Reaction 54 Jet Kit
02-07-2005 | 11:28 PM
#226
RE: Reaction 54 Jet Kit
ORIGINAL: rcguy!
WHERE in Eastern Ohio?????? Anywhere near Chesterland in Geauga County?
Dave Rigotti
WHERE in Eastern Ohio?????? Anywhere near Chesterland in Geauga County?
Dave Rigotti
Mark
02-08-2005 | 05:49 AM
#227
My Feedback: (69)
RE: Reaction 54 Jet Kit
Ya got
Ya got wondering!......Was it a Phoenix from many years ago?
Dave Rigotti
ORIGINAL: causeitflies-RCU
Dave, about 2 hrs away in Steubenville. You have also flown another plane that I have. Have any idea?
Mark
ORIGINAL: rcguy!
WHERE in Eastern Ohio?????? Anywhere near Chesterland in Geauga County?
Dave Rigotti
WHERE in Eastern Ohio?????? Anywhere near Chesterland in Geauga County?
Dave Rigotti
Mark
Dave Rigotti
02-08-2005 | 07:03 PM
#231
My Feedback: (69)
RE: Reaction 54 Jet Kit
ORIGINAL: TommyWatson
You are a brave man Dave, Flying models is one thing, Actually getting into one is another!!!
Regards
You are a brave man Dave, Flying models is one thing, Actually getting into one is another!!!
Regards
Dave Rigotti
02-08-2005 | 08:42 PM
#232
My Feedback: (69)
RE: Reaction 54 Jet Kit
Hey gang,
Thought I'd post a picture of what NOT to do to your Robart Air tank.....Circled is a 1/16" diameter hole from drilling the mounting screws for the gas valve! DOH! The marks at 12 O'clock are from the other mounting screw getting ready to puncture it. I've ordered a medium and small tank...I'll decide which one to install when I get them.
Dave Rigotti
Thought I'd post a picture of what NOT to do to your Robart Air tank.....Circled is a 1/16" diameter hole from drilling the mounting screws for the gas valve! DOH! The marks at 12 O'clock are from the other mounting screw getting ready to puncture it. I've ordered a medium and small tank...I'll decide which one to install when I get them.
Dave Rigotti
02-12-2005 | 08:51 PM
#233
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From: Sacramento,
CA
RE: Reaction 54 Jet Kit
Hey Reactioneers
Dave,Tim,Tommy,Bruce and all the other Reaction builders,where ya'll been? I been following this thread from day one. I'm just about to start building mine. Have all the equipment except brakes. My Wren manual start is light and only uses a 4 cell battery and as I remember it only weighs 2.4 lbs total (It's in a 11 lb Facet now) I would like to know how much nose weight you had to add if any and any tips you may have to offer.
Thanks John
Common sense is not so common.
Dave,Tim,Tommy,Bruce and all the other Reaction builders,where ya'll been? I been following this thread from day one. I'm just about to start building mine. Have all the equipment except brakes. My Wren manual start is light and only uses a 4 cell battery and as I remember it only weighs 2.4 lbs total (It's in a 11 lb Facet now) I would like to know how much nose weight you had to add if any and any tips you may have to offer.
Thanks John
Common sense is not so common.
02-12-2005 | 09:02 PM
#234
My Feedback: (69)
RE: Reaction 54 Jet Kit
Hey Gang,
Thought I'd post some pictures of my own design fueling station. I have the DreamworksRC pump running at @8 1/2 volts. The 12V air compressor is for the retracts! Pretty cool eh? I built a regulator circuit with a LM338K to drop the 12VDC to 8 1/2. The battery is a 12VDC at 4 1/2 AMPS. The aluminum mount is .050" thick and just hangs from the filler neck.
The last photo is melted Monokote on the bottom of the fuse. May have happened when I taxied downwind or sometime like that. I have some .004" stainless sheet I got from McMaster Carr and will install it all the way to the aft end of the fuse.
I'll install the new air tank and report the final "dry" weight and let you all know how the Cemter of Gravity works out.
Later...Dave Rigotti
Thought I'd post some pictures of my own design fueling station. I have the DreamworksRC pump running at @8 1/2 volts. The 12V air compressor is for the retracts! Pretty cool eh? I built a regulator circuit with a LM338K to drop the 12VDC to 8 1/2. The battery is a 12VDC at 4 1/2 AMPS. The aluminum mount is .050" thick and just hangs from the filler neck.
The last photo is melted Monokote on the bottom of the fuse. May have happened when I taxied downwind or sometime like that. I have some .004" stainless sheet I got from McMaster Carr and will install it all the way to the aft end of the fuse.
I'll install the new air tank and report the final "dry" weight and let you all know how the Cemter of Gravity works out.
Later...Dave Rigotti
02-12-2005 | 09:03 PM
#235
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From: Pendle HillNSW, AUSTRALIA
RE: Reaction 54 Jet Kit
G'Day John,
I have been busy at work, making money to pay for all of this!!!!.
I just got my Engine back from Wren where they converted it to Mk3. My old Mk2 only needed 3 cells for the pump and it ran to 95% pump voltage.
When I run the Mk3, it would only go to about 150000 on three cells. I ran it again today on four cells and it runs great. Lots more power. I am interested also to see what nose weight is required. I use an external start battery and gas.
Enjoy the build it is really a great kit to build.
Regards
I have been busy at work, making money to pay for all of this!!!!.
I just got my Engine back from Wren where they converted it to Mk3. My old Mk2 only needed 3 cells for the pump and it ran to 95% pump voltage.
When I run the Mk3, it would only go to about 150000 on three cells. I ran it again today on four cells and it runs great. Lots more power. I am interested also to see what nose weight is required. I use an external start battery and gas.
Enjoy the build it is really a great kit to build.
Regards
02-12-2005 | 09:22 PM
#236
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From: SeaTac - Angle Lake, WA
RE: Reaction 54 Jet Kit
Hi John,
As you can see we are all still here. But probably have just been busy with one thing or another. For my I'm knee deep in Monokote and just about finished with the bottom part of my wing. Fuselage and tail feathers are done and I'm happy with the way the whole thing is coming out. I'm using an FTE T-500 on mine and it runs great. Can hardly wait till I get this Monkote work done so I can do the final assembly work. Have the next three days off so I'm be pretty darn close to finishing everything by Tuesday night. Will post pictures when I have my bird done. For brakes I probably went a little overboard and purchased the Compact Omnibrake system for my ship. Have a separate air system planned to operate those. Have some unique detail work that I'm going to do to make this thing look even better then what it is.
You'll love the assembly work of putting yours together. Bruce makes a wonderful kit and the manual is very well done and logical in its assembly. I'd highly recommend that you go through it a couple of times and then while putting your bird together, have it sit right next to your building board and use the check boxes as you go. There are a few little details he gives which really help out and will keep you out of trouble. Bruce stated that he wanted the Reaction 54 to be his best kit yet and speaking from experience of building his Flying King, then the Super Flying King and now this kit, I'd have to say that he hit his mark dead on. After building from his kits it is really hard for me to build from anyone else.
Best of luck to you and enjoy the build. I'm sure you will.
Cheers,
As you can see we are all still here. But probably have just been busy with one thing or another. For my I'm knee deep in Monokote and just about finished with the bottom part of my wing. Fuselage and tail feathers are done and I'm happy with the way the whole thing is coming out. I'm using an FTE T-500 on mine and it runs great. Can hardly wait till I get this Monkote work done so I can do the final assembly work. Have the next three days off so I'm be pretty darn close to finishing everything by Tuesday night. Will post pictures when I have my bird done. For brakes I probably went a little overboard and purchased the Compact Omnibrake system for my ship. Have a separate air system planned to operate those. Have some unique detail work that I'm going to do to make this thing look even better then what it is.
You'll love the assembly work of putting yours together. Bruce makes a wonderful kit and the manual is very well done and logical in its assembly. I'd highly recommend that you go through it a couple of times and then while putting your bird together, have it sit right next to your building board and use the check boxes as you go. There are a few little details he gives which really help out and will keep you out of trouble. Bruce stated that he wanted the Reaction 54 to be his best kit yet and speaking from experience of building his Flying King, then the Super Flying King and now this kit, I'd have to say that he hit his mark dead on. After building from his kits it is really hard for me to build from anyone else.
Best of luck to you and enjoy the build. I'm sure you will.
Cheers,
02-12-2005 | 09:26 PM
#237
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From: SeaTac - Angle Lake, WA
RE: Reaction 54 Jet Kit
ORIGINAL: rcguy!
Hey Gang,
Thought I'd post some pictures of my own design fueling station. I have the DreamworksRC pump running at @8 1/2 volts. The 12V air compressor is for the retracts! Pretty cool eh? I built a regulator circuit with a LM338K to drop the 12VDC to 8 1/2. The battery is a 12VDC at 4 1/2 AMPS. The aluminum mount is .050" thick and just hangs from the filler neck.
The last photo is melted Monokote on the bottom of the fuse. May have happened when I taxied downwind or sometime like that. I have some .004" stainless sheet I got from McMaster Carr and will install it all the way to the aft end of the fuse.
I'll install the new air tank and report the final "dry" weight and let you all know how the Cemter of Gravity works out.
Later...Dave Rigotti
Hey Gang,
Thought I'd post some pictures of my own design fueling station. I have the DreamworksRC pump running at @8 1/2 volts. The 12V air compressor is for the retracts! Pretty cool eh? I built a regulator circuit with a LM338K to drop the 12VDC to 8 1/2. The battery is a 12VDC at 4 1/2 AMPS. The aluminum mount is .050" thick and just hangs from the filler neck.
The last photo is melted Monokote on the bottom of the fuse. May have happened when I taxied downwind or sometime like that. I have some .004" stainless sheet I got from McMaster Carr and will install it all the way to the aft end of the fuse.
I'll install the new air tank and report the final "dry" weight and let you all know how the Cemter of Gravity works out.
Later...Dave Rigotti
Really nice work and I like it a lot. Hope you don't mind me somewhat duplicating what you have done so that I can build one for myself. Can you share with everyone where you got your air pump?
Cheers,
02-12-2005 | 10:20 PM
#240
My Feedback: (69)
RE: Reaction 54 Jet Kit
ORIGINAL: tschuy
Hey Dave,
Really nice work and I like it a lot. Hope you don't mind me somewhat duplicating what you have done so that I can build one for myself. Can you share with everyone where you got your air pump?
Cheers,
ORIGINAL: rcguy!
Hey Gang,
Thought I'd post some pictures of my own design fueling station. I have the DreamworksRC pump running at @8 1/2 volts. The 12V air compressor is for the retracts! Pretty cool eh? I built a regulator circuit with a LM338K to drop the 12VDC to 8 1/2. The battery is a 12VDC at 4 1/2 AMPS. The aluminum mount is .050" thick and just hangs from the filler neck.
The last photo is melted Monokote on the bottom of the fuse. May have happened when I taxied downwind or sometime like that. I have some .004" stainless sheet I got from McMaster Carr and will install it all the way to the aft end of the fuse.
I'll install the new air tank and report the final "dry" weight and let you all know how the Cemter of Gravity works out.
Later...Dave Rigotti
Hey Gang,
Thought I'd post some pictures of my own design fueling station. I have the DreamworksRC pump running at @8 1/2 volts. The 12V air compressor is for the retracts! Pretty cool eh? I built a regulator circuit with a LM338K to drop the 12VDC to 8 1/2. The battery is a 12VDC at 4 1/2 AMPS. The aluminum mount is .050" thick and just hangs from the filler neck.
The last photo is melted Monokote on the bottom of the fuse. May have happened when I taxied downwind or sometime like that. I have some .004" stainless sheet I got from McMaster Carr and will install it all the way to the aft end of the fuse.
I'll install the new air tank and report the final "dry" weight and let you all know how the Cemter of Gravity works out.
Later...Dave Rigotti
Really nice work and I like it a lot. Hope you don't mind me somewhat duplicating what you have done so that I can build one for myself. Can you share with everyone where you got your air pump?
Cheers,
All up weight and CG location tomorrow morning!
BTW....Just finished putting Stainless steel all the way back to the aft end of the fuse.
