VoughtF4U

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Well, here are some pics of my almost completed 25% Hostetler Gee Bee R-2. I bought it last year with the fuselage started. It sat in the workshop collecting balsa dust till I decided to finish it off. I have about a months worth of work into it now and all the construction is finsihed except some final filling and sanding. Instaling all the goodies now. It will be powered by an old used Quadra 52. Hitec 700s on each aileron and elevator half, Hitec 705 on Rudder and tailwheel steering. A standard on the throttle and engine kill switch. Sorry about the pic quality, I am just trying out my new digital camera.

-Scott-

VoughtF4U

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The Quadra is heavy so the elevator, rudder, throttle and kill switch servos are mounted under the horizontal stab. To be able to remove them, I mounted them on two seperate removable mounts. I just have to remove the cockpit hatch, take two 4-40 bolts out and the whole tray slides out with the servos.

VoughtF4U

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Here is my instrument panel. I scanned some instruments out of Sport Aviation magazine, resized them, and printed them on photo paper. I then glued them to a piece of balsa. Over this I glued a clear piece of plastic. Then I glued on top of that, a piece of 1/64 plywood with the appropriate holes cut out in them. I stained this ply before I glued it in place. The pic shows the final results. Too bad you won't be able to see it very well once the canopy is installed.

therotund1

Very cool! Keep us updated. The instrument panel is sweet! So what if you can't see it well with the canopy, isn't part of the therapy in the building? I know that the details CAN boost the overall appearance and somebody, like me, will notice. I love the details.

That stubby little monster is gorgeous!

Hammer down! Get her done! I'll come up to the Independant State of Franklin to see it!

rcjock

VoughtF4U:

That's a nice looking job. I'm currently building a Henry Hafkke 1/4 scale Gee Bee R1, so I can relate to what you went through to get to this point. It's more work than meets the eye.

WHat do you expect the total weight to be?

How are you doing the wheel pants and spats?

Good luck with it and keep us informed of your progress.

VoughtF4U

My Feedback: (1)

Rcjock,

Right now I still expect it to come out under 20 pounds. Even with the heavier Quadra 52, when I weigh it now with everything except covering, it is right over 19 pounds. I am just going to cover it initially with monocote. Once it has flown for a while, and if i keep it, I will recover it with fabric.

The hardest part for me so far has been getting the gap set up for the rudder and fuselage. I am trying to figure out a decent way to hinge the rudder too. Right now it just has a couple of ply wood formers that have holes drilled in them with a piece of music wire as the hinge. This has a little slop in it I would like to eliminate.

For the wheel pants and spats, I am just using the ones from the old Byron kit. I have two sets actually, one from a Byron kit and one from Fiberglass Specialties. The ones from Fiberglass Specialties are much nicer, but I will use the Byron ones till I can fly it without busting them up.

Basically the spats will mount to brackets on the Robostruts. They will also mount on to blocks attached to the bottom of the wing. The wheel pants will also mount to the bottom of the Robostruts, the freefloating part. I will probably end up cutting the front half off of these and mounting them to the back half with some screws and plywood blocks so that I can access the wheel. Very similar to the method used on the Northwest Hobbies Technologies Gee Bee.

Good luck with your Hafke Gee Bee. How far along are you?
-Scott-

rcjock

VoughtF4U

Mine is about 3/4 complete. I'm at the painting stage, and this week will put a few coats on the fuse and wings. The tail feathers are already painted.

I decided to go all out with the detailing. I made my own shock-absorbing landing gear with attachment points for the flying wires right on the lower fork exactly like the picture of Delmar Benjamin's plane.

I fiberglassed the front section that's sheeted, then covered the rest with Nelson fabric. I'm using Nelson primer and paints as well. The flying and landing wires are made from Nelson airfoil shaped tempered wire that is 1/8 x 1/32. Looks cool. But I had to make all my own fittings to terminate this stuff at the hard points.

This week I'n adding all the panel lins and rivets, plus the air scoops on the upper fuse behind the cowl. I'll tell you, the devil is in the details.

I'm using a G-38 for power with 18x10 prop. All up weight will be around 21 lbs (ouch!*#@). I build heavy, and it got a little out of control. So I took all the parameters and cranked them into RealFlight, and even with a wing loading of 50 oz/sq ft, it flies really well, with a top speed of 85 mph.

Takeoffs are a breeze with 3 degrees of right thrust, but landings are always a challenge since you need to land it at 42 - 45 mph. The stall speed is around 33 mph, which it can slow down to in a heartbeat. Can you say snap roll?

If all goes well, and that's saying a lot, I plan to fly it at Rhinebeck in Sept.

Cheers,

VoughtF4U

My Feedback: (1)

Well, here she is. After many delays it is finally ready for the first flight. I still have to put on the wheel pants, but the first flight will be without them. I also have to add a glossy clear coat to the cowl and paint the canopy framework. But all that will be done after the first flight.

VoughtF4U

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My wife won out and made me cover it in black and yellow instead of red and white, but i think it came out pretty cool looking! Covering the fuselage without wrinkles is a pain!

therotund1

Beautiful!



Wives do tend to win sometimes... If it flies as good as it looks, you have a winner!

flyalan

My Feedback: (47)

Hey

Did you get to fly it today. I actually hope not. I really wanted to see it's maiden flight. Check your PM's. I sent you one you should read.

Alan