Reaction 54 Jet Kit
06-26-2016, 07:28 AM
#3576
Jeremy, can't thank you enough for your direct and functional words which I followed to the letter. No scratches, no runs, even my wife said it looks great. Used KK Reducer, sanded to 600/800 grit paper depending on the area being sanded, and I waited approx. 15 min's between coats (3). I used an Ebay $40 pop-up purchased to serve as my outdoor paint booth with 3 side panels, two panels with the open windows for light. I could not be more happy. Many, many thanks to you Jeremy. Chic
Last edited by redtail; 06-26-2016 at 09:07 AM.
06-27-2016, 07:55 AM
#3578
My Feedback: (34)
Yes Sir a Cruise! But trust me I would rather have stayed home and played with my planes. Going on a cruise with a 2 year old and 11 year old is not relaxing. What is relaxing is that da da da da Got the PST600R working flawlessly now!! Changed a few ramp values to basically default, few minor changes but shes purring good not. No flame outs, jammed throttle forward many times and she responded as she should.. Ran great!! Got the batteries charging and heading to the field tomorrow for the maiden. "if it doesnt rain.." Will try and bring someone along to film the either seamless flight or dooms day lol. but I am ready to get this bird in the air..
06-30-2016, 06:17 AM
#3581
My Feedback: (34)
So guys haven't flown yet due to southbflorida weather. Been raining a lot. But had a question as I was getting everything ready and double checking. My vent is just a peice of tygon hanging below the model. Should I be worried about it being so long and flexible? Don't want it pulling fuel out during flight as the Tygon is forced back due to airflow. Should I change how I have this before I fly?
[ATTACH]2170456[/IMG]
[ATTACH]2170456[/IMG]
06-30-2016, 07:59 AM
#3582
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Johnny,
There's several things you can do with your overflow vent. The easiest is to simply cut a 45 angle on the tubing facing the airflow. Next you can purchase some fancy overflow fittings from BVM, Jersey Modeler or DreamWorks and install them on your Reaction. It all depends how "cool" you want to be. Hope the rains clear up in the Sunshine State. Looking forward to the maiden.
Rgds,
Art ARRO.
There's several things you can do with your overflow vent. The easiest is to simply cut a 45 angle on the tubing facing the airflow. Next you can purchase some fancy overflow fittings from BVM, Jersey Modeler or DreamWorks and install them on your Reaction. It all depends how "cool" you want to be. Hope the rains clear up in the Sunshine State. Looking forward to the maiden.
Rgds,
Art ARRO.
06-30-2016, 09:54 AM
#3583
My Feedback: (34)
So if I leave it the way it is length wise and cut it 45 it will be ok? Was worried about tygon being pushed back with airflow and syphoning fuel out of tank. I did order the over flow vent but hasn't arrived yet so was just gonna try and fly like this and modify later
06-30-2016, 02:34 PM
#3584
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Johnny,
You should be fine with a 45 cut on the Tygon overflow vent. What I've done is fabricate a fitting out of 5/32 brass tubing with one end cut at a 45. This is soldered to a brass plate leaving the other end (of the tube) about an inch long- inside the fuse. The fitting is screwed to a piece of ply glued to the inside of the fuselage. The interior end of the tube is then attached to the tank overflow. The exterior of the brass tube allows one to connect an overflow or taxi tank to the vent for ground runups and taxing before flight. I set my timer as soon and the taxi tank is removed from the model. Simple and it works for me.
Rgds,
Art ARRO
You should be fine with a 45 cut on the Tygon overflow vent. What I've done is fabricate a fitting out of 5/32 brass tubing with one end cut at a 45. This is soldered to a brass plate leaving the other end (of the tube) about an inch long- inside the fuse. The fitting is screwed to a piece of ply glued to the inside of the fuselage. The interior end of the tube is then attached to the tank overflow. The exterior of the brass tube allows one to connect an overflow or taxi tank to the vent for ground runups and taxing before flight. I set my timer as soon and the taxi tank is removed from the model. Simple and it works for me.
Rgds,
Art ARRO
07-01-2016, 04:08 AM
#3585
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So guys haven't flown yet due to southbflorida weather. Been raining a lot. But had a question as I was getting everything ready and double checking. My vent is just a peice of tygon hanging below the model. Should I be worried about it being so long and flexible? Don't want it pulling fuel out during flight as the Tygon is forced back due to airflow. Should I change how I have this before I fly?
[ATTACH]2170456[/IMG]
[ATTACH]2170456[/IMG]
07-07-2016, 06:56 PM
#3589
My Feedback: (34)
Finally maidened my Reaction 54 today. First start turbine had a hickup and burned through some monokote and the heatshield. Nothing major and easy fix. See pics. Must have been some air in the system or something. Cant explain. After that she ran great. Put three flights on it. Turbine ran flawlessly had to take out TONS of nose weight. Prob 12 oz. I had it balanced at 6.5 inches as recommended from leading edge and she was VERY nose heavy. On the third flight with less nose weight hardly needed down elevator for inverted flight. Still could remove a little more. Slowed to a crawl for landing. Although the person that built the airplane mus have not built the wings perfect cause it needs a little right trim to fly level. So looks weird sitting on ground with neutral aileron stick and seeing deflection on the airlerons. Plane was a little squirley in the air and an now gonna install an Aura 8 to fix all that and she will be rock solid. Need to rebuild another start tube with some tougher material lol. All in all happy with the plane and cant wait to get her dialed in. Also using hitec 5925MG Servo for elevator 5645MG for rudder and 5645MG for Flaps and 5625MG for ailerons and have to say not too happy with them. Their centering is not the greatest. Gonna see if the Aura Gyro will help for now if not will be upgrading the servos to something better. I got them cause reading some threads they were the most recommended servos.
Last edited by Johnny9390; 07-07-2016 at 07:16 PM.
07-07-2016, 08:31 PM
#3594
My Feedback: (34)
Yes I was using the start tube as you can see by the picture what happened to it. It was a double wall tube which didnt work out soo well. Gotta find a better solution. But I didnt have the tube pushed all the way up the turbine tail. Left about a 2 inch gap between the Turbine tail cone and the start tube. I was told that I was getting higher egt readings because I had the start tube inserted too much into the Tail cone so I backed off a little. This was when I was having engine shut down due to high egt readings.
07-08-2016, 01:43 AM
#3595
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Johnny,
Congrats on the maiden-looking good. For the start tube you should use steel stove pipe rather than aluminum dryer vent as the melting/deforming temps are much higher. Also the gap should be about 1".but its not really that critical. Nice flying afterwards, you'll love your Reaction.
Rgds,
Art ARRO
Congrats on the maiden-looking good. For the start tube you should use steel stove pipe rather than aluminum dryer vent as the melting/deforming temps are much higher. Also the gap should be about 1".but its not really that critical. Nice flying afterwards, you'll love your Reaction.
Rgds,
Art ARRO
07-08-2016, 07:45 AM
#3597
Congrats on your first flight, Johnny 9390! I'm surprised you were able to remove so much nose weight. I have no doubt the plane flies well with an aft CG at normal flying speeds. But that same aft CG can "getcha" at very low speeds, particularly during the flare to landing. If you feel like it's getting ultra sensitive to elevator input during your landings, then you are flirting with the aft CG limit. And Chic had a good point about lateral balance - worth checking if you haven't done so already.
About the start tube, Art is correct, use steel stovepipe. I like to use an extra large diameter, 6 or 7 inches so it doesn't restrict airflow at all. I also like to push it all the way forward so it overlaps the turbine above the tailcone - no gap. Think of it less as a tail pipe and more like a "tent" that's there to shield the bottom of the model. Even a small gap can allow slow-moving flames during start up to damage your airframe. I've not experienced any high EGT readings with a large diameter start up tube positioned with no gap.
About the start tube, Art is correct, use steel stovepipe. I like to use an extra large diameter, 6 or 7 inches so it doesn't restrict airflow at all. I also like to push it all the way forward so it overlaps the turbine above the tailcone - no gap. Think of it less as a tail pipe and more like a "tent" that's there to shield the bottom of the model. Even a small gap can allow slow-moving flames during start up to damage your airframe. I've not experienced any high EGT readings with a large diameter start up tube positioned with no gap.
07-08-2016, 07:53 AM
#3598
Chic (redtail), your X-54 Reaction is definitely a cool-looking machine! Very creative mods and I like the X-54 theme. I do have a concern about your custom inlets - they look small to me. They are by far the smallest inlets I have seen any builder put on their R54. Not saying they won't work, I don't know the requirements. It's also been said that a turbine "will get its air", even if it has to pull it around from the aft opening. Sorry, kind of late in the game to comment. Just keep an eye open for any running anomalies when testing your turbine.
07-08-2016, 09:18 AM
#3599
My Feedback: (34)
It is pretty noticable on the ground like in the pic.. But good idea on balancing it lateraly. Might add a few oz to the bays on one side of wing and see how she goes. As far as the aft CG shes flies great added more expo to elevator and really couldnt notice the difference on landing... She is a little more sensitive on elevator but a few flights and you get used to it. I actually took out 9oz of nose weight and still have in there about another 4 oz, plus all three batteries. She flies great and lands great and with the gyro she will fly even better. And thanks for the tip on the steel stove pipe. Heading to HD now to get one and rebuild the start tube. Already removed the monokote and motor. Gotta do a little sanding to get the epoxy off I used to mount the heat plate. surprised how the heat just seperated the heat plate from the epoxy like butter. just pulled right off. Might glue the other one on and add a few screws to hold her down.
