Hand-crafted Giant Scale R/C Golden Age Racer kits!  Racers : Gee Bee Z, sport scale model, GeeBee, R-2, Super Sportster, GeeBee Y, R2, R1, Z, Y , radio control, Gee Bee R2 photo page.

Gee Bee 'R-2' Racer Photos

  We are always happy to publish photos of your Jack Devine models.  Photos will be returned (we promise!) after scanning if you cannot provide digital photos.  

The photos below will take a minute.  There is quite a collection here, but it's worth the wait!

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Shane Logue is shown here with a beautifully built, highly scale detailed example of a Gee Bee R2 Racer.
Photo was provided by Jeff Quesenberry, who also owned it and says it was a terrific flyer.
Jeff lost this R-2 to a faulty linkage.  Jeff told us; "I can say from experience that this is a great little GeeBee R-2!  It flies just as good upside down as it does right side up!"  Jeff liked it so much he 
has bought another kit and has built a new R-2.  Much to our delight, Jeff's new R-2 project takes shape and you can follow his progress in the building review below!

Shown here is a shot of the fuse as it nears completion.  Sheeting still needed up at the tail area, and the stringers and triangle stock will soon be installed.  The saddle area still needs sheeting, and the block behind the firewall and the firewall itself are about to be installed.  To this point, Jeff has about 5 hours into the fuse, including building and installing the horizontal stab.  Some of the building methods Jeff used are shown below.

Jeff, talking about the R-2 fuse, says:  "The fuse is full of compound curves and is a little time consuming to sheet.  I decided to use my own method, after trying to fit it other ways.  The easiest way I found was to fit the pieces section-ring by section-ring.  This divided the fuse up into ring-shaped pieces, as shown in this photo.  I took the 1/16" balsa pieces and cut, sanded and fit each piece with tape and continued until each ring went all the way around that ring section.  I then marked the location with a small mark so that everything fit back in the same place later.  I taped the pieces together as well as taping them to the fuse, because once I was done, I simply removed the tape from the fuse, and the whole ring came away in one string, keeping their places.  I then edge-glued these sheets and let them dry.  After dry, I glued them to the fuse with Foam-bond in the standard fashion.  I repeated this method with each ring, proceeding to the next section only after the current  one was glued on with Foam-Bond.  I had all the sheeting on in about 2-3 hours, with only a few details remaining to be done in the back and tail section."
Webmaster's Note:  This is not the recommended method for sheeting a fuselage.  Even so, our fuselages are so strong that this did not critically affect the strength.  But the sides are supposed to be done in one long teardrop shape, except for the bevel seen on the front.  This was not Jeff's fault, as we didn't make it clear to him that the ring joints on the sides should be sanded until the entire side is one smooth line right up to the bevel break.  This allows sheeting of each half in one long piece.  This slight problem is hardly even detectable in the finished product, but we want everybody's finished products to be the best they can be.  Jeff did a great job on this model, keep on reading below and see!

Shown below is the inside view of the R-2 fuselage.  The triangle stock has not yet been installed in the corners, but the saddle surfaces are now sheeted, and looking into the back you can see the horizontal stab crossing through.

Jeff does a good job of showing us here how the Sub-Firewall fits flush into the front of the fuse.  You have to make sure that the inside wall sheeting stops short of the front by the thickness of the sub-firewall, so the sub-firewall can fit flush into the front.  This is the anchor for the Firewall itself, and transfers the pull and torque stresses to the rest of the framework, and channels vibrations into the foam body, which absorbs them.

Shown below is the inside of the fuse at the Sub-Firewall.  Again, Jeff does a nice job of showing several important structural components and their installation.  Triangle stock in the corners completes the structural strength of the "Box".  Notice the pieces sticking up from the bottom of the photo.  You can see the placement of these triangle stock pieces before they're trimmed off flush with the saddle.  Most importantly, notice the large Tri-Stock epoxied against the back of the Sub-firewall, insuring that your firewall will be securely anchored.

