Gee Bee Senior Sportster 63" ARF

[Flyboone]

http://www.hobby-lobby.com/images/acw630.jpg (http://www.hobby-lobby.com/geebee63.htm)

ACW630 Gee Bee Senior Sportster 63" ARF

63" wingspan, 47" long, 652 sq. in. wing area, 6-1/2 lbs. flying weight. Just the right size for easy transport and has great flying qualities. All precision laser cut, expertly assembled and covered. Pre-finished epoxyglass cowl and wheel pants, molded dummy radial engine. Pre-bent heavy wire landing gear and steerable tail wheel. Assembly is quick, the photo illustrated instructions will allow you to complete the airplane in about 8-12 hours. The flight character of the airplane is solid and predictable with a gentle stall and light wing loading. Airplane can perform just about any aerobatic maneuver that the pilot is capable of. Because the airplane uses a 4 cell lipo battery we recommend a Jeti Spin controller with BEC that can provide the power for your radio system and servos. For 4 channels: Ailerons (2 servos), Elevator, Rudder (pull-pull) and Throttle.

For more information and to watch the video click HERE (http://www.hobby-lobby.com/geebee63.htm)

Use this thread to discuss any and all things related to Gee Bee Senior Sportster 63" ARF

[Dan Rubin]

Ive been drooling over this plane since it came out. Question= would a Park 480 on 3s or perhaps 4s be enough power for this plane?

Thanks

Dan

[rallison]

Anybody here assembled and/or flown this baby yet? I see threads for the bigger and smaller ones, but would very much like to see/learn more about this one. Bueller...?

[PerlAddict]

Ive been drooling over this plane since it came out. Question= would a Park 480 on 3s or perhaps 4s be enough power for this plane?

Thanks

Dan

No. This plane is much, much too big for a Park 480.

[Dan Rubin]

Yeah I figured that out. What was I thinking. I bought the recomended motor and put together the Gee Bee. Easy build. Now just waiting for a good day to fly.

[rallison]

Dan, do you have any pics of your motor/battery/esc installation?

Either way, do let us know how the flying goes... I'm considering this plane and would like to know more--but this is the only discussion of it I've found anywhere. If you know of others, please point me in the right direction...

[Dan Rubin]

Hello

Dont have my camera handy but I can tell you there is only one place the 4s battery can go. Even with the battery all the way forward up against the firewall I still had to add 3 ozs of lead on top of the engine mount to get it to balance at 3.5 inches from LE. The esc is mounted next to the battery. Perhaps if I move it forward underneath the cowling I can get it to ballance. I will also be taking off the pants as I have a field in my back yard but the LZ is a little rough..... but I'm not complaining. I might modify them and put them back on after a few flights. Still looking for that perfect maiden day.

Dan

[rallison]

Thanks for the info, Dan--here's hoping the weather cooperates soon!

[rallison]

Hello

Dont have my camera handy but I can tell you there is only one place the 4s battery can go. Even with the battery all the way forward up against the firewall I still had to add 3 ozs of lead on top of the engine mount to get it to balance at 3.5 inches from LE. The esc is mounted next to the battery. Perhaps if I move it forward underneath the cowling I can get it to ballance. I will also be taking off the pants as I have a field in my back yard but the LZ is a little rough..... but I'm not complaining. I might modify them and put them back on after a few flights. Still looking for that perfect maiden day.

Dan

Dan, I'm very close to pulling the trigger on this plane, to the point that I'm figuring out equipment/costs. To that end: Are you using standard-size servos, or something smaller, or...?

Thanks for your help...

[Dan Rubin]

If you choose one HS422 and three HS322 they will fit perfectly in place with some minor shaving of one of the servo mounts. These are standard servos and they are inexpensive. Yes!

[rallison]

Well, I've gone and done it. Kit, supplies, and electronics should be here next week. Yeee-haa! Thanks for the info, it helped me make up my mind... :)

[rallison]

Kit arrived to day in perfect condition. Electronics should be here in a week or so. In the meantime I'm busying myself planning a few modifications to the plane's appearance to add/improve scale details. I'm thinking of aiming for something like the Senior Sportster reproduction in the picture.

Anybody know if Callie or some other source already has graphics for the Model Y?

[Dan Rubin]

congrads on your purchase. I'm all ready to maiden but I need something other than rain. geeeez you would think this is Seattle or sometin :D
Really would like to see if you have to add weight to the nose to get it to balance at 3.5 inches.

Dan

[rallison]

congrads on your purchase. I'm all ready to maiden but I need something other than rain. geeeez you would think this is Seattle or sometin :D
Really would like to see if you have to add weight to the nose to get it to balance at 3.5 inches.

Dan

We're about to get some SNOW here. You'd think this was Minnesota or something... ;-) Sheesh.

As for CG: I won't know for sure 'til the electronics arrive, but if it won't balance without added weight I'm considering cutting a pass-through in the firewall to push the 4S1P 5000 mAh LiPo forward into the open space within the wooden motor mount.

[rallison]

Before I ordered the plane, I looked around the HL website but could not find the .pdf of the assembly manual for this 63" version.

Now that I have it, I've pdf'ed the manual in case anyone's interested in browsing it. Not the best quality, but better than none. It's too big to post here, but if you PM me with e-mail addy I will send this 9.7MB .pdf file to you.

Aside from the assembly sequence, the important data includes recommended throws, exponential %, and CG:

Ailerons: 1" up, 3/4" down, 10% exp.
Rudder: 1" left, 1" right, 10% exp.
Elevator: 3/4" up, 3/4" down, 10% exp.
CG: 3-1/2" from LE

[rallison]

Well, I'm about 90% done with assembly, just pending the motor/ESC/Battery installation and possibly a few more exterior details. Here's a pic...

