Gee Bee QED

[Mr NCT]

RL has finally given me some time to update. Here are some assembly pictures of the hatch and hatch stiffeners. Also one of the cowl support blocks that give a spot to use screws to attach the cowl to the fuselage. Even though the cowl is a friction fit on the cowl supports it still works loose and slides forward into the prop unless they are positively attached. While the prop rubbing against the cowl gives it a throatier sound it'll wear off the front of the cowl pretty quickly. The windscreen gets glued just to the hatch and acts as the handle to open the hatch. I used gorilla glue and punched a lot of little holes in the hatch to give it something to grip.

 

[Mr NCT]

I know that I've broken the first rule of FB planes and started decorating BEFORE the first flight but...
I can't help it - it'll probably never fly or turn sharp left and nose in on the maiden.

 

[danskis]

Felicitaciones!!! Vamos al cielo!!! Looks great

 

[Brian B]

I know that I've broken the first rule of FB planes and started decorating BEFORE the first flight but...
I can't help it - it'll probably never fly or turn sharp left and nose in on the maiden.

View attachment 237779

Looking great! What rule? I always maiden completely painted and fully decorated. It flys better, right?

 

[Mr NCT]

Can you tell I found a vinyl cutter on sale?

 

[Mr NCT]

The decorating is done, now on to installing the electronics, finishing the canopy and gear. I tried the Hayes laser clear slide decals for the graphics. Much more forgiving than the inkjet version. I coated them with clear acrylic even though they don't call for it. They want to wrinkle and I think it gives them a little more body.

 

[Scotto]

The decorating is done, now on to installing the electronics, finishing the canopy and gear. I tried the Hayes laser clear slide decals for the graphics. Much more forgiving than the inkjet version. I coated them with clear acrylic even though they don't call for it. They want to wrinkle and I think it gives them a little more body.

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That looks really really good! Very nice. I love the cowl and the flags decal. Super cool.

 

[Mr NCT]

A VERY bad hand launch.

 

[L Edge]

A VERY bad hand launch.

View attachment 238430

Ouch!! That has got to hurt. About how many hours did it take you from start to ----this?

 

[Mr NCT]

Ouch!! That has got to hurt. About how many hours did it take you from start to ----this?

Yeah, kinda ruined my morning. I was way too lax in my hand launch but all on me. Really hard to tell how much time I had in it. I stopped and started a few times. I did spend way too much time trying to fill wrinkles and seams. In real time the build probably takes a couple of afternoons once the parts are cut. Then however much time you want to spend decorating. I think I'll do the next one out of the shiny white maker board and just be real careful to not wrinkle it and take my time with the seams.

 

[danskis]

Ouch...sometimes they don't last that long. I hate learning through experience. Interesting choice of model - I read a little bit more about it here.

Accident Granville R-6C Gee Bee Racer XB-AKM, 07 Jun 1939

A pioneer of commercial aviation in Mexico and a famous pilot, Francisco Sarabia Tinoco was returning to Mexico City after setting a record flight time of 10 hours, 43 minutes for a fligh...

aviation-safety.net

 

[Mr NCT]

The QED is repaired and ready to re-maiden. It took a new cowl, the nose from the hatch forward and new wings. I don't think it added much weight so we'll see how it goes... once the wind dies a little.

 

[danskis]

That’s dedication

 

[Mr NCT]

That’s dedication

It's such a nice flying plane I hate to give up on it.

 

[Mr NCT]

Flew the QED for the first time after repairs and no surprises, didn't even have to adjust the trim. A nice stable flight with a soybean assisted landing - kinda like the barrier safety net on a carrier. Of course I failed to turn on the camera until I thought I was turning it off so I got some video of walking to the plane.

 

[Mr NCT]

I love the QED! Since the remaiden I've ripped the wing off landing across the furrows in a plowed field and crunched the cowl in a low level low speed stall. So.... While repairing it why not go from the C pack (2218-1180kv) and a 10-5 prop to a Cobra 2814-1050kv with a 10-6 prop? I figure it will help me make flying mistakes faster, right??

 

[danskis]

That Cobra motor looks to be quite a bit heavier. Do you have room to move the battery back?

My current motor cuandry is: given a set dimension for the motor size, say 2835 with equivalent Kv, does a premium motor create more power? It seems to me that the physical dimensions are the most limiting factor and changing quality can only give you marginal improvement.

 

[Mr NCT]

That Cobra motor looks to be quite a bit heavier. Do you have room to move the battery back?

My current motor cuandry is: given a set dimension for the motor size, say 2835 with equivalent Kv, does a premium motor create more power? It seems to me that the physical dimensions are the most limiting factor and changing quality can only give you marginal improvement.

Oh yeah, tons of room to move the battery around. I've become a fan of the Cobra motors, they run smooth and seem to last forever.

 

[Flying Farm Kid]

This is my first attempt at anything close to a Flite Test master series design so I picked a manufacturer and a plane that were notorious for spectacular crashes.
From Wikipedia:
"The Granville Gee Bee R-6 International Super Sportster, named "Q.E.D." (latin: quod erat demonstrandum "it is proven"), and later named "Conquistador del Cielo" (Spanish: "sky conqueror"), was the last in a series of racing and touring monoplane aircraft from the Granville Brothers. The R-6H was dogged with bad luck throughout its career and never finished any race it entered."

I'm shooting for a 40" wingspan C pack flier. Here's the Fusion 360 rendering:
View attachment 231323
And now the build:
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I wasn't planning on the prototype being flyable but once it was together.... Why not?
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I'm expecting the QED to meet it's fate just like the real one. Looking at the plane from the front the tail is twisted slightly CW and the rear fuselage bows just a little to port. Will it fly? I'm expecting a spectacular crash!
Place your bets now before watching the video.

How did you unwrap your skins I am building an air tractor in onshape and cannot figure out how to unwrap the molded parts

 

[Mr NCT]

How did you unwrap your skins I am building an air tractor in onshape and cannot figure out how to unwrap the molded parts

First I tried exporting from Fusion 360 to Exactflat (which is no longer working with Fusion) and that got close but not really good. It took a lot of trial fitting and trimming to get the seams close. Using rollation gets much closer and, for me, takes less time overall even though you have to make a form first that's only used to get the shape of the skins.