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Galaxy Models Twin Hornet


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  • 11 years later...

I had a galaxy twin scorpion with a pair of 30 4 strokes. Went well but was bloomin heavy for its size. 

 

I sold it in the end but it was a fun little model. Shame there isnt a slightly bigger version for a pair of 50 4 strokes as i have two saito 45's looking for a home. 

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Problem there Jon is you are looking at something smack in the middle of the old 60 class airframe size.

 

Hornet is a super simple design... you're more than capable of scaling it up, get some wings / tail / deck done by billkits or cloud to speed things up, fuselage & nacelles are just basic boxes...

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Yea the twin scorp was just a twin engine version of the 40-50 powered scorpion. Same fuselage, new wing. At only 52 inch or whatever it was it was just too heavy. 

 

You are right though. It would not be rocket science to scale up some of these designs. 

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  • 8 months later...

Hello!  In the next week or so I'm going to start building a Twin Hornet, so will let you know how it goes and flies if you want.  I have two NIB OS 25 LA's to out in it, and am planning to cover it with nylon.  I intend to set it up so I can chop the engines individually and practice flying/recovery with asymmetric power, in prep for some bigger beastie kits I have in my workshop.  I'm looking forward to the build and flying challenge.  Cheers, Marc  

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Marc, Looking forward to your build as a avid fan of twins and ic where possible. I took a different route for twin experience and jumped in with a PZ and BH electric Mossies (both had dead sticks on one motor, so much for electric being more reliable!). Then ic with a SG Dual Ace on twin Laser 70's with a plan to put them in a SG Mossie.

 

Built an extra slim twin with OS LA 46's in it and then a electric Peter Miller Grumpy Tiger Cub (well recommended) to practice cutting one and spin recovery. The GTC is a lot of fun just flying it so have not got around the the spin testing, but perhaps this year.

 

Following with interest to all of the build and what you think of the kit quality.

 

 

 

 

 

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Marc, I'm building a Twin Hornet at the moment, powered by two OS 26 FS.

 

The build has gone quite well so far. I made an error when it came to fitting the nose cone. I missed that there were some pieces to fit to the firewall  to which the cone should be screwed. I sanded down the front of the fuselage instead so that it slipped over the fuselage  - no great disaster ?

 

The worst aspect is the foam wings. I fitted the leading and trailing edges and the pieces to support the motor mount. Only when I came to join the wings together did I find that the profiles did not match. When the leading and trailing edges are placed together, the top of the right hand wing is 1/16 inch higher than the left at the top and a corresponding 1/16th inch higher at the bottom, i.e. the thickness is the same but the wing is a slightly different profile. I decided to carry on despite this discrepancy and the finished wing is nice and straight. I don't think it will be a major issue, so onward and upward.

 

I've fitted a steering nose wheel to mine as I like to taxi easily. I thought that with the two four strokes and the nose wheel I would be adding weight to the tail to balance the model, but when I fitting everything together the CoG was almost spot on. It remains to be seen if that's still the case when it's covered and all the parts are finally fitted.

 

Here's a mock-up from a few days ago. I can't use the pre-moulded cowls for the engines as the OS four strokes are too long, but I'm happy to leave it like this and, possibly, make a pair from balsa later.

 

DSC03513_s.thumb.jpg.e6b9a74d4033f7bcf948f38bccda1e13.jpg

 

GDB

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My galaxy twin scorpion had naked engines 

 

 

P1010106.JPG

 

 

Marc, setting up the engines for individual control so you can practice engine out is a good idea. Twins on one engine fly fine if handled correctly but it will take practice. 

 

However, while i never lost my twin scorpion to an engine out it was more of a handful than my other twins due to its small rudders with limited movement. It was also really heavy and 1 running 30 4 stroke had its work cut out for it. If you are doing the single fin version you are likely to have better luck and with 25 2s engines you will have more power. Many moons ago i had a pilot twin ace with 25fp's in it. This was also heavy but flew well and taught me twin flying with only one or two mishaps. Luckily it was built like a tank so took the abuse in its stride. 

Edited by Jon - Laser Engines
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  • 6 months later...

Hi everybody.  My apologies, I've been away and busy for a few months and missed all the really welcome, encouraging, and helpful replies.  I've had to focus on an intensive period of house renovation for Mrs Roberts to offset all my building and flying time! Anyway,  a quick update, I have started the Twin Hornet, and I've attached a few piccies below!

 

Caveman, how did you get on with your Hornet, is she flying yet, it would be great to see some piccies!?  I've been tying to work out which pieces of balsa were for the nose cone support/fitting, not all the balsa lego bricks were numbered, so I've found selection has been a bit by trial and error.  I've not had the issue with the wing thickness, but have found the soft balsa to be very soft and easily dented, so am thinking the decision to go with doped nylon covering was probably a good idea.  I've also followed your idea of fitting the steerable nose leg, I've seen a few fliers wipe our the very expensive runway landing lights here at Barkston (one last night nearly!), so it might be time well invested in the ground collision avoidance area!

 

I've carried on with the recommendation of fitting twin throttle servos practicing engine failure recover/actions (Thanks John).  I've sharpened a piece of carbon tube and fed it through the wing core for the servo leads feed and IMG_1915.thumb.jpg.8486701607c01bc67f0f9ff64ef835e3.jpgIMG_1913.thumb.jpg.d878d7be628ce4ba1520662c3ac393d5.jpgto save having to cut the veneer, and am quite happy with the way this has turned out.  I've also just taken delivery of two flat twin 160s (thanks again John, and very nice they are too!), but not for the hornet, it's be a tad overkill methinks!

