maxvertical

Yes, and we should be thanking you Dave, since you're the one that got the ball rolling on that Kevlar tank!

Not sure if the P-60 burns more fuel than the 70. I've seen reports and heard that the P-60's burn around 9oz a minute. I know my P-70 here in Hillsboro, about 200' elevation, during bench testing at wide open throttle was showing 244.5ml/min which is about 8.2 oz per minute. I was concerned but after my testing, I can't imagin running around at WOT for the whole flight. I had one engine run just on 3/4 tank that was 8 min and that wasn't all at idle either. My half throttle numbers were 75,000 rpm and 144ml/min or 4.9oz per minute. Not sure that will help you, but there it is.

Chris

afterburner

My Feedback: (18)

Chris,
All I can say is I taxi out with a taxi tank and the Dubro and Sullivan tanks are topped off. I probably fly at full throttle for two thirds of the flight. Maybe I need some underwing tanks.

Marty

Eddie P

My Feedback: (4)

That explains it, I have the UAT in the front, hence the aft facing clunk, makes perfect sense.

maxvertical

Ya know Marty, that just might be the ticket for you then.
That Kevlar cell is 72oz then with your 16 that you already have, plus a UAT, I'd think that would give you at the very least a little more buffer for your go-arounds. The Jet Tech tank is a drop in, so no airframe mods should be needed. Might be the simple solution to giving you a few more minutes.
Maybe we could figure out a way to just go wet wing. LOL Now there's some gas

Chris

JimBrown

My Feedback: (2)

I have a Wren MW54 MkIII installed in my Reaction 54. I get about seven minutes of flight time with full throttle about 75% of the time. After taxing back and shutting down, I usually have between 1/4 and 1/2 inch of fuel in the 24 oz. tank. I taxi out with a taxi tank.

I have the standard 50 oz. tank plus a 24 oz tank under the canopy, and a BVM UAT below that. My R54 was originally built by Gary Szetlak, and he moved the rudder and elevator servos to the back of the jet, in the tail boom. The 24 oz. tank is zip tied under the old rudder/elevator servo mount and on top of the next former to the front. The UAT is just in front of the former that is in front of the 50 oz. tank, and below the 24 oz tank.

The ECU, fuel pump and solonoid valves are in the boat tail behind the main tank (nice and close to the turbine, and FAR away from the RX, which is at the front of the canopy area and uses a Deans mini-whip.) I did need to install extensions for the throttle, GSU interface and ECU battery (which is just in front of the 24 oz. tank.) The RX battery is in the nose. I do not have a top hatch behind the main tank.

This set up has worked great for me.

Regards,
...jim

BruceTharpe

My Feedback: (1)

Here's some info on the tank installation for my newest R54. I am still using the 50oz. Du-Bro main tank, but instead of a UAT, it is hooked up with a 16 oz. Du-Bro tank. I consider the 16 oz. tank the "header", because it feeds the pump. The main tank uses the normal metal clunk. Yes, it's at the front of the tank, but that has yet to cause problems for me. The header uses a home-made pleated paper filter, set up as a clunk. The fuel line that loops back from the header goes to the cutoff valve, then the pump.

BruceTharpe

My Feedback: (1)

The entire tank assembly as shown in the previous post is assembled outside the model, then slid into place. I needed to cut away a portion of the upper boat tail former, and modify the shape of the hole in bulkhead F-6. The cut away portion of the boat tail was glued to a longer strip of aircraft ply, then bolted back in the model to support the header tank.

Also shown are the two balsa braces used to hold the main tank in place. Nothing special, but you can see how I sanded a curve at each end to allow them to twist into place. You can see them "in action" in pic #4. I add a drop of thick CA at each end just to make sure they don't shift around. They are still easy to break away if I need to remove the tanks.

The second pic shows the pump and fuel filter installation.

BruceTharpe

My Feedback: (1)

Finally, some pics of my new baby! Same color scheme, but a couple of different colors. This one is all Monokote - Platinum, white, metallic purple, and yellow. The platinum is also metallic, so it and the purple do a lot of color shifting depending on how the sun is hitting it - cool! This is actually the airframe that you see under construction in the kit instruction book. Okay, it takes me a while to wrap things up sometimes...

Haven't flown it yet, so the jury is still out on the tank installation. Will keep you posted.

Power is PST J600R that I have had sitting in a box for about three years now. I did run it on a stand, with the tank setup shown in earlier posts, and it runs perfectly. You might notice that I modified my mounting bracket by cutting decorative holes in each side and polishing. Looks great, and allows glow plug access.

maxvertical

Wow Bruce, talk about inspiration. Can't wait to see this one at Whidbey!
Let us know what you think of that PST power once you get her in the air. I think you'll be pretty happy!
Inspired enough I'm back to the shop to do more building, or should I say finishing

Chris

autothrottle

My Feedback: (69)

I just put the final touches on my Reaction. What a pleasure to build, thanks Bruce for a wonderful design. I have not flown it yet, just waiting for the perfect day. It’s powered by a P70, it has Robart retracts and Robostruts, and Trim wheels and brakes. I did the “Marines� scheme in honor of my son who is graduating from boot camp this April 13th.
Thanks to all who posted the “how-to’s� on RCU. That helped a bunch during the build.

phantom driver

My Feedback: (32)

Hey Autothrottle,
What kind of field do you have where you are located ? I have a R-54 with a JetCat P-70 that I have not flown yet also, because our field in Maryville, Tn is only 400' long. I know that R-54 are flying from smaller fields, but I would like a bigger field for my first flight. I have though about going to the Georgia jets Field near peach tree. That place is a dream field.

autothrottle

My Feedback: (69)

Hey P Driver,

I fly from two fields, one is GMA it has a sod grass strip and a paved strip side by side. It is wonderful club, just north-north east of Atlanta. The other is grass field south of Athens, GA. It's right in the middle of a corn/bean field, plenty of room. Send me a private email if your interested.

Good luck with your maiden!

jclittle

My Feedback: (99)

Rob - it looks like you did a great job on your reaction. I'm sure the photos don't do it justice and looking forward to seeing it in person and watching you do the maiden on it! Enjoy it and get that T33 started. Jim

maxvertical

Hey Tommy, we were talking about wingtips and I just noticed that the AD Scorpion uses the same style, so could maybe get ideas from there as well. Mine are now glassed, tough as nails. Almost done, still have some more glass work to do. Hope you've been able to do some flying, should be cooling off for you!

maxvertical

Ok guys.
For those of you using the P-70, did anyone have issues getting it to fit? I'm using the standard wedge block, standard JetCat mount with the bracket provided by Bruce and when I position the engine, the wing lacks 1/4 from seating, engine to wing contact. So it's either massage the mount, since I do have some room on top, or start modifying the aft portion of the wing by cutting into the wing by 1/4". Anyone else have this issue? I know I can fix, just want to see what others have done and if this has been encountered before. Yes, I have the engine positioned forward about 1/2 into the boat tail but sliding it aft doesn't seem to really cure the problem.

Chris

Big engines are a bummer huh

tahfiet

Hi Chris!

Did you try to turn your turbine? I know that all other Cat-turbines are slightly "off-set" with the stock mount. I am not sure if that'll help, but might be a start....


David

BruceTharpe

My Feedback: (1)

Yeah, I think David's on the right track. Unless they have changed, the mounting straps that come with the P-70 are slightly offset from center. Take a good look at the little drawing I (should have) provided with your mounting bracket.

BruceTharpe

My Feedback: (1)

Autothrottle, I love your R54! Best wishes to you on the test flight and to your son in the Marines as well.

Like you, I'm kind of waiting for the perfect day and situation to fly my new one. Soon, I hope!

phantom driver

My Feedback: (32)

Bruce
Have you built another one?Any photos?

BruceTharpe

My Feedback: (1)

Okay, I've been thinking about this for a while and finally sat down and got it done. This thread is an absolute treasure trove of information about the R54 and the variety of equipment installations performed by builders. My way is far from the only way! Problem is, accessing that useful info is becoming difficult, simply because the thread has grown so long. New builders are faced with the daunting task of reading the entire thing if they want to catch up. Current builders sometimes want to find that one tidbit that can help them, but can't because it's buried.

My solution was to create an index, organized by subjects. The index provides links to specific posts that I thought were particularly helpful and interesting. I'm certainly open to suggestions for adding, deleting, changing any of the items in the index, so let me know. It was actually kind of fun going through the whole thing again, but I obviously have a personal interest in the subject

Here's the link: http://www.btemodels.com/r54threadindex.html

phantom driver

My Feedback: (32)

Fantastic idea Bruce, thanks for taking the time to organize this treasure of information.

phantom driver

My Feedback: (32)

Bruce, your index works great. I found the pictures of your new jet.

rcguy!

My Feedback: (69)

Bruce,
You are brilliant! Fabulous idea! Works great too!

Waiting for weather to improve to get more time on the R44/DX7 combo.

Dave

maxvertical

Awesome, and thanks for the tip on the mounting bracket. Will take a look at that and see if that cures the problem. Bruce, that's allot of work to index everything! What other designer would go to such efforts for his guys! Sure makes it easier to find the subjects your after.
Thanks
Chris

maxvertical

Ok, it's amazing how a guy can go after a task get in a mindset, pretty much with blinders on. Yes, rotating the mount did the trick, even fits the engine better.
Thanks
Pays to pay attention to details doesn't it.