GlennCauley Posted March 14, 2011 Share Posted March 14, 2011 I have built the Bronco 1:48 MQ-1 Predator, and hopefully my Skunk Models 1:48 MQ-9 Reaper kit will arrive soon. I am considering building the Reaper "in flight" with the landing gear retracted. However, does anyone have good pics of a Reaper (or even a Predator) with clear shots of the gear retracted? Thanks in advance... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Murph Posted March 14, 2011 Share Posted March 14, 2011 Google turned up this. Also this: Regards, Murph Quote Link to post Share on other sites
EDWMatt Posted March 14, 2011 Share Posted March 14, 2011 Here's another one for ya... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GlennCauley Posted March 15, 2011 Author Share Posted March 15, 2011 THANK YOU!!! I did Google searches but never came up with those pics. That's great! Please, if anyone has any more, please post them up. ;) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
spejic Posted March 15, 2011 Share Posted March 15, 2011 Normally the first place you should turn to is http://www.af.mil/photos/ because they have lots of pictures at very high resolution, but for some reason they don't have single decent picture of a gear-up Reaper. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GlennCauley Posted June 1, 2011 Author Share Posted June 1, 2011 (edited) I am currently building the 1/48 Skunkmodels MQ-9 Reaper... and I am boggled by the dimensions of it compared to the 1/48 Bronco RQ/MQ-1 Predator. This morning I took pics of them side by side to show the difference in dimensions between the two. I had thought that the Reaper shared the same basic airframe as the Predator, so I was shocked so see such a noticeable difference in dimensions. I thought someone had made huge errors in the kits. Check out how massive the MQ-9 Reaper is compared to the Predator... fuselage length & width, fuselage shape (flat on top not rounded like Predator), wingspan, wing chord at the root (double that of Predator), and under-chin sensor dome (several times the size of the Predator's). Mind you, if you go to wikipedia and compare the major specifications it seems plausible. The Reaper dimensions seem 20~30% bigger on most major dimensions, it has a much bigger stronger engine and load capacity. Edited June 1, 2011 by GlennCauley Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TXCajun Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 (edited) Totally different airframe. Got a chance to be less than 50' from a Reaper taxiing out for a mission once. It's a pretty good-sized machine. Seemed like it was about the length of an F-16. The Global Hawk is is BIG - like U-2 sized big. Edited June 1, 2011 by TXCajun Quote Link to post Share on other sites
drhornii Posted June 4, 2011 Share Posted June 4, 2011 I am currently building the 1/48 Skunkmodels MQ-9 Reaper... and I am boggled by the dimensions of it compared to the 1/48 Bronco RQ/MQ-1 Predator. This morning I took pics of them side by side to show the difference in dimensions between the two. I had thought that the Reaper shared the same basic airframe as the Predator, so I was shocked so see such a noticeable difference in dimensions. I thought someone had made huge errors in the kits. Check out how massive the MQ-9 Reaper is compared to the Predator... fuselage length & width, fuselage shape (flat on top not rounded like Predator), wingspan, wing chord at the root (double that of Predator), and under-chin sensor dome (several times the size of the Predator's). Mind you, if you go to wikipedia and compare the major specifications it seems plausible. The Reaper dimensions seem 20~30% bigger on most major dimensions, it has a much bigger stronger engine and load capacity. Great inspirational build for the upcoming UAV GB July 1st....... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GlennCauley Posted June 8, 2011 Author Share Posted June 8, 2011 (edited) Another question about the main landing gear... Do both L & R main gear legs retract at the same time ; is there one retraction mechanism that connects to both ? Or do they retract independently of each other? I'm thinking it is most likely there is a single retraction mechanism that retracts both gear legs at the same time... but thought I'd ask. :) Why do I ask? If I'm modelling a Reaper with gear in mid-retract, I wanted to know if the gear is retracted the same on both sides or if they could be slightly different. Edited June 8, 2011 by GlennCauley Quote Link to post Share on other sites
EDWMatt Posted June 8, 2011 Share Posted June 8, 2011 Another question about the main landing gear... Do both L & R main gear legs retract at the same time ; is there one retraction mechanism that connects to both ? Or do they retract independently of each other? I'm thinking it is most likely there is a single retraction mechanism that retracts both gear legs at the same time... but thought I'd ask. :) Why do I ask? If I'm modelling a Reaper with gear in mid-retract, I wanted to know if the gear is retracted the same on both sides or if they could be slightly different. Each gear strut has an individual electric actuator. They pretty much retract together, but there can be differences in the actuators, so there can be some split in relative position. The gear is very slow on Predator/Reapers. Something like 30 seconds to complete a cycle. One thing to note: the skin around the main gear wells is recessed. You can kind of see it in the Ikhana picture. Skunk missed this on their kit (and their main gear wells are total fantasy...). Whether this is important to correct is up to you. I'll post some detail pics later (I don't have the camera card with them on it with me.) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
EDWMatt Posted June 9, 2011 Share Posted June 9, 2011 Okay, here are a couple close up shots of the gear well area of an MQ-9: You can see the recessed area on the fuselage around the gear wells that Skunk missed. It also gives you some idea of what the wells are actually shaped like. The first photo also shows the pressure refueling port, which Skunk also missed. The second give some idea what the retraction system looks like. I may have been a bit misleading on my last reply. The mains have a single actuator, while the nose has a separate actuator. So the mains will come up together. The whole gear assembly on the Skunk kit is a bit simplified, but the basic shapes are there. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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