 

I'll try to keep a regular drumbeat with the build going forward, and hopefully Mrs Roberts will let me crack on with it now she's got (most of!) her new kitchen in place.

 

Cheers

 

Marc

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Hi Marc, due to holidays, family commitments and the weather my Hornet is yet to fly!

 

I actually got it out on Monday this week to set up the engines and servos etc. All good, and I had it taxiing round the garden.

 

However, whilst one of the engines (OF 26FS) was spot on, the the other sounded like a bag of nails - shot bearings.

 

So I dismantled it on Tuesday evening. Sure enough the rear bearing was very rusty and loose, and the front one not much better, so ordered a new set from Model Fixing which arrived today. Bearings now installed and feel perfect.

 

The engine would be sorted by now, but, in a moment of inattention, I caught the end of the piston ring, which was still fitted to the piston, with the end of my finger. There was an awful snapping sound and the ring bit the dust! Now awaiting delivery of a replacement from Gaviscool. It should be here early next week, so the model will have it's maiden flight next time I go flying.

 

Here's the finished article.

 

DSC03520.thumb.JPG.2ef2d7028d32c5572dc20bf8bbdb5c84.JPG

 

I'll report back when it's flown.

 

GDB

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  • 2 months later...

Hi Everybody. I finally found some more time to work on the twin hornet after a very busy summer.  I've now completed construction of the wings, which are ready for covering in Nylon.  The last construction bit for me is fitting out the fuselage interior, hopefully in the next few weeks.  The wings I found straight forward to complete, although it's quite a tight fit to get servos in directly behind the engine firewalls.  I used some scrap balsa to complete the nacelle underwing profiles, which I felt wasn't that clear on the plans (probably just my lack of ability in reading them.  The engines are OS25s, and I did need to up the engine mounts to the next size for these to fit.  Earlybird, ca I ask what size 3-blade props you used, I may go for these as there's not a lot of fuselage clearance with the recommended size 2-blade props?  For the engines, I've kept the port side aligned to the fuselage, and tweaked the starboard in 3 degrees to help with any engine outs.  I've included a few piccies below, but thats it for now, it's an enjoyable build, and I'm looking forward to finding the time to finish and fly her.  Caveman, did you manage to maiden yours over the summer?

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Hi Marc, no, not flown yet!

 

I got it ready to go, but needed to adjust the servos/pushrods to synchronise the engines. Started the right-hand one and adjusted, no problem.

 

Started the left-hand one and, although it ran fine, it sounded like a bag of nuts. So, a strip down to replace the bearings needed. No problem, but, I managed to catch a finger nail on the open end of the piston ring which instantly broke 😩

 

A replacement bought from Gaviscool, new bearings fitted and all good now. Just need some decent weather, and time, to give it a go. I’ll report back when it happens.

 

GDB

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I wouldnt bother with any side thrust and recommend you just mount the engines dead straight. If you do loose an engine the side thrust will make absolutely no difference anyway and you may end up with strange performance when both engines are running. Also torque swing on models will pull the model to the left given the engine rotation we all use, so your side thrust will actually increase the left swing of the right engine and that is the last thing you want. If you want to try some side thrust both engines need to be to the right but its a waste of time. 

 

I had a galaxy twin scorpion years ago and it was fine on one engine or two. The only real issue i had with it on one engine was the model being a bit heavy and power was not in abundance with only one running. Still with the speed maintained single engine handling was fine. 

 

All 6 of the twins i have had over the years have had straight engines and none of them caused me problems with a motor out. 

Edited by Jon - Laser Engines
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I have a couple of OS Max 15s and have been tempted by the model before now. The only review on the Pegasus website used a couple of 15s but said it was very under-powered but then he was using the AP 15 ‘Yellowjacket’, a bored out AP 09, light but no powerhouse. 

Be very interesting to hear how yours flies Caveman. Looking good and should sound brilliant! 🤩 

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14 hours ago, Caveman said:

Hi Marc, no, not flown yet!

 

I got it ready to go, but needed to adjust the servos/pushrods to synchronise the engines. Started the right-hand one and adjusted, no problem.

 

Started the left-hand one and, although it ran fine, it sounded like a bag of nuts. So, a strip down to replace the bearings needed. No problem, but, I managed to catch a finger nail on the open end of the piston ring which instantly broke 😩

 

A replacement bought from Gaviscool, new bearings fitted and all good now. Just need some decent weather, and time, to give it a go. I’ll report back when it happens.

 

GDB

 

3 hours ago, Jon - Laser Engines said:

I wouldnt bother with any side thrust and recommend you just mount the engines dead straight. If you do loose an engine the side thrust will make absolutely no difference anyway and you may end up with strange performance when both engines are running. Also torque swing on models will pull the model to the left given the engine rotation we all use, so your side thrust will actually increase the left swing of the right engine and that is the last thing you want. If you want to try some side thrust both engines need to be to the right but its a waste of time. 

 

I had a galaxy twin scorpion years ago and it was fine on one engine or two. The only real issue i had with it on one engine was the model being a bit heavy and power was not in abundance with only one running. Still with the speed maintained single engine handling was fine. 

 

All 6 of the twins i have had over the years have had straight engines and none of them caused me problems with a motor out. 

Thanks Jon, on that advice I'll shim out the side thrust, it'll only take a couple of washers to do so,

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On 08/10/2022 at 11:26, Marc Roberts said:

For the engines, I've kept the port side aligned to the fuselage, and tweaked the starboard in 3 degrees to help with any engine outs

 

That's the exact opposite of what you need on the starboard engine... you want port dead ahead and starboard with about three or four degrees right thrust. Or, dead ahead for both, as Jon says.

 

Overall its looking good. Very tight in the tank bay with the servo!

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