Pacific Aero Gee Bee "Y"
 

Here she is. Quadra 35 engine swinging an 18 x 8 prop. Bisson muffler with Hobbico silicone exhaust tips. Should easily beat our field sound max of 94dB. Weight 16.5lbs. Balanced without adding any extra weight. Fuel tank right on the CG, battery just behind it.

Cowling
 

That 10" cowling hides the gas engine easily.

Engine mounting and accessories
 

B&B cup mount. Bisson muffler. Clockwise from center left: DuBro gas filler valve (goes to own filtered clunk), tank fill vent, toggle switch ignition cut-off. Just below the bottom edge of the muffler you can see the blue fuel line and filter (filtered clunk pickup in tank, too) and the nylon throttle pushrod.

Engine
 

Never thought I'd see this engine look lost on a firewall!

Pilot Babe!
 

I was going to use the 1930's 1/4 scale pilot from Chief Aircraft, but remembered that I had this one sitting on the bookshelf upstairs. Note the nifty red "leather" headrest made from carved balsa with red leather grain vinyl attached with contact cement and stretched over the balsa. The last pilot to fly this particular full scale aircraft was a woman , who unfortunately was killed when the wing covering started to shred off (too much power).

Ground test report
 

Ground testing and range checks went fine today. Sound level is 92dB, our limit is 94dB. Taxi tests fine. Wind was too weird for a first flight so I chickened out. More pictures in my member photo gallery.

First flight
 

Saturday, June 7, 2003. It flies like a real aircraft! Have to coordinate rudder, aileron and elevator into and out of the turns. Landing descent with some power on, throttle up to flare, then ease the throttle off to touch down. Looks and sounds great! Had a fueling mishap when the fill fitting plug blew off, but quickly emptied the tank and contrived a new (and BETTER) plug at the field. Now I just have to practice to be really smooth. She's a big moose but pretty.