Gee Bee Z

I know it's not the size you wanted, but it is a nice looking kit...

FredD

Great web site...Hard not to want to go flying with Monte!

Andy

We can make a box of wood.....FLY!!

For my part I wholeheartedly recommend Adrian's Gee Bee Z. I bought it some

18 months ago, finished it some 16 months ago, and had fun all the time. I haven't tried Kyosho's model that also looks great, and the fuse is made of fiberglass, but from what I read on the Net, it's noticeably heavier than Adrian's design.

BTW, Adrian is nice guy that promptly replies to e-mails, and from some other guys on this group I heard he's also available on the phone too.

Regarding looks, the kit is as close to the scale as you like it to be. Even though ailerons are not scale, the scale outline is given in the plans, so you can make scale ones if you like. I didn't bother.

There's also a lot, and I mean *a lot* of details on that plans, so if you're one of those patient guys (which I am not) - nock yourself out.

Building the plane is a joy - everything is laser cut, fits perfectly, the balsa is extremely light and hand picked, and I guess the framework, prior to scaling, could be finished in a week, without breaking a sweat.

Flying is also extremely pleasant. Don't listen to those old geezers on the field who will comment on Gee Bee's stubby appearance. In my case they've all told me it would be a bitch to hold straight on the runway, but it really wasn't. I'm no expert flyer, but I repeat, on normally maintained runway it doesn't swirl sideways more than any other taildragger I flew. Just add throttle nice and easy, don't shove it all the way up all of the sudden, and you'll have no problems.

Flying is vice free. The plane is very light, and if you set the throws as recommended (later on you can increase rudder and ailerons, but I wouldn't recommend increasing throws on the elevator) and CG as per plans, anyone can fly this plane.

However, there are some bad habits.

First, I would recommend removing tailskid from the rudder and attaching it to the end of the fuse thus making it fixed. It is not scale, but the skid is very rigid and I hade the whole rudder separated from the plane on several occasions flying from the grass field. From paved runway it probably wouldn't happen, but maybe it would.

Also, the method for fixing pants and spats on LG is somewhat complicated and not robust enough. For the time being, I removed them from the plane, and am thinking of making them completely different - out of blue foam snugly fit on LG wires, and then glass coated and epoxied and painted.

Also, since the engine is pretty high above the ground, the plane will have some tendency to nose over on TO roll and landing run, but don't be tempted to move CG further back or to increase control throws on elevator - big mistake (ask me how I know...).

Also, I would like to see Adrian add the decals for reg. no. and racing no. in the kit, because you have to cut those on your own, which is in my opinion unnecessary complication. (There is a sheet with other stickers for the plane, but no registry numbers and racing number "4").

Anyway, sorry for such a long post, but I thought I have to share my experience with this kit with other guys in this hobby. :-)

Cheers

Drago

Hi Ted;

Adrian's Gee Bee Z seems to be the consesus here, and I must agree...

If the size doesn't suit you, perhaps you could ask for the plans only and scale them up. I scaled them down quite a bit, and the plane still flew great.

Dan.

If you were going to go the scratch built route (again, not the original request) I got a couple of items from a guy named Vern Clements. He advertised in a few magazines. He has scale plans for many of the golden age racers. He also said they used his plans to help build Delmar Benjamins Full Scale GeeBee, so they must be pretty good. Anyway, I don't know if he still does that stuff, but worth a look.

FredD

Wendell Hostetler also makes a variety of Z model plans, from 29% and up.

John

Greenair sell an 82inch GeeBee for 120s

David

"BÿkrDan" wrote: