Reactor biplane project

by **JRgraham** » Sat Mar 16, 2013 7:51 pm

So some of you may remember my ol' Reactor Bipe I flew a bit last year or so ago. Well in short, the thing had just problematic motors that resulted in too many forced dead stick landings. I rebuilt it twice, the 2nd time was a complete rebuild of the fuse, which I posted on RCU of the whole process.

So anyways, I lost a battery last year in it, just went dead at the down side of a stall turn, and plopped to pieces. :doh:

I ended up buying a new fuselage for it quite awhile ago, and decided its time to get her going again. Mainly so I can play around with some different wing incidence's of the top and bottom wings. Maybe apply it to a pattern plane bipe later. So I am going to do some pretty good mod's to this rebuild again.

Heres what I am starting with. Brand new fuse w/o stab and new cowling. Using the original wings, horizontal stab, original rudder, gear and canopy. (still need wheel pants)

First thing to do is strip the covering. I could save some areas, but the fuse is small enough that covering the entire fuse in the end is hardly more than half here and there.

(Stock Photo)

First glance at the new fuse with the parts resting in place.

One last look at the nice factory covering.. shame its going in the trash.

All stripped, and ready to start hacking!

Original stab cleaned up and tacked in place for alignment.

by **JRgraham** » Sat Mar 16, 2013 8:00 pm

Horizontal stab is aligned and set.
I cut some balsa strips and glued them around the joint, and will round file them down to a fillet.

Tail aligned and glued in place.

Strips are cut to make a balsa fillet around the stab.

Strips are glued in and await to be shaped.

by **JRgraham** » Sat Mar 16, 2013 8:10 pm

Started to set the wing, but bottom wings factory wing bolt holes are off

So I cut a new 1/4 aircraft ply plate to laminate over the existing plywood plate so i can cut new holes.

I also did not like the wings bolt holes, there was no hard points, just the plywood plate. So I have drilled larger holes using a 1/2" brass tube that I have cut teeth in and sharpened just for this kinda thing. Then I glue in some 1/2" wood dowel, using gorilla glue. Now I can have solid wing mounting bolt holes again :handgestures-thumbupleft:

using a 1/4" dowel for a guide as I bore the hole with the brass tube.

Ready to start hand drilling

And there we are.

1/2" Wood dowels are glued in place

by **MacMike** » Sun Mar 17, 2013 5:08 pm

Very cool man! What motor are you gonna put in it? Hopefully one that does not require a glow plug! LOL I'll never forget you running it with the igniter still in it. :whistle:

by **JRgraham** » Sun Mar 17, 2013 6:01 pm

Well

It started out with a YS 110 4 stroke that kept blowing gaskets, dead sticking and was the cause of the first couple rebuilds. I then had the DLE 20 in it, which turned out to be a sweet motor for the plane the way it all balanced out. But, I gave that to Dad to use in an Extra 300 he's building.

So I am going to go with the OS 91 2 stroke this time. Bullet proof engine, runs 10% nitro great, and can swing a bit bigger prop than the 60 sized it was designed for.

Yep, it will get some goo on it, but Im good with that.

I was aiming to make it electric, but I need every spare dollar I have right now to go towards the pattern season. So I will use what I have on hand :confusion-shrug:

by **JRgraham** » Tue Mar 19, 2013 8:47 pm

Finishing up the wing bolts, and trial fit both wings.

When I cut threads into wood, and I really want a good hard thread that lasts, I will run the tap through once and then squirt some thin CA into them. I let it dry for (depending on how impatient I am) awhile and run the tap through again. If you dont let the area dry completely, you can make a mess of the tap.

Used a router head on the dremel to flush the dowels.

1/4" holes drilled

1/4 - 20 tap through the fuse bolt plate.

A quick test fit of both wings.

by **JRgraham** » Tue Mar 19, 2013 8:52 pm

And finishing up the tail fillets with a round file and some sandpaper (remember that stuff?)

and a little putty.

By the way, the spackle is great stuff, and I am certain the plastic container/lid weighs more than the spackle inside it.

by **JRgraham** » Tue Apr 09, 2013 9:42 am

Fitting the motor and cowl.

I am using an OS 91 2 stroke glow motor for the moment. I may get another DLE 20 down the road, and if I do it will be a very easy change.

by **JRgraham** » Tue Apr 09, 2013 9:47 am

I realized that the rudder had a decent warp to it.. so I ended up cutting it up a bit to get it straight. I believe I can get the rest out with the monokote.

by **JRgraham** » Tue Apr 09, 2013 9:57 am

My one complaint about this plane's design was there is no way to get inside the thing once the wings are mounted. Being a biplane, that really stinks. So I decided to cut out the canopy and make a removable hatch. I have debated going through with this modification for quite awhile.. and decided, just get it done!

I will come back and add a couple bulkheads, cap the canopy ends and add some sort of quick release latch. Amazingly enough, I had cut it just right to not disturb any of the structure strength at all :handgestures-thumbupleft: