Great Planes Reactor Bipe 3D EP Product Review
reactor
R/C planes are a great category for repeat business. You start your customer on a trainer and after mastering that, they want to progress to something more challenging and then more challenging. One of the hottest segments for advanced flyers is 3D and the Great Planes Reactor Bipe 3D is a must-have for that crowd. This kit is more than the flat foamy park fliers that are prevalent in this area; it's made of wood which is unusual for this size of plane. Its lineage comes from the highly successful Great Planes Reactor. The fact that it goes together in about six hours and has an outstanding covering job makes this plane a good value.

There is nothing difficult about assembling the Reactor but a couple of things to keep in mind before you begin. Have a softer area to work on than a typical bench or counter top because several times you will have to turn over parts or the entire plane to work on the opposite side and this helps protect the covering job. I also found I had to sand the included clevises to make them fit into the link horns. Assembling the wings to the fuselage takes a bit of time but the enclosed wing jigs help in making sure everything is straight. I wish there was an option to make the wings removable for pilots with small cars. The other items I found during the assembly of note was that the tape used to hold the control surfaces in place during shipping left a residue and I needed rubbing alcohol to remove it. You also tape on the canopy after the wings are on which was a bit of a tight fit. And, I used a piece of clear plastic attached with four small screws to cover up the area on the bottom of the fuselage cut away to install the radio gear, motor and ESC. I just felt safer knowing my receiver could not fall out.

Flying is where the fun begins. On my first flight I had a hand launcher who really just let the Reactor go after I throttled up. It took just a couple of clicks of down elevator to trim it out. On low rates the Reactor is a docile plane that will do nice rolls, loops and knife edge flight. On my second flight I was on my own a decided to try a ground takeoff. Keep in mind that the wheels are small and the grass has to be short. I advanced the throttle, the Reactor lifted off in about two feet and went vertical. This time though I had the high rates on. Rolls are much faster, loops are tighter, it will do knife edge loops, snap roll and spin all day long. I also was able to hover it in the breeze. The Reactor also flies better than the other park fliers I have in gusty wind conditions that I had during both flights. On grass, landings can be a little rough since the wheels are small. Full up elevator is needed just before the wheels meet the ground so that there is no forward airspeed otherwise the Reactor nose over.
The Reactor does not come with a motor, prop, ESC, battery or the servos but the instructions give suggestions. I used the RimFire 35-36, 10 by 7 prop, 35 amp Silver Series ESC and FlightPower 2100mah LiPo battery and it flew great. Other options for purchase would be a charger and a second battery so that your customer can fly a second flight right away. They will want to. I sure did.