Dave Rigotti
02-13-2005 | 01:24 AM
#241
My Feedback: (69)
RE: Reaction 54 Jet Kit
ORIGINAL: tschuy
Hi John,
As you can see we are all still here. But probably have just been busy with one thing or another. For my I'm knee deep in Monokote and just about finished with the bottom part of my wing. Fuselage and tail feathers are done and I'm happy with the way the whole thing is coming out. I'm using an FTE T-500 on mine and it runs great. Can hardly wait till I get this Monkote work done so I can do the final assembly work. Have the next three days off so I'm be pretty darn close to finishing everything by Tuesday night. Will post pictures when I have my bird done. For brakes I probably went a little overboard and purchased the Compact Omnibrake system for my ship. Have a separate air system planned to operate those. Have some unique detail work that I'm going to do to make this thing look even better then what it is.
You'll love the assembly work of putting yours together. Bruce makes a wonderful kit and the manual is very well done and logical in its assembly. I'd highly recommend that you go through it a couple of times and then while putting your bird together, have it sit right next to your building board and use the check boxes as you go. There are a few little details he gives which really help out and will keep you out of trouble. Bruce stated that he wanted the Reaction 54 to be his best kit yet and speaking from experience of building his Flying King, then the Super Flying King and now this kit, I'd have to say that he hit his mark dead on. After building from his kits it is really hard for me to build from anyone else.
Best of luck to you and enjoy the build. I'm sure you will.
Cheers,
Hi John,
As you can see we are all still here. But probably have just been busy with one thing or another. For my I'm knee deep in Monokote and just about finished with the bottom part of my wing. Fuselage and tail feathers are done and I'm happy with the way the whole thing is coming out. I'm using an FTE T-500 on mine and it runs great. Can hardly wait till I get this Monkote work done so I can do the final assembly work. Have the next three days off so I'm be pretty darn close to finishing everything by Tuesday night. Will post pictures when I have my bird done. For brakes I probably went a little overboard and purchased the Compact Omnibrake system for my ship. Have a separate air system planned to operate those. Have some unique detail work that I'm going to do to make this thing look even better then what it is.
You'll love the assembly work of putting yours together. Bruce makes a wonderful kit and the manual is very well done and logical in its assembly. I'd highly recommend that you go through it a couple of times and then while putting your bird together, have it sit right next to your building board and use the check boxes as you go. There are a few little details he gives which really help out and will keep you out of trouble. Bruce stated that he wanted the Reaction 54 to be his best kit yet and speaking from experience of building his Flying King, then the Super Flying King and now this kit, I'd have to say that he hit his mark dead on. After building from his kits it is really hard for me to build from anyone else.
Best of luck to you and enjoy the build. I'm sure you will.
Cheers,
Which version of the Unibrake did you get? After taxi tests last Sunday, I'm looking at something different and the Unibrake caught my eye. Don't know if I should just add it to the nose wheel only or spring for new MLG struts (ugh Robart!) and install both units.
Dave Rigotti
02-13-2005 | 01:35 AM
#243
My Feedback: (69)
RE: Reaction 54 Jet Kit
ORIGINAL: grbaker
Dave,
I have used the Compact Unibrakes on wire struts with no problems.
Dave,
I have used the Compact Unibrakes on wire struts with no problems.
Dave Rigotti
02-13-2005 | 06:01 PM
#244
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From: Sacramento,
CA
RE: Reaction 54 Jet Kit
Dave,
If you use the Compact Unibrake with the Robart wheel/tire,it replaces the inside half of the hub and that setup uses a short axle so the struts you have now may work. The only problem may be soft tires. Robart makes a filler for the inside of the tire or Home Depot has something called caulking backer that works well. You just cut a strip and it stuff inside the tire when you have it apart. It comes in differnt sizes so just get the one that fits your tire.
John
If you use the Compact Unibrake with the Robart wheel/tire,it replaces the inside half of the hub and that setup uses a short axle so the struts you have now may work. The only problem may be soft tires. Robart makes a filler for the inside of the tire or Home Depot has something called caulking backer that works well. You just cut a strip and it stuff inside the tire when you have it apart. It comes in differnt sizes so just get the one that fits your tire.
