GEE BEE Flew!

[Phil Coopy]

Larry Minot and I took the Gee Bee Sportster out Saturday for a maiden flight session.  After overcoming some fuel delivery problems we finally got her into the air. Outboard wing high...added weight. After getting the line length adjusted to my handle, flew again, faster this time. Did some loops and wingovers.  The insides are tighter than the outsides. Overall it felt pretty good..lots of pull.  It was getting very windy so we quit.  I noticed twith the dihedral that the wind tends to get under the ouitside wing on the upwind side of the circle and I think that is because the outboard wing is still flying high.  More later wh I can get a decant test day.

[Robert McHam]

The outboard wing is noticeably high but doesn't she look good in the air? 
Congrats on the maiden!

Robert

[Larrys4227]

Phil- Cant say enough the fantastic job you did on this plane! She looks as great in the air as on the ground! You made me nervous on that first loop though .... Geesh, didnt know you were gonna do it. :-) I have no doubt that after a couple more sessions, you'll have her flying the pattern with ease!

That rising outboard wing coming around into the wind looked scarey tho .... !!

We'll do it again soon!  Thanks for having me!

FlySafe!  Larry (Larrys4227)

[Bill Hodges]

Phil:

It looks fantastic.  Hope to see it fly while I am there.  See you tomorrow.

Bill Hodges

[Ironbomb]

That sure does look good in the air Phil. she looks good all the way around, nice job. Hope you gets lots of time on it.

Happy flying

Greg

[Bradley Walker]

Man, I like that...  awesome air brushing.  Cool lines.

[Dennis Adamisin]

Phil
Yee haw and congrads on a great project!  Some birds just "look" right. the Model D Sportster is one of them. 

Your o/b wing high is definitely a warp/flap tweak or similar, the dihedral should not cause the problems you encountered.  The wing high will also cause the bird to feel MUCHO different turning insides versus outsides.  I thnk you said you had an iron-on wing, bet you can pull some "wing-down" twist, probably by getting rid of a little that you may have inadvertantly pulled in while you were covering (I do that all the time and have to re-shrink.)

I want to see this one at the Fly-in! 

[Paul Taylor]

Super !!!

Very nice looking plane. I too like the air brushing.

[john e. holliday]

Now you got something great to work with.  I really like the looks of it.  DOC Holliday

[Matt Colan]

Sounds like this plane will fly good Phil.  I really like the airbrushing job you did on it.  It makes it look very real.

[Bill Hodges]

I saw Phil's GB with my own eyeballs this morning.  Pictures do not do it justice.  It is very, very nice.  It also flys very well.  I suggested to Phil that he make the plans available.  I sure would like to have a set.  He did tell me that he plans to build a full fuse version at a later date. 

Visiting the daughters and grand-daughters in Winter Haven.
Flying every day at the Ridge Barnstormers field.
Weather is great.
Just had some terrific pizza for dinner, belly is full.
Man, life is good!!

Bill Hodges

[John Stiles]

Wow, that's a looker, no doubt.........the louvered engine compartment looks sweet.....are they functional?

[Eric Viglione]

Hey Phil, Spectacular job! One of my fave's, great idea, you done good! You've got some talent with that airbrush too...

If the wing is lifting up-wind consistently, you probably have not added enough tip weight other than to just get the wings to level. Sometimes it takes a little more than "just enough" to counter act that.

Also, I would venture to say that getting the wings level with dihedral is probably a tricky proposition to see for the casual observer. You need someone with really good vision to sight down the lines while you fly to see if they follow through tip to tip at various altitudes and attitudes.

Lastly, I'd make sure you verify your actual laps speeds are the same for each trim session and I imagine between 5.0 to 5.2 or so would be good with a plane that size. I say this for multiple reasons... but mainly so that you have a steady base-line to watch your trim changes take effect.

Hope that helps,
EricV

[Phil Coopy]

Thanks Eric,

I raised the tip weight to 1 1/2 oz and it pretty much leveled out.  Lap times are about 5.25 secs right now, however I am fight some bubbles right now which are giving me some inconsistent runs.  I may go to a clunk type tank just for a try. Other than that it seems to fly rather well for me.  I'm stil experimenting with props.

Phil

[Richard Grogan]

Thanks Eric,

I raised the tip weight to 1 1/2 oz and it pretty much leveled out.  Lap times are about 5.25 secs right now, however I am fight some bubbles right now which are giving me some inconsistent runs.  I may go to a clunk type tank just for a try. Phil

Phil, Did you try the old ArmorAll trick for those bubbles?

[Phil Coopy]

I tried ArmorAll but I am not experienced with it so I don't know how much it takes per quart. Anyway it didn't do anything.  I just finished building a uniflow clunk tank today and we'll see how that works out.

Phil

[Eric Viglione]

So far so good Phil, keep the reports coming.

re: fuel foaming...I went back and looked at the original post, and saw your slotted tank mount. If you have a Michaels or Pearl craft store near by, go pick up some 1/8" foam rubber sheet. It's 8 1/2"x11" like copy paper hanging on display I think. Cut it to fit under the full tank area, up to the slots and try it. Works for me on profiles. I think I'd rather keep your nice metal tank if I could...

Can't wait to see her fly in person, if you feel like heading a little south one weekend, heh... 

EricV