1Eye

My Feedback: (2)

Tim, that is just awesome! The perspective of the "large" airplane in the front page photo is great. And to think: All this positive notoriety for a non Purple-Wrapped airframe. Bruce, you just gotta love it. [8D]

I just got my L/G strut/brake package determined and sorted out based on stuff I had laying around (a combination of TopCat mains/Glennis brakes & T-33 wheels, Bandit nose struts/BVM wheel, SpringAirs) and plan to start construction next week if my travel/TDY sked permits. Your enthusiastic reports have been a constant source of inspiration. Thanks!

Mike

tschuy

My Feedback: (1)

quote]ORIGINAL: BruceTharpe

Oh man, Front Page - that is too cool! Do you have an extra copy? (Tell the truth Tim, I'm guessing you picked up a dozen copies or more) :-)

BTW, who is this Tim Shoemaker and why is he flying your airplane? Ha! Gotta love reporters

Bruce
[/quote]

Well Bruce I only got one copy of the paper but have scanned it and still deciding what to do with the only copy I have. As for not getting my name right that I can pass on to the SMAC flying club down at Somerset KY for sending out the wrong information. I did send them everything about my plane as well as my info 4 weeks in advance, but somehow something got lost. The reporter doing the article never talked to me as I was having too much fun answering the gazillion questions that these kids have. I look at it as an investment in our future and it all went well. Amazing bunch of kids down there. The turbine and R54 did very well. Special thanks to the SMAC flying club for the invitation to show off my plane and Vaughan Sharp my safety and very best-friend.


If anything that I would want to pass on to each and everyone who reads this post is that I challenge you all to get involve with our schools and our kids. Doing so, will make wonderful things happen not only for our hobby which we all love, but also our communities.


Cheers,

rcguy!

My Feedback: (69)

Tim,
Great job with the kids!
I have a flight demo and buddy box session with the Boy Scouts next month to help with their Aviation merit badge. My son is an Eagle Scout and we have been involved for many years. Look forward to it!

Dave Rigotti

Inconel_601

My Feedback: (8)

Dave,
What are your overall impressions of the P60? Any teething pains? Care to elaborate on the "puff of smoke"? Why did JetCat USA tell you to send it back?

tschuy

My Feedback: (1)

Dave has had a few minor burps with his P60 and Jetcat-USA being the company that they are and firmly standing behind their product will be fixing the bugs for him. If I had more money to spend on turbines I'd by from them too because of their service and commitment.

Cheers,

rcguy!

My Feedback: (69)

I have 2 P60's. This first one has given me some trouble. Many false starts. Say, 4 out of 5. Seems the ECU had some programming errors from the factory. I've seen another post about this problem. John Redman worked with me on changing them. Helped some.. Still false starts half the time. The puff of smoke has always been there. John seems to think the fuel needles are out of alignment. This one also leaks brown goop all the way around the tail cone/housing joint. The starter makes some nasty noises too. I get one start per PowerMax fill while the other goes 4 starts per fill. I get 4 flights on a 3000Mah ECU pack while the second one goes 4 flights on the supplied 1250MAH pack. The second P60 (14 serial numbers later) is perfect. Starts EVERY time and NO leakage what so ever. "Go figure!" I'm sure JetCatUSA will make it right. Their customer support is legendary. "Teething?" Yeah I'd say so......
My impressions....IF I only owned the first one...dissappointed for sure. The second one tells me what I can expect. Looking forward to two great running P60's. For the record...I'd wouldn't hesitate to recommend JetCat to anybody.

Dave Rigotti

john agnew

Dave

Funnily enough I have just brought my Ram 500 out of retirement and it gives off a small puff of smoke every few seconds at idle. It also leaks a bit around the tailcone. Too late for me to send it back!! I will live with it. Hope to try the Jetco tomorrow with the Ram. Has some good flights yesterday on the Intro, first time from grass and no problems with takeoff.

John

rcguy!

My Feedback: (69)

John,

Have about 22 flights on the R54 and enjoy every minute of it. I'm sure JetCat will solve the problem. John Redman seemed to think fuel was puddling in the combustion chamber and on landing it would splash around and thus the puff of smoke. He seemed to have heard of it before. It also explains the many false starts. Looks like rain this weekend so I won't miss much flying time.
Looking forward to your Jetco flight report.

Dave Rigotti

TommyWatson

My Feedback: (1)

Fellow Reaction 54 Owners,

I am pleased to announce that there is one less "Virgin" Reaction 54 in the world. This one lives in Australia and had its maiden flights today. (Sat 21 May 2005).

Tim,

You were right, it does fly better than ANY of my prop planes. And yes, I did hear the thunder.

Dave,
Thanks for your encouragement over these past months.

Bruce,

What a genius. This is the best flying model airplane I have ever owned. I have been flying models for over 50 years and this tops them all.

I had no trim problems or any control problems. I did have a little too much down trim with flaps, and thats all.

I landed SLOWER than i can with my World Models 80" Extra.



What a great day, the weather was perfect, blue skys and no wind. 21 degrees C temperature and a freshly mown 900ft runway.

I have a video if someone knows a site I can send it to so that you can see it.


I have a BVM bobcat in a box in my roof. Does anyone want to buy it. It surely can't fly any better than my R54.

Regards

tschuy

My Feedback: (1)

Congrat's Tommy!!!

Hey your the first one "down under" to fly an R54...

I can imagine the smile on your face right now and happy for ya...

Probably surprised a few of your flying buddies in the process too!!!

Maybe this means Bruce might get a few more R54's sold down there too...

Thus far I have 18 flights on mine and liking it more each time. I stayed with the standard fuel setup with 54 ounces total fuel and I'm able to get about a 9 minute flight and land with the UAT still full after shutdown. Typically I'm flying with my throttle set between 1/2 and 2/3 open. The ship moves pretty quick but yet slows down very nicely for landing. Try doing some huge vertical 8's, you'll love them!!! Just remember to pull back on the throttle on the downside since this thing will accelerate very quickly.


Great to hear that you've had a ball flying this thing. I'm really considering on building another one but will probably have to stand in line for quite sometime with the popularity of this ship growing. Beets the Boomerang Intro hands down.



Cheers,

rcguy!

My Feedback: (69)

Tommy,
"Yeah Buddy!" One less virgin is always a good thing! :-)) I'm sure the smile on you face is still there! (mine is!)
Funny thing...I to had too much down trim with flaps. Dosen't take much at all. Landings are spooky slow.
Have Fun and enjoy!

Dave Rigotti

BruceTharpe

My Feedback: (1)

Tommy my man, I'm so happy for you! Thank you for all the compliments, but "genius" is going a little far I'm just making airplanes the way I like them and it's always gratifying to find other modelers who like them too. I don't know if it's Summer down there or Winter, so I'll just wish you a tremendous flying season filled with the sweet aroma of jet exhaust.

Bruce
-------------
BTE www.btemodels.com

Helijet

Well Bruce, you can add another happy customer to your ever growing Reaction 54 list!

Had several perfect flights with her yesterday and I am going out on a limb here...but....IMO your design is " the best overall jet trainer " available today. I found the Reaction 54 to be absolutely tank like solid in ground handling. She took off in less than 100 ft off of pavement with takeoff flap ( about 8 degrees ) and had a very stong climb out rate with the PST J600R pushing her along ( weighs 19 lbs dry ). Very solid and positive in roll and pitch ( 10 % expo on elevator / 15 % on aileron ). Rolls were a non issue and loops were fully controllable all the way through with no tendancy to twist at any point. Slow flight is amazing - with one pilot nearby saying " reminds me of CG Tiger 2 " She also will scoot along very quickly once opened up. Set up for landing was a non issue with about 35 degrees of flap - 1/4 " down elevator the plane makes a very controllable, constant descent rate with 1/8 throttle management. Perfect in my opinion to nail the landing point. She was very easy to flair for a mains landing at a touch down speed of less than a run. Roll out was maybe..50ft.

I have built, flown and tested a lot of jet aircraft over the years. IMO the Reaction 54 has all the ground / flight characteristics that are desireable in a turbine jet trainer. It is not perfect ( its not an ARF, engine placement may not appeal to everyone ) but it is simple, big, easy to handle and very tolerant of newbie errors ( read solid built to handle less than stellar arrivals ). The kit builds very easily, the instructions are amongst the best in the industry and support is always there. Well done Bruce.....no doubt you will be selling many Reaction kits in the years to come!

Dean Wichmann
www.helijet.ca

BruceTharpe

My Feedback: (1)

Dean, congrats and thanks a million, friend. You gotta post a pic of your R54 - it's a very elegant color scheme.

I'm still working on the second batch of kits, but it shouldn't be too long now. These great flight reports have inspired me to get out to the shop today and cut some more parts. And today's Sunday!

Hey Dean, what did you come up with for heat protection during the start? There have been a number of good ideas on this thread, and thought you might be able to add to them.

Bruce
------------
BTE www.btemodels.com

tschuy

My Feedback: (1)

Hey Bruce.....

Put me on the list for the next batch of R54's that you'll have ready. I've decided that I want to build another...

I've put in three flights on my R54 today and had a ball. Sure been drawing a crowd out at our field.

This plane flies like a dream...


Cheers,

TommyWatson

My Feedback: (1)

Hey Tim, You will have to wait till i get my second kit. I put in my order first!!!!.

This one will have glass cloth over all the solid balsa parts (Fuse and Tail, wingtips). I can do a better job with glass cloth and paint than I can with monocote.

I have a really friendly auto paint shop that will match the monocote colour.

I also want to fit the Unibrakes like yours. The nose wheel brake will hold ok but wont do much to stop at any speed.

Do you guys use a radio controlled fuel tap?. We need to have one here. I am looking for a smaller setup for the tap.

Regards

rcbart

Yup, it sure looked great. Our area -Vancouver BC - has only grass fields thus we need to go quite aways to fly our Jets. I got a
Tango but think the Reaction 54 is better. Much bigger and the straight wings plus tough gear looks like a better deal.

Too much on the plate this summer but looking at getting one later.

It doesn't hurt that Dean's planes are alway immaculate.

Bart

nitrovmaxer

We had a blast last weekend testing several airplanes including Deans Reaction 54. Got a chance on the sticks and sure easy and relaxing to fly. Did a few rolls and some inverted flight. This was the second flight on this bird!
Thanks Dean for the stick time...

Rowdy

Kelly W

My Feedback: (2)

I was lucky enough to spot for Dean on the maiden flight (but he didn't let me try, geeeezzzzz )

Bruce, I gotta hand it to you... Your new design is absolutely fabulous. Sure the engine placement creates a concern during start-up, but once the turbine is running it doesn't appear to be any trouble. Dean's start-up solution was to make a temporary thrust tube from household galvanized ducting, easy and CHEAP. On the aft end of the aircraft, he also coated the immediate vicinity with metallic reflective tape. He even added dimples it to simulate rivets, a pretty cool look! I meant to take some detailed photos but my camera batteries were toast by the time I remembered.

I just reviewed the video footage we got of the 1st and 2nd flight. Without going to aggressive on the takeoff spool up prior to releasing the brakes, I'll confirm the Reaction 54 can take off in ~100ft; maybe a handfull more than 100, but not by much.... (the lines on our paved strip are 100ft long) Once airborne, I could only hear a few trim inputs to get her flying straight. In flight there didn't seem to be any adverse tendencies, and the landing looked easy to say the least.

I meant every word of the comment about comparing it to the CG trainer. Once a pilot gets the feel of a turbine personality vs. that of a 2-stroke glow engine, this is the kit to get - hands down.

Congrats,
Kelly

PS: Great weekend guys, lets do it all over again real soon.[8D]

Helijet

Hey Kelly.....I thought you were video taping[sm=surprised.gif] otherwise I might have considered giving you some stick time ( for a small fee of course ) Next session we'll pass it around. Just way too much fun for one guy to handle. Bruce - we may need to start up a Reaction 54 fan club ! Thanks guys for the great day of flying and fellowship.

D.W.

Kelly W

My Feedback: (2)

Ya, ya.. I'm just busting your chops because I'm jealous...

Who knows, maybe I'll find my way into one of these kits one day too. more than any other kit, it's reassured me that I need a good 'every day' aircraft for turbine flying on grass.

Kelly

TommyWatson

My Feedback: (1)

Bruce,

It is just coming into winter here on east coast of Australia. Australian winter is perfect for flying. We never have that "White stuff" i see in daves pictures.

Mid summer in Australia can be really hot and unpleasant. Also we often have "Total Fire Ban" days during the bushfire season. That means you cannot even start your turbine, let alone fly.

Also the flies can be a problem. Imagine a fly under your sunglasses just as you turn onto final.

Overall we do have it pretty good down here.

Looks like a good weekend coming up, time to get a few more hours ont the R54.


Regards

rcguy!

My Feedback: (69)

Dean,
Nice looking model! The R54 color schemes displayed on this thread are amazing! The airframe lends itself to MANY different colors and layouts. ALL look super!

Hey Bruce! Notice how ALL pilots have commented on the flying qualities? SUPER SUPER SUPER!

Just want to let the folks know how well engineered the R54 is. Last Sunday I had a flameout and made the usual unscheduled landing. All went well and I made the cut grass field. A gentle flair with the wheels up as I wasn't sure I would make it. At touch down she bounced up due to ground effect as I was still holding up elevator. At about 8 feet she dropped her wing and did a 1 turn cartwheel. Bummers!....When I got to her I was amazed at how little damage there was. The wing popped off with out any damage at all. Didn't even break the LE dowels. Yes it did take the boat tail with it, but clean as a whistle. The fuse did break in half just in front of the stab. Also real clean. Other than this, no other damage at all. I stripped alll the Monokote from the fuse and removed the turbine, UAT, tank, and pump. Pondered the steps needed and 2 hours later the tail was re-attached ready for sanding. Fixing the boat tail took another hour and a half.
I've been over the entire airframe looking and tweaking for any other damage and found NONE. She'll fly again this weekend for sure. How many other jet airframes would have survived this? NONE!

Lets see....the kit part fits are fantastic, USA hardware, the flying qualities are superb, and she handle some abuse that everyday flying will throw at her. WHAT else could one ask for? Way to go Bruce!

Dave Rigotti

TommyWatson

My Feedback: (1)

Dave,

Sorry to hear of your accident. Hope you have it in the air soon.


Regards

john agnew

Dave

Which of your P60's flamed out? Was it the one that was causing you trouble? Did Jetcat find out the problem yet?

Glad to hear your damage was minimal, going out to fly the Intro today as it's warm (60o F!!) and sunny with 8 knots straight down the strip.

John