July 31 2012
A GeeBee from Banana Hobbies...


I ordered it on a Friday and got it on Tuesday in Seattle. The paint is a little sloppy on it, the instructions are pretty unclear, but for $49 why not. The box says "Blitz RC Works" and it's made in China.

The right side wire attach point on the fuselage was broken off but they had two extras in the kit. Hmmm.... apparently it itsn't the strongest thing if they are already including spare parts. Just about impossible to cut out and replace though. If I were designing it over, I'd use a control horn through the foam to anchor it rather than a rather thin piece of plastic. The canopy needs detail work too, since it isn't painted but just a clear piece of molded plastic. A little RC car paint on the inside will work fine. Instructions are unclear about the top part of the fuselage being the access point for the battery, but with all the wires, you can figure that out.

I'm using a orange receiver and I have a 3 axis flight gyro on order to help the flying. $49 does include the prop, the servos, motor and everything except the RX/TX. That's good for the price. The instructions call for a expo setting of at least 20%, so apparently its a little fast on the reaction, which the real one was too.

Put some plastic tape on the bottom of the wing tips, for the ground loops too. Tip the plane over on one of the gear and you'll see where you need the protection. Also a few drops of foam safe glue on the point of the tail will harden it and keep it around a little longer. The foam is pretty soft back there.
The tail wheel mount might need a little help too, as in a screw or dowel through the tail to keep it in place. Those little rudder hinges are going to take a beating.

OK, enough of the first impressions.

Delmar Benjamin flew the full scale Steve Wolf replica around the airshow circuit for many years. Its now in Florida. Nice touch is the graphic from Gulf Coast Avionics, one of his sponsors, on the plane. Too bad they didn't include a few other graphics too! Delmar has retired from airshow flying and doing some things with alternative energy.

http://www.bananahobby.com/2290.html

From the press release:

Feature:
4 Channel Full Function Radio Controlled (Aileron,Elevator,Rudder,Throttle)
New 2.4GHz spectrum technology, with the functions of automatic identification and precise code pairing, strong anti-jamming, and allow more than 20 aircrafts to fly at the same field at same time
Made of strong durable material with classic vivid color
Simple and easy to assemble
Constructed of EPO Flex Foam for Excellent Impact Resistance!
Excellent stability, flight performance, and aerobatic capability
Wings have the appearance of fabric being stretched across them just like full-size Gee Bee
Super easy and super stable electric powered scale R/C parkflyer for beginner or middle-level users
Crash Resistant Construction
Approximately 15 minutes flight time on each charge -- Optional Li- poly battery will help to achieve better performance and longer flight time
All spare parts and accessories are available
Complete Kit, Almost Ready To Fly, Easy to Assemble (Everything is included and 95% assembled -- only required AA batteries for the transmitter)

Specification:
Wingspan: 780mm (30.7 inch)
Length: 580mm (22.8 inch)
Flying Weight: 580g (20.5 oz)
Drive System: 3128 outrunner 1150KV brushless motor
Speed Controller: 30amp brushless ESC
Servo: 4X 9g high speed micro servos
Battery: 11.1V 3S 1300mAh 25C Li-Po
Control System: 2.4GHz Multifunctional Transmitter and Receiver
Radio Control Range: 3000 feet (1000m)

Package Include:

Airplane (95% assembled)
User Manual
Required 4 Channel Transmitter and Receiver (NOT INCLUDED)
Required 3S Li-Po Battery Balance Charger (NOT INCLUDED)
Required 11.1V 3S 25C 1300mAh Li-Po Battery (NOT INCLUDED)

I'm sorry that is horribly un gee bee like and is an offense to modelers with good taste every where. Just compare it to the looks of the UMX gee bee. the proportions are all out of whack and even if they did do that to improve flying habits they did it wrong.

Go to the gee bee owner's thread to see some good looking models.

Henry

Originally Posted by HanksGB

I'm sorry that is horribly un gee bee like and is an offense to modelers with good taste every where. Just compare it to the looks of the UMX gee bee. the proportions are all out of whack and even if they did do that to improve flying habits they did it wrong.

Go to the gee bee owner's thread to see some good looking models.

Henry

Really??!!??
What do you expect form a $50 foamy. A Top Gun contender?

aeronca11AC, not a bad little knock around plane.
Enjoy.

Did you maiden it yet? How does it fly? I'm looking at this Gee Bee, or the UMX or the Great Planes one... just a model to tinker with. Like a 4th plane I'd want to fly once I get bored of the other stuff.

They actually fly ok...They need lightened...forget about the wire rigging, lighten the wheel pants, which happen to be the same ones from the Ryan...I also tore out the ply servo tray and glued 5 gram servos right to the insides ... In fact, I replaced ALL the 9 gram servos with 5 grammers...

Thanks.

Sounds like a lot of extra work - just for okay performance + fun factor. Might stick to GP or Eflite for their Gee Bee and buy BH jets.