail adding only 2oz weight in the nose. The battery is above the tank. I also changed out the foamy main wheels for some 2 1/2" rubber tires. It is powered with an Evo TPS .455 (w/o flywheel weight)/ APC 11x7 and quite a few people have commented on it's speed. Takeoffs are quick; landings are a breeze. I've flown it about 15 times so far.

The trim issue, and it was serious, was caused by warping of the horizontal stabilizer. Now, I occasionally "re-adjust" with the heat gun and slight pressure.

I have a Harmon Rocket and I'm having problems with the landings. I have about a years flying experience so that may be part of the problem. The plane has an OS .46 AX w 11x5 APC prop. I've changed the landing gear to 1/8" aluminum and it's holding up pretty well. I have the problem that as soon as the main wheels touch down the plane bounces back into the air. If I try to recover from the balance the second one is worse and if I don't go around and try again I usually end up clipping the prop on the asphalt runway. I try to keep the speed up as not to stall but it just seems to be moving pretty fast. I have the balance in the center of where the manual says. The runway is slightly down hill so that also doesn't help. My stabalizer also has some warpage, maybe 1/16 - 1/8" side to side. I haven't tried to straighten it since I finished the plane. I'm considering trying to use thealerions as flaperons but I've never done it with my other tail dragger (Sig Somethin Extra). Does some one have some tips on what I should try. It's probably just me learning how to fly this fast of plane.

I tried the flaperons on my rocket and it does not seem to like it. When you land the plane are you using throttle to control alttitude and elevator to control speed? I have not had a problem with stalling my rocket, in fact, even at idle with 14x6 prop I can land fine. Try experimenting with stall speed and a higher alttitude to see how slow you can fly it. Another to remember is smothe on the elevator, I get really good control response all the way to the ground and it is easy to "pull up" when the ground is comming and stall the wing causing it to drop the nose slightly and "bounce" off the ground and back up into the air. The actuall "stall", on my plane, is so mild it can easily be missed and dismissed as over control?

kmalsom, First off, when you say, "I try to recover" (I assume you mean from the bounce), are you doing it with elevator? If so, that is incorrect. You should add throttle.

Second: Try adding a little tail weight. a plane that will not slow down for landing is usually a bit nose heavy (Regardless of where it is balanced according to the manual)

MinFlyer, I think mostly I try to recover from the balance by trying to flare with the elevator for a second touchdown. I'll try to add some throttle, that seems to make sense. I can fly out of the first balance and go around without any problem.
DrtJnky, I've tried to stall at a safe altitude but it isn't very noticeable. I,m wandering if I'm actually coming in too fast. People have told me I have to "fly it " all the way in on a landing and I took that as keeping my airspeed up. Thanks for the input, Maybe I'll have a chance to try again this weekend. Keith

I would watch the weight adding unless you are sure it is nose heavy as this plane has issues with balancing, most owners have moved there balance point forward of the factory recomended position.

You do have to fly this plane in as it does not "float". You should be able to control airspeed with elevator and alttitude with the throttle. I bring mine in on final at idle, as I lose the last of my alttitude, and slowly add up elevator to get the nose up and slow it down, when it starts to flatten out "stall", add a little throttle but the keep the elevator at the current position. this should get you on a decent approach? use the throttle to control the glide pathe and when the plane approaches the ground, cut the throttle to put her down.

I have noticed this plane has a pretty fast descent rate and it can cause you to get a little nervous as it nears the ground, causing the application of up elevator which causes what little stall the plane has and your "bounce". It then picks up enough airspeed and ground effect to regain flight. remember the plane is moving forward at a descent clip and what is perceived, from the front, as to fast of a descent may be just about right.

You may be able to turn the aluminum gear around to position the wheels a little more to the rear if they are not in this position already.

Ernie

I assembled and fitted out a Harmon Rocket for a friend. I was impressed with the quality of the materials used in the airframe and had no problem with most of the fittings supplied in the box. Two items were below standard. The fuel tank pipes are made out of some sort of plastic which refuses to maintain the bend needed for the vent and filler. The undercarriage material is unfit for the job. Best use it as a jig to construct a usable item out of decent grade aluminium.
I have limited experience of ARTF. I bought a Kyosho Ag Wagon some years ago and it has given faultless service. I made no modifications, and did no additional gluing. This is not the case with the H Rocket. The power unit we fitted is an SC 70 four stroke. A beefy unit which provided all the weight needed to off-set the three servo's in the back end.
Unfortunately the engine failed on takeoff (all the usual checks had been made) at about 5 meters from terra firma. The pilot failed to keep the nose down and the aircraft stalled. The engine bulkhead came away from the fusalage revealing a slight trace of hot glue adhesive.
The undercarriage bent back far enough to punch a hole in the leading edge of the wing.
If your going to get a Rocket, buy some decent fuel tank fittings and a two pack epoxy resin. While you're at it buy a sheet of ally to make a new undercarriage. This is a first class aeroplane that needs working on before it's air worthy. I agree with previous comments about the split elevators being a waste of a servo. It's an easy fix.
I took the usual photographs but I guess you all can imagine what it looked like after the crash.
Back to the building board. I know better in the future!

There are old pilots and there are bold pilots. There are no old bold pilots!

I agree with you on the landing gear its absolute junk! as for the plastic tank lines you're supposed to use a heat gun (i used a lighter) to heat the pipe where it needs a bend .Once it cools down it will most definately hold its shape.