This Fuse is looking great.  Check out the front.  The firewall itself is now installed.  All that remains to finish this firewall is a wrap of fiberglass cloth around the edges.  As you can see, the finished strength of these models is unparalleled.  Check out Jeff's application of fuse stringers, and his scale entry-door location.  If you look under the back, you can see the tail wheel and pant assembly.  The vertical fin is in place and has been molded in nicely.
Take a good look at this R-2 model.  Laying flat on the floor, it's so big that it comes up to the seat of the chair behind it.  The fin extends above the arm of the chair!  Jack Devine's R-2 is a HUGE model, yet Jeff says that just as you see it, this fuse weighs 5 pounds and 7 ounces.  And to this point, Jeff has about 8-9 hours into it.

Here is a photo of the wing being fit to the fuse.  The belly pan has been permanently glued onto the wing and the front half of pan sheeted.  As you can see below, the wing has been fit and bolted to the fuse.  Next, the stringers will be added to the rear of the pan to finish it.  

At this point, the frame is completely finished, with the cowl left to be fit.  Below, Jeff has marked and begun installing hard points to fasten flying wires to the frame.  As of this photo, he has glassed the wing.

Below, the gear installation is shown.  The rear spring wire has been shaped to go inside the wheel pants, then wrapped in copper wire and silver soldered to main gear wires, then JB Weld applied.  Jeff feels it should not come apart!  The top of the rear flex spring wire goes into a hole drilled into the 1/4"  ply LG-4 block that has been recessed and glued flush with the wing sheeting.  A wheel collar is to be soldered in place, and will rest against the the block to stop the wire from going too far inside the wing from rearward forces during landing.  Jeff's first GeeBee R-2 landing gear was set up in the same fashion.  

Shown below are the gear wires mounted into their positions in the wing bottom, along with the blocks for securing the wheel pants to the wing.  Jeff ran a 1/8" dowel down thru the blocks into the wing foam vertically to help secure the wheelpants to more than just the wing sheeting.  A strong and lightweight application!

Below, Jeff marked and cut the front half of the wheel pant off.  He will glue ply nailers inside, protruding to provide a place where the other half can be fastened easily, as shown in the next photo below.

Shown below is the the rear half of the wheel pant attached to the wing, with the wheel in place.  Notice the pieces of ply extending out forward from the rear half, so the front may be fastened to it without difficulty.

Shown below is the front half of the wheel pant in place.  This shows how easy it is to gain access to work on both your wheels and gear once the plane is finished!  Of course, the wheel-hole is just big enough to allow the wheel to protrude here and still requires relieving to allow wheel movement during landing.  Jeff has done a magnificent job on these wheelpants, as you'll see in the finished product.

The photos below show the GeeBee R-2 all done in the bones, and ready for painting this weekend!

The fuse was all glassed with .75 oz. cloth and Minwax PolyCrylic polyurethane.  The fabric areas were covered with Solartex neutral fabric covering with scale pinking tape like the original GeeBee R-2.

As of the time of these four photos, the plane weighs just twelve pounds!  That weight included the wheelpants.

This is less paint, radio, and engine.  Jeff is looking for a finished weight of just 17 to 20 pounds!  Jeff has decided on a Quadra 52 for power.  The last R-2 was powered by a G-62.  Jeff said; "That R-2 was FAAAASSST!  It slowed down fine, but I had to put a pound of ballast in the tail because of the heavy engine, and I'm hoping to avoid that by using the Q-52 gas engine."  Jeff feels that it will still be plenty fast, but even lighter!  Nice job, Jeff.  We're looking forward to those photos of this bird in full regalia!

Come see as Jeff Quesenberry puts the finishing touches on his new Gee Bee R-2 project!  Click on the painted R-2 model below to see as he comes down to the wire! 

Did you know?
Jack Devine's builds each GeeBee R-2 racer kit  as a custom order !  All Jack Devine kits are built the same way.

To see the Multi-Views of the Gee Bee R-2 Racer, or to get a copy of the same Multi-Views that come with your Jack Devine kit, just click on the Multi-View button below!

Click on the Small Gee Bee R2 below to return to the Gee Bee R2 Page

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Jack Devine Models
14906 114th Ave. N.E.
Kirkland, WA        98034 - 1031

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