Tuesday 21 July 2015

GeeBee R3 750mm TRILOGY. PART 2: The Build

...so how does this work?

The GeeBee is a nice-quality kit, with solid EPO fuselage making it a smarter-looking proposition than a Rarebear, for example. While having a simple screw-together construction, it does however its construction poses a few questions.

How does the battery setup work, and where's the best spot for the receiver?

The first question is a puzzler, for me anyway having only had planes with unfettered access to the battery. Obviously, unless you're happy remove the wing every time you fly it, you need the ESC lead to remain in the battery hatch so it's accessible through the small hatch opening.


This I found achievable by mounting the ESC against the side of the fuselage, preventing the lead from falling back into the fuselage. This setup seems quite reliable, although packing the battery in and then feeding in the lead and connectors is still squeezy and awkward.

Regarding the receiver, in this case a twin-antenna Orange R615x, I mounted it in the central fuselage cavity which corresponds to a cavity in the wing moulding above. And, connecting all the servos from the back and the ESC from the front gives a very neat installation.

Next challenge is the bracing wire; five pairs of different length wires needing to be clipped into tiny hooks. Fifteen tediously fiddly minutes later I was finished.

The last trick was spinner and propellor. The latter simply gets tightened with a nut, with the spinner base in behind it. Then the spinner is installed; it comes with double-sided tape but, really, that's never going to hold. So I superglued it in place, with cardboard slipped in behind the base to keep it spaced off the cowling.

With everything in place the little GeeBee was looking good...

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