Reaction 54 Jet Kit
07-08-2005, 06:44 PM
#527
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RE: Reaction 54 Jet Kit
Thanks Mark, I always liked that scheme and decided to do it. If you look closely you will see the mandatory ( Old RCMB Pattern guys) Tettra fitting for my vent line on the side. Now for the P-70 update: I used a set of BVM mounts and straps with the mount that Bruce supplied me and didn't need the spacers blocks, however if you are using the factory Jetcat mount you will need the spacers. So far no ballast is needed for the CG to be in the range that Bruce specifies; but I have yet to put the wing on it and check it. I was able to take the engine right off my Bobcat and drop it on the Reaction54 with all of the plumbing in case I want to fly the bobcat again soon. I am not going to turn the power down since I fly from 2 small runways (1-150 feet 2- 250 feet) and will use the throttle as it should be to manage airspeed. I should be able to get some pictures over the weekend and fly it Sunday as well and report back.
07-17-2005, 02:46 PM
#530
RE: Reaction 54 Jet Kit
Well Folks,
I broke the bank and got a set of TRIM aircraft wheels and brakes. Great Northern Models has a complete line. Very nicely machined units!
Install was straight forward. I made up some adapters to fit the 3/16 wire struts. It is simply a 3/16 wheel collar with a piece of 1/6 brass strip soldered to it and then filed down to fit the brake unit slot. GNM MAY have machined adapters for this also. I got the "B" style wheels but on second thought, I should have got the solid "A" style. It MAY help to keep dirt out when flying from grass. Only bummer was that NO instructions were included with the TRIM parts. The UP6 proportional valve was an extra cost item and did include instructions. I posted on RCU and got some great feedback on the care of them. Heck, I even renewed an old frienddship from my competition Pattern flying days from the late 70's.
Anyway the valve installed as shown. Plenty of room and the balance can't be affected much at all. I did remove the Kavan unit and replaced the nose wheel with a Sullivan 3" just like the "old" main wheels were. We fly from pavement occassionally and I'm suffering from "brake envy". The Kavan unit was quite acceptable when flying from grass, but I found on pavement the braking action would steer the plane to the left. It took alot of right rudder to keep her from running off the taxi way at Ashtabula County Airport. I used 3/8" diameter heat shrink tubing to keep things tidy on the MLG.
Neat eh?
Dave Rigotti
I broke the bank and got a set of TRIM aircraft wheels and brakes. Great Northern Models has a complete line. Very nicely machined units!
Install was straight forward. I made up some adapters to fit the 3/16 wire struts. It is simply a 3/16 wheel collar with a piece of 1/6 brass strip soldered to it and then filed down to fit the brake unit slot. GNM MAY have machined adapters for this also. I got the "B" style wheels but on second thought, I should have got the solid "A" style. It MAY help to keep dirt out when flying from grass. Only bummer was that NO instructions were included with the TRIM parts. The UP6 proportional valve was an extra cost item and did include instructions. I posted on RCU and got some great feedback on the care of them. Heck, I even renewed an old frienddship from my competition Pattern flying days from the late 70's.
Anyway the valve installed as shown. Plenty of room and the balance can't be affected much at all. I did remove the Kavan unit and replaced the nose wheel with a Sullivan 3" just like the "old" main wheels were. We fly from pavement occassionally and I'm suffering from "brake envy". The Kavan unit was quite acceptable when flying from grass, but I found on pavement the braking action would steer the plane to the left. It took alot of right rudder to keep her from running off the taxi way at Ashtabula County Airport. I used 3/8" diameter heat shrink tubing to keep things tidy on the MLG.
Neat eh?
Dave Rigotti
07-17-2005, 05:45 PM
#531
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RE: Reaction 54 Jet Kit
After a few flights with the Reaction 54 I decided to make a couple of modifications to make life a little easier. The first thing I did was to get rid of the rubber band hold-downs on the fuel valve hatch. I replaced them with a standard magnetic cabinet door latch.
The second mod was to replace the pull-pull steering cable on the front wheel assembly. I installed the steering servo next to the steering tiller and used the old sliding coupler on the long screw method for attaching to the tiller. Not original, but effective. It gives very positive nose wheel steering and works great on the retract and extend cycle.
[img][/img][img][/img][img][/img]
The second mod was to replace the pull-pull steering cable on the front wheel assembly. I installed the steering servo next to the steering tiller and used the old sliding coupler on the long screw method for attaching to the tiller. Not original, but effective. It gives very positive nose wheel steering and works great on the retract and extend cycle.
[img][/img][img][/img][img][/img]
07-18-2005, 04:50 AM
#532
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RE: Reaction 54 Jet Kit
ORIGINAL: swansons
After a few flights with the Reaction 54 I decided to make a couple of modifications to make life a little easier. The first thing I did was to get rid of the rubber band hold-downs on the fuel valve hatch. I replaced them with a standard magnetic cabinet door latch.
The second mod was to replace the pull-pull steering cable on the front wheel assembly. I installed the steering servo next to the steering tiller and used the old sliding coupler on the long screw method for attaching to the tiller. Not original, but effective. It gives very positive nose wheel steering and works great on the retract and extend cycle.
[img][/img][img][/img][img][/img]
After a few flights with the Reaction 54 I decided to make a couple of modifications to make life a little easier. The first thing I did was to get rid of the rubber band hold-downs on the fuel valve hatch. I replaced them with a standard magnetic cabinet door latch.
The second mod was to replace the pull-pull steering cable on the front wheel assembly. I installed the steering servo next to the steering tiller and used the old sliding coupler on the long screw method for attaching to the tiller. Not original, but effective. It gives very positive nose wheel steering and works great on the retract and extend cycle.
[img][/img][img][/img][img][/img]
Thanks
07-18-2005, 06:22 AM
#533
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RE: Reaction 54 Jet Kit
Tommy,
The screw is a pan head 1 1/4 X 2-56 with a piece of brass tubing over it. The tubing is a little less than a inch long with a 2-56 hex nut on the top end jambed against the bottom of the tiller arm. The tiller arm is flattened and drilled out to accept the 2-56 screw. The top nut is a 2-56 Nylock. Yes, the slider is a drilled out nylon aileron horn. The pushrod and nylon clevis are both 2-56.
The slider must move freely on the tubing, but not sloppy. I used a small Hitec metal gear servo and did a mix with the rudder channel on the 10X. Good luck.
The screw is a pan head 1 1/4 X 2-56 with a piece of brass tubing over it. The tubing is a little less than a inch long with a 2-56 hex nut on the top end jambed against the bottom of the tiller arm. The tiller arm is flattened and drilled out to accept the 2-56 screw. The top nut is a 2-56 Nylock. Yes, the slider is a drilled out nylon aileron horn. The pushrod and nylon clevis are both 2-56.
The slider must move freely on the tubing, but not sloppy. I used a small Hitec metal gear servo and did a mix with the rudder channel on the 10X. Good luck.
07-18-2005, 09:02 AM
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RE: Reaction 54 Jet Kit
Tommy,
I forgot to mention that you have to invert the tiller arm to get it down inside the fuselage and closer to the direct level plane with the servo arm. This is important because it won't retract properly if the pushrod is at an angle. I think you can see what I am talking about in the picture I sent earlier.
I forgot to mention that you have to invert the tiller arm to get it down inside the fuselage and closer to the direct level plane with the servo arm. This is important because it won't retract properly if the pushrod is at an angle. I think you can see what I am talking about in the picture I sent earlier.
07-19-2005, 10:29 PM
#538
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RE: Reaction 54 Jet Kit
Another R-54 Maiden!!!
I put the first flight on my R-54 today. Excellent flight!! It was quite windy and gusty but other than being bounced around a lot in the air it presented no problems. Mine has a PST 600R, fuel pickup pointing aft, 3/8" Robart struts with trim wheels and brakes, and the turbine moved forward into a cutout in the boat tail. It also has a trim wheel on the nose leg. Joe Hein of Shelton, WA did the construction and I did the rest. Joe did a beautiful job as she flew straight and true. Only a little nose down trim required. I couldn't get a real feel as to hands off flight because of the gusting but its size and maneuverability made it easy to fly in the wind. I didn't use flaps for takeoff and landing because of the wind and wouldn't you know it just as I went to land the wind stopped dead calm. Boy does it float!!!!!
The all white makes it look like a NASA test vehicle. Maybe I'll trim it out that way.
It was a good day.
Galen
I put the first flight on my R-54 today. Excellent flight!! It was quite windy and gusty but other than being bounced around a lot in the air it presented no problems. Mine has a PST 600R, fuel pickup pointing aft, 3/8" Robart struts with trim wheels and brakes, and the turbine moved forward into a cutout in the boat tail. It also has a trim wheel on the nose leg. Joe Hein of Shelton, WA did the construction and I did the rest. Joe did a beautiful job as she flew straight and true. Only a little nose down trim required. I couldn't get a real feel as to hands off flight because of the gusting but its size and maneuverability made it easy to fly in the wind. I didn't use flaps for takeoff and landing because of the wind and wouldn't you know it just as I went to land the wind stopped dead calm. Boy does it float!!!!!
The all white makes it look like a NASA test vehicle. Maybe I'll trim it out that way.
It was a good day.
Galen
07-20-2005, 06:40 AM
#543
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RE: Reaction 54 Jet Kit
Congrat's Galen!!!
Tell us how you like the Trim Brake system?
I'm getting ready to build my second R54 and planning to use the trim wheels and brakes but will stick with the UP6 brake valve.
Will keep everyone posted when I get started.
Cheers,
Tell us how you like the Trim Brake system?
I'm getting ready to build my second R54 and planning to use the trim wheels and brakes but will stick with the UP6 brake valve.
Will keep everyone posted when I get started.
Cheers,
07-20-2005, 07:23 PM
#544
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RE: Reaction 54 Jet Kit
Thanks all for the congrats!!
JohnVh - Yes we must do Whidbey before the Rally. We'll through flying at Shelton soon as the burn ban will be on any day now.
tschuy - The Trim brakes worked OK but I found a couple of problems in my setup. First the brake hub wasn't seating well against the Robart axle hub. Second the Robart axles were a little small in diameter so those two made for a wheel that would intermittently bind. I filed down the Robart hub so the Trim brake hub would fit solidly against it, then replaced the axle with some BVM spares and they run true with no slop at all and give plenty of braking. I am using the Trim brake valve and it seems to be all or nothing. I've used the UP6 on other aircraft and it's better but the BVM smooth stop is in my opinion the more adjustable of the three.
Galen
JohnVh - Yes we must do Whidbey before the Rally. We'll through flying at Shelton soon as the burn ban will be on any day now.
tschuy - The Trim brakes worked OK but I found a couple of problems in my setup. First the brake hub wasn't seating well against the Robart axle hub. Second the Robart axles were a little small in diameter so those two made for a wheel that would intermittently bind. I filed down the Robart hub so the Trim brake hub would fit solidly against it, then replaced the axle with some BVM spares and they run true with no slop at all and give plenty of braking. I am using the Trim brake valve and it seems to be all or nothing. I've used the UP6 on other aircraft and it's better but the BVM smooth stop is in my opinion the more adjustable of the three.
Galen
07-26-2005, 09:58 PM
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RE: Reaction 54 Jet Kit
Looks nice Mike!!!
Hopefully you'll have her done very soon and we can meet at Bowling Green. Are you going to stick with the PST-600r for your power?
Cheers,
Hopefully you'll have her done very soon and we can meet at Bowling Green. Are you going to stick with the PST-600r for your power?
Cheers,
08-01-2005, 09:45 AM
#548
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RE: Reaction 54 Jet Kit
I ordered a Reaction, will be here today.
Going to use my FTE-500 and Intairco brakes.
I need to come up with a really colorful finish.
Hope to have it ready for the SW Jet Rally in September.
Going to use my FTE-500 and Intairco brakes.
I need to come up with a really colorful finish.
Hope to have it ready for the SW Jet Rally in September.