John
02-13-2005 | 06:26 PM
#245
My Feedback: (69)
RE: Reaction 54 Jet Kit
Ok Folks,
I have to ADD 11oz to get the Center of Gravity at midpont. This brings the empty weight to 18 pounds 10oz. I KNOW some of this is the extra stainless steel sheet to cover the entire aft bottom of the fuse. I'm a little surprised at the rapid weight gain with the turbine installed. The completed airframe weighed just under 13 pounds without the turbine. Add the 11oz and I'm at 13 pounds 10oz. The stainless steel certianly did not add an extra pound! Id say several ozs max. The UAT is full and maybe 5 or 6 ozs kerosene in the main tank. Gald I'm using a 14 pound thrust turbine instead of a 12 pounder. Alto, I'll bet the landings are a bit easier at this weight vs 17 pounds.
Ran the P60 again today for my son. Heck I had it together for the CG check. Pointed the node into the wind and fired it up. After a few minutes I shut 'er down and proceeded to defuel it and take the wing off. Bummers! Melted some Monokote on the stab! Looks like I'll be adding some SS strips to the bottom of it too! Maybe just a few inches out from each side. Turbine start was normal without any flame that I could see.
Bruce,
Could this be caused by running the turbine at WOT for a matter of half a minute? What is the normal turbine startup proceedure? Do you throttle up to check things out before flying like on a piston powered plane? Anybody else have any input on this?
Dave Rigotti
I have to ADD 11oz to get the Center of Gravity at midpont. This brings the empty weight to 18 pounds 10oz. I KNOW some of this is the extra stainless steel sheet to cover the entire aft bottom of the fuse. I'm a little surprised at the rapid weight gain with the turbine installed. The completed airframe weighed just under 13 pounds without the turbine. Add the 11oz and I'm at 13 pounds 10oz. The stainless steel certianly did not add an extra pound! Id say several ozs max. The UAT is full and maybe 5 or 6 ozs kerosene in the main tank. Gald I'm using a 14 pound thrust turbine instead of a 12 pounder. Alto, I'll bet the landings are a bit easier at this weight vs 17 pounds.
Ran the P60 again today for my son. Heck I had it together for the CG check. Pointed the node into the wind and fired it up. After a few minutes I shut 'er down and proceeded to defuel it and take the wing off. Bummers! Melted some Monokote on the stab! Looks like I'll be adding some SS strips to the bottom of it too! Maybe just a few inches out from each side. Turbine start was normal without any flame that I could see.
Bruce,
Could this be caused by running the turbine at WOT for a matter of half a minute? What is the normal turbine startup proceedure? Do you throttle up to check things out before flying like on a piston powered plane? Anybody else have any input on this?
Dave Rigotti
02-13-2005 | 06:34 PM
#246
My Feedback: (69)
RE: Reaction 54 Jet Kit
ORIGINAL: HOPPY99
Dave,
If you use the Compact Unibrake with the Robart wheel/tire,it replaces the inside half of the hub and that setup uses a short axle so the struts you have now may work. The only problem may be soft tires. Robart makes a filler for the inside of the tire or Home Depot has something called caulking backer that works well. You just cut a strip and it stuff inside the tire when you have it apart. It comes in differnt sizes so just get the one that fits your tire.
John
Dave,
If you use the Compact Unibrake with the Robart wheel/tire,it replaces the inside half of the hub and that setup uses a short axle so the struts you have now may work. The only problem may be soft tires. Robart makes a filler for the inside of the tire or Home Depot has something called caulking backer that works well. You just cut a strip and it stuff inside the tire when you have it apart. It comes in differnt sizes so just get the one that fits your tire.
John
I'm using the Sullivan Skylite wheels as supplied by Bruce. Maybe a new set of wheels would be easier to get than the special struts? Of course, IF I still need the struts after getting the Robart wheels...Man..nothing is easy....or finite. I could always just mount one on the nose gear as this is probably plenty long enough with the Kavan brake already there.
Tim,
Which Unibrake version did you get? 3 or 4?
