racer8297

My Feedback: (13)

Hi Gandalv,

Here are some photos of my main gear mod:


As for the nose gear, the bulkheads are in the stock position. The Prolink small front strut with a 2.25" wheel fits right in. I will tell you that the wheel sits up higher in the fuselage when retacted so if you have something mounted up there you may need to re-arrange that.

speedbrake

Bob,
How well does the Elmer's GEL sand? Some white glues will gum up and score the balsa surface while sanding.

Thanks,
Keith

bobparks2

My Feedback: (1)

I have never sanded it, so I cannot say! I just put a blob on some scrap balsa to try it, and will report back tomorrow after sanding it. I probably had a bit of it get on the outside when I was doing the wing skins, but did not really notice when sanding it.

While the GEL glue is really great for the tops of ribs when doing the skins, I would not use it for normal construction. I use the normal Elmers Professional wood glue for that, and I much prefer it over the Titebond equivalents. It has more "wet tack", so fewer pins, and it also dries about twice as fast. (Titebond 3 is my choice for laminating hardwoods however). The Elmers Gel is slower drying than either of the other types.

I guess its good to have so many choices! .. goes on the shelf with multiple types of CA and Epoxy.

Bob

bobparks2

My Feedback: (1)

I sanded the blob of gel glue I made this morning, and it sands like other good aliphatics. Harder than the balsa, but it cuts cleanly.

And, here is a photo of the bottle. All of the good Elmers wood glue products are in similar bottles, so read the label.

I am making steady progress on my R54 now, at least a couple hours a day. I got 10 more steps done in the instructions tonight, mainly sanding and shaping the tails. 32 steps to go on the airframe! (plus a few mods that are not in the instructions)

Bob

Stevembh

Rebirth of a Reaction 54:
Hi All,
This is my first post on this group even though I have been reading the posts in the background.

I have recently purchased a damaged Reaction 54 that was originally built & flown by Tommy Watson as seen in the earlier post on this forum. I am actually the third owner of this model as Tommy sold it to one of his mates.

The model had suffered some damage from a hard landing but is in good general condition. My friend Alan & I have been working on the model now for a couple of weeks with Alan performing the major repairs. Most of the damage was confined to the boat tail & the upper surface of the left hand wing panel. The boat tail has been repaired & the entire fuselage stripped of the previous coating to allow sanding of repairs & subsequent application of fibreglass. Alan has done a magnificent job of repairs to the boat tail & the wing. Fibreglassing is now 1/2 finished with the bottom & 1 side completed. Hopefully tomorrow will see the other side completed.

The fuselage will eventually be painted in the same colour scheme as the original monocoat.

Maybe someone out there might like to inform me how to post photos to show progress so far.

Steve

Stevembh

I eventually worked out how to add photos - maybe not the correct way!

Steve

TommyWatson

My Feedback: (1)

Hi Steve,

Tom Watson here, The old girl looks good. I hope it flies as good for you as it did for me. Noel was flying with me on a buddy box when it had the hard landing. He was going so well I was not paying as close attention as I should have . He got very slow on landing and it just mushed into the ground from about five feet. Your repairs look good. This will be as strong as my current Reaction. What engine are you putting in it?.

Stevembh

Hi Tom,

Thanks for the comments on the rebuild. As you say it should be as strong as the one you currently have with the glassing etc. The engine I am installing is a JLT1600 - Noel said at the time that I visited time he had one also. This engine has been correctly balanced & test run & has been paired up with a Digitec ECU for engine management. From what I understand JLT came from the same factory as Jet Joe with minor cosmetic changes. As with all JJ or JLT engines it is most important to have the balance corrected. There was one instance up here where a new engine exploded at approx 1/2 throttle due to imbalance.

I haven't actually run the engine on the bench as yet, however Phil Collings who balanced & test ran the engine says all was good.

I am looking forward to having the model finished & to get flying.

Steve

Boomerang1

A friend had a JLT in a baby Boomerang & had nothing but trouble with it.

I hope you have better luck with it.

Hi Tom, saw Noel & Bernadette at the field yesterday. We flew jets with Craig as my guest between the showers.

No news on his membership yet. [&o] - John.

TommyWatson

My Feedback: (1)

HI Steve,

How big is the JLT 1600. It needs to fit betwwen the wing and the fuse. Is the 1600 any bigger than the regular Jet Joe?. You cant move it back without adding lots of lead to the nose.

Regards

TommyWatson

My Feedback: (1)

I hope Craig gets in soon. I think they are dragging their heels a bit.

Stevembh

Hi Tom,

I have had a trial fit of the JLT & it fits quite well even without changing the mount for the turbine. I believe it is a similar physical size to the PST600. It is supposed to be the 12 pound thrust model. Just finished glassing the second side & it looks OK - only the top to go & then the filling & sanding starts.

Steve

Stevembh

Hi John,

Well I hope this JLT will run OK, as I said earlier it has been balanced on a core balance machine & test run on the bench. From what Phil has told me there is quite a serious imbalance as released from the factory. I have had a look inside (not this one) one of these engines & they appear to be well made - in actual fact no different to any of the others. Anyway one can only but try.

What sort of problems did the engine you spoke of have?