[Dan Rubin]

Nice touch... looks great. Ive been flying mine lately ..... it really doesnt have any bad habits....... However......... I think you might find the landing gear to be a little on the weak side. But then I have a rough field.

Anyhow your plane looks awsome.

[rallison]

Congratulations on getting yours in the air! I'm glad to hear it's a well-behaved model, though I too had a sense the gear might be a weak point. I'm debating doing my maiden at a different field than my usual (much further away, but with smooth, paved runways) because of that issue.

Thank you for your kind words about mine. Waiting for the electronics (and now the motor) gave me time to fiddle. But I'm really looking forward to getting her in the air.

Any chance you'll be putting up video of any of your flights?

[rallison]

Really would like to see if you have to add weight to the nose to get it to balance at 3.5 inches.

Dan

I finally got my motor last week, and finished up my installation and assembly today. The ESC is on the motor mount and only needed 1.5 oz. added weight to get her to balance at recommended CG. I can live with that, so I decided not to cut a pass-through for the battery.

Now all I need is a bit of cooperative weather!

.

[rallison]

Cooperative weather arrived! Sunny, warm and very little wind this morning.

I put her up for three 15 minute flights; no problems at all. A few ticks of up elevator trim was all that was needed though I found the nose tended to drop a bit in a tight turn; but otherwise I agree it's a plane without bad habits, as noted above. I found it especially easy to grease in for a landing, as it has a predictable sink rate and flares nicely. I'm very happy with this plane and look forward to making it a regular part of my trips to the field.

Pics from this morning:

[Dan Rubin]

I really like the added features. Nice touch on that windshield!

[rallison]

I really like the added features. Nice touch on that windshield!

Thanks, Dan! The windshield/windscreen/whatever is pretty simple: Clear styrene, white styrene, white hinge tape, and canopy glue.

Have you been flying yours much?

I'm hoping to get mine back to the field in the next few days to wring it out a bit, check duration with a couple of different props, etc. I can hardly wait to fly her again...

[rallison]

The 63" Gee Bee Sr. Sportster has fast become one of my favorite planes. It's nimble under power, but still sure and steady at low throttle. It lands easily with the throttle off. It banks sharply and turns tightly when asked, but can also putter past at half-throttle looking like a million bucks. I am very, very happy with this model.

[rallison]

I can now report that the airframe can take quite a beating.

About two weeks ago I corkscrewed a medium altitude loop and came out of it due overhead and 90-degrees to the runway, heading down and behind me. I managed to avoid the field house, parked cars, and other pilots, and mushed it nice and soft into the waiting arms of a tree. There it sat, parked almost vertically, about 25-30 feet up. Luckily we had some scrap downspout sections from recent updates to the fieldhouse, and cramming them together gave us enough length to poke the branches. Down she came to the ground, nose first, smack on the spinner, with a nice sickening crunch. But, I figured, better than having it 45 feet up and irretrievable, or shattered and fluttering down in pieces.

The cowl was pretty well crushed on one side, and the plywood motor mount absorbed most of the damage from hitting the ground, more or less pulverizing it. (oddly enough, the only damage from landing in the tree was a small, dime-sized puncture in the covering of one wing).

The motor and other components up front (ESC, receiver) took no damage at all, and I found absolutely NO structural damage elsewhere on the plane.

I filled in the crunched portions of the cowl with epoxy, painted over the mess with True Red LustreCote, and re-glued the cowl mounting spacers and dummy engine. Then I checked with HL, but they do not sell the motor mount as spare parts (they do sell the cowl, though, @ $40). I didn't want to mess with retro-fitting another mount, so I sat down with the pieces of the original and reassembled it, adding reinforcing ply in spots to ensure that it would hold up. It ain't pretty, but it did the job. I put everything else back in place, put a patch on the hole in the wing, re-adjusted the pull-pull cables, and there she was, good as new but for the cowl rash on the one side.

I flew her a week later and had no problems at all. For taking a nosedive straight into the ground, I think damage was minimal. My thanks to the manufacturer for a heck of a rugged design.

So I still really really like this plane. I get lots of 'who makes that' question and 'nice plane' compliments at the field, and it has such pleasant flight characteristics. And now I'm no longer anxious about crashing.

I'll have to see if one of my fellow pilots got a picture of her parked in the tree. If so, it's probably up on the club website by now. ;-)

[rallison]

I'm starting to think I didn't dumb-thumb that last one.

First things first: Another day, another tree. The Gee Bee went past the tree line and plunged; couldn't see it from the flight line, but it made a sickening crunch-snap-crunch-snap-snap-cuuurrrruuunch sound. Walked around and found it sitting pretty on the ground, with the cowl pretty well destroyed (again) but the rest of her in more or less fine shape. Again. So there's that.

Immediately prior to the crash, the plane went into a dive and was non-responsive to controls. Then it clicked back in, then went out again.

The day of the first crash I had that same symptom, in the same part of the sky, but managed to pull it out in time and stall-flop into some tall grass. So I'm starting to wonder if I have an electrical/radio issue... no more flying this one 'til I've got that figured out... it'll be a while anyway as the cowl is more or less trashed and the motor mount is now beyond repair.

*Sniffle*

But a tough bird indeed.

[rallison]

HL has these on "Crash Sale" today for $179...

I've got mine repaired, except for the replacement cowl. I ordered the cowl from HL on 9/12, and it arrived promptly on 9/16, but it was damaged in shipment. It took HL a week to respond to my e-mail about it, and then only after a call--they said they'd have the carrier do a pick-up, but it's been two weeks; no reply to my last attempt, either. Frustrating, because this plane is a real pleasure to fly...