Dave Rigotti
02-13-2005 | 07:09 PM
#247
My Feedback: (2)
RE: Reaction 54 Jet Kit
The SS certainly didn't help the weight issue..it is not how much it weighs, but how far it is behind the cg that determines the amount of nose weight needed to compensate for that modification..
You should probably consider some sort of Starting deflector ( like a stove pipe) to contain the exhaust plume while the R54 is stationary. It is funny that with that incredible down angle of the turbine that the heat would get to the monocote. Facets have a very similar engine configuration and I have never heard on on of those melting the covering...
You should probably consider some sort of Starting deflector ( like a stove pipe) to contain the exhaust plume while the R54 is stationary. It is funny that with that incredible down angle of the turbine that the heat would get to the monocote. Facets have a very similar engine configuration and I have never heard on on of those melting the covering...
02-13-2005 | 08:14 PM
#248
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From: SeaTac - Angle Lake, WA
RE: Reaction 54 Jet Kit
ORIGINAL: rcguy!
Tim,
Which version of the Unibrake did you get? After taxi tests last Sunday, I'm looking at something different and the Unibrake caught my eye. Don't know if I should just add it to the nose wheel only or spring for new MLG struts (ugh Robart!) and install both units.
Dave Rigotti
Tim,
Which version of the Unibrake did you get? After taxi tests last Sunday, I'm looking at something different and the Unibrake caught my eye. Don't know if I should just add it to the nose wheel only or spring for new MLG struts (ugh Robart!) and install both units.
Dave Rigotti
I'm using the PhaseIV version of the CompactUniBrakes available from here: http://www.compactunibrake.com/ .
I bought mine from Don's Hobby Shop ( www.donshobbyshop.com ) but called them directly to make sure it was the PhaseIV style. Don had them to me in a couple of days. Very nice folks to deal with. Reason I went with this vesion is that I could bolt them right on the 3/16" strut and they took up minimal space when used with the 3" Robart wheels. The Robart tires are a little soft for a 17+ pound airplane so as suggested earlier I did get the tire inserts and installed them inside the tire. Made a world of difference and anticipate no problems with them. Keep in mind that you'll still have to order an additional air tank, tee fitting and plumbing to go along with the brake set. If your were gutsy I guess you could use the same tank as your retracts, but I didn't want to take a chance with a leaky valve or line connection and have it deplete my air for getting the gear down. Hadn't got it installed yet but when I do I'll post pictures for everyone. You'll also will have to get a brake valve and will require an additional servo to operate it. Makes for some interesting engineering work to get it all installed, but I've solved that too. Minor deviation from Bruce's setup but it's all good. I got my brake valve from www.dreamworksrc.com. Give me a day or two and I'll have some pictures for you. Just about wrapping up my Monokote work. It took longer then I had anticipated but the finished look is worth it...
Cheers,
02-13-2005 | 08:30 PM
#249
My Feedback: (29)
RE: Reaction 54 Jet Kit
My Facet burned the monokote once, but it was due to a hot start. The down angle of the turbine on the R54 may be contributing to the problem (reflected heat off of the pavement). It's only going to be a problem when the model is stationary and I'm guessing that it probably is not happening at WOT, but more likely during startup or low throttle. Some sort of simple deflector or stove pipe as mentioned by Nony will probably solve the problem. I stripped the monokote off of the bottom of my Facet tail and painted the area with 3 coats of BVM heat shield. I then painted over the heat shield with silver high temperature exhaust sytem paint.
02-13-2005 | 08:30 PM
#250
My Feedback: (11)
RE: Reaction 54 Jet Kit
ORIGINAL: rcguy!
Do you throttle up to check things out before flying like on a piston powered plane? Anybody else have any input on this?
Dave Rigotti
Do you throttle up to check things out before flying like on a piston powered plane? Anybody else have any input on this?
Dave Rigotti
At jet rallies, it is generally frowned upon to run up your turbine in the pits / start up area for safety reasons. Also, last year there was some emphasis on blowing debris from full throttle run-ups causing debris to get sucked back into intakes after circling around from the blast protectors in the start-up areas.
Most modern turbine ECU's do not need a full throttle run-up on the ground .....
Nick