Steve

TommyWatson

My Feedback: (1)

Keep us all informed of your progress. In my new reaction, i have done away with the top rear hatch. All that is under there is the ECU and the gas valve and if needed i acces them with the wing off.
I don't have a fuel valve, Just a servo controlled tap.
I have the UAT in the front of the main former. And the pump is there also. You can get away with a long fuel line if it is under opressure, but not under suction. Also i had the tank facing forward, opposite to the plans.
Regards

Stevembh

Hi Tom,

Today we finished the fibreglassing of the fuselage & I am quite happy with the finish of the glass. Tomorrow the last of the edges can be trimmed off & the sanding started. I have been experimenting today with lacquer based sanding sealer on some balsa & found it to fill the grain well & sand easily after 1 hr. It is quite easy to get a glass smooth finish with really little effort. In a further experiment tonight I tried laying down some 3/4oz glass with sanding sealer. The first coat basically created the adhesion to the balsa & after 1 hr was sanded with 180 grit dry. I have just put on the second coat & will sand in the morning. Results so far suggest that it will be a very good filler for the glass & when sanded back will add very little weight. I am considering using the sanding sealer to fill the glass weave on the fuselage. Will let you know how the second coat sands tomorrow.

Steve

Stevembh

It looks like the sanding sealer is going to be the "grain filler" of choice. It takes very little effort to fill & then sand the sanding sealer to give glass smooth finish. I even made a special attempt to have an edge of the glass across the balsa exposed to determine if the edge could be seen through the sanding sealer. After a few coats with sanding inbetween with very little weight gain the edge was invisible with a shiny smooth surface ready for undercoat.

Now the fuselage has been thoroughly sanded to remove any overlap ripples from glassing & uneven epoxy we have given it the first coat of sanding sealer - it really needs to be applied in open air or at least with the room well ventilated with a fan as the vapours are very strong.

The beauty of the sealer is that it readily sands within an hour so that multiple coats can be applied & sanded in quick time.

More as it happens.

Steve

TommyWatson

My Feedback: (1)

Hi Steve,
What is the name of the sealer?. I am building a 82% Reaction and I am going to glass the fuse only. I will monokote the wings. I would like to try this stuff.

Regards

Stevembh

Hi Tom,

The sealer is manufactured by Hi Chem & is called Sanding Sealer

See the link below for the product.

http://www.hichem.com.au/htmlfiles/i...%20lacquer.htm

I will try to send some photos of the finished results of my test piece.

Steve

Stevembh

Boomerang1

Hi Steve, the JLT came very poorly set up from the factory (ECU settings etc.) Some advice was obtained from Model Engines' 'guru' which at least got it going but the starts were incredibly long.

Another friend, who has quite a bit of experience with turbines including building his own KJ 66, also had a go tweaking the ECU & managed to get it running a lot better but the thrust was never stellar & the Baby Boomerang he had it fitted to would just fly but not much more.

He flew it for a couple of months then something went bang in the engine in flight, lots of flame out the back (toasted the tail on the model a little) and quite a bit of flaming debris spat out the back.

The owner is not the world's best diplomat & according to him the warranty claim became a bit of an argument. He said the engine was returned repaired with the message that any further repairs were not possible. He sold the engine & bought a Jetcat P-70 which started instantly & ran perfectly with no adjustment or ECU tweaking whatsoever.

As a group we have attended many jet rallys & I think I have only seen one or two Jet Joes (JLT) actually flown in a model.
Like I said, I hope you have better luck with yours. John.

Boomerang1

Steve, the sanding sealer looked like a good product so I did some checking of the MSDS as I'm very curious of health risks.

Yikes! [X(] Quite a chemical cocktail! - John.

Stevembh

Hi John,

Like I said - use in a well ventilated area as the volatiles are quite strong smelling. I guess that is why it will dry so quickly. Like all paints & chemicals the use of these substances should only be undertaken with appropriate use of PPE. Some of the worst substances that we as modelers are exposed to are quite dangerous e.g. Methanol, Acetone, MEKP & one of the nastiest substances around is Jet Oil2 or its equivalent from other manufacturers.

As always when using any chemical always er on the side of caution when handling etc.

Have already sanded the first coat on the fuselage & applied the second coat in 45 mins. It is honestly the best sanding product I have used in the last 30 yrs as a filler.

Steve

Stevembh

Hi John,
Thanks for the reply re the engine starting & ultimately stopping. The balance from the factory is poor on these engines so they must be core balanced to at least give them a fighting chance. I have the ECU that came with the engine as well as the Digitec ECU. The digitec is the ECU of choice as it has some very nice features. From all accounts this engine started & ran well. I know that there is a lot of these engines out there that have not given good service & there is a stigma attached to the name. According to Phil Collings he has had his JJ in his reaction now for 5 years & it has served him well - I guess there is good & bad. While visiting Phil I have had the opportunity to observe these engines running on the test bed & also in pieces for repairs. I guess only time will tell. Actually I can't wait to try it out on the bench - should be interesting!

Steve

Boomerang1

Yes agreed. I tried 2 stroke oil as recommended by Wren for my Super Sport but had problems with them getting 'sticky' & the starter struggled to turn it over. It was fine if you used it every weekend but if left for a month or so it was a problem.

I am currently using Mobil DTE light oil, less nasty chemicals then jet oil & no starter problems. It's also recommended by Wren. - John.

Stevembh

Hi John,

I agree with what you say about the Jet oil. The oil I have chosen to try is AMSOIL HP Inject - it is a 100% synthetic outboard oil to TCW3 specs. This oil has the lowest viscosity of any that I have been able to research. I am going to put some out in a film to see how much will evaporate & how sticky it goes.

I assume that you were using 2.5% oil in the fuel.

What is the Mobil DTE light oil?

Steve