So the Lazy Bee Harassment Continues...Now It's Sporting Twin Space Hoppers!

Cribbs74 wrote:You Rock!!!!

How cool is that!

Thanks Ron! This one had a lot better audio harmonics that the Gilbert deal. Those two different size engines didn't sync like these two.

Well that is totally cool!

Guessing that you use an electric starter with those overlapping props.

And land only when they both quit?

706jim wrote:Well that is totally cool!

Guessing that you use an electric starter with those overlapping props.

And land only when they both quit?

I'd imagine that they will quit within seconds of eachother because they both draw fuel through the same lines from the same tank

Thanks guys,

It IS fun messing with these odd combo's, even if it's a bit nerve wracking sometimes.

Much to chagrin of some of my buds, I won't hesitate to haul out my Hornet starter when one of these beasts gets a little snarky.  In this case, as with the Gilberts that were previously hanging off the Bee's snout, I wanted to try hand-starting them, in spite of the close proximity of the two 5-3's.  

The BIG deal here is plenty of pre-work with each engine WAY before trying to fly them.  I've had buds who took on REALLY challenging projects, doing good work all the way, UNTIL the moment of truth.  Many times, they were so burned out by the time the big day arrives, that they had a "heck with it!  let's do it" moment.  Sounds cool, but it can make nasty things happen.

So I ran each Space Hopper quite a bit before trying to fly the Bee with them.  One thing you CAN'T do anything about is that, unlike their Tee Dee descendants, they'll happily run backwards as well as forward!

You just got to be patient, choking off the fuel and restarting.  The whole process IS a bit like petting a scorpion, but it can be done.

The Gilberts DID tend to croak pretty close together, but one of the Space Hoppers always seems happy to hang on for a minute or two.  This wasn't a big deal as, taking a lesson from the guy with eight-Tee Dee-engined Spruce Goose, I had climbed the Bee to good altitude while both of them were pulling.  This gave plenty of time to trim that big rudder and continue 'till the other one died.

Here's the video I finally crunched down, sorry for the extra long segment during it's dead-stick glide...just liked capturing such a beautiful evening.

Later!  
    10-Fingers Kim



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6JAjL_vcEw&feature=youtu.be