BVM Viper - first jet

[midnightdreamersr]

i bought this jet back in oct 06 and i am getting ready to get it in the air. im tired of looking at it in the shop. i am taking some time to get it ready. i will be asking alot of questions along the way because this is my first jet. ive flown warbirds in the past so im hopeing this wont be a big step. i know there are alot of differances between all the types of planes that i know fly so this should be fun. the jet has some hanger rash that i will be taking care of as i set this thing up.

when i bought it the guy said it was new and never been flown. its all together and ready but he never flew it. its in white primer but over the years of transportation from this guy has some hanger rash. its got the B&D retracts and a BVM .91 eng. well here are some pics of the damage and off we go. both wing tips i didnt take a pic of for some reason. youll see the repairs though

[midnightdreamersr]

first off i made the peices of new balsa for the vertical fin and the stab. next glued them in place and reglued on the wing tips. here are the pics.

[midnightdreamersr]

next the fun part, sanding. got everything sanded into shape and them filled all the low spots before i reglass these areas to reenforce them. here are the pics.

[midnightdreamersr]

i didnt do all this today (in one day). i started tuesday and just got it to primer today. just an FYI

[midnightdreamersr]

well sanded all the filler down and glassed all areas. while this was in cure figured a good time to install the battery and reciever and get it programed in the radio. installed the battery and receiver where the instructions told me too (all the way in the nose). not sure of the programing but everything works the right way and what i think is the correct throws. will have to get it checked out by someone that knows before it flies. i went to check the gear but the fitting in the jet doesnt fit the robart adapter i have. i figure it would make since to change the jet to a robart plug and that way this and all my other planes would be the same. any ideas on this????? here are the pics of the glassed parts.

[midnightdreamersr]

well today since it was raining due to our first tropical depression of the year here in florida i figured id get some stuff done. sanded in the glassed areas and primered the areas. ill let this dry and apply another coat.

questions:

what fuel do i use and where can i get it??

ive called BVM and was told to use wildcat jet a df fuel. anything else i can use?? they dont sell it and would rather not have it shipped to me, so anyone know a local central florida dealer that carries it.

here are the first layer primer pics

[yakwrecker]

A friend of mine has a viper and from what i can tell they fly sweet but take off and landing are a diffrent story. First they carry alot of momentum for landing which is good if you dead stick but presents a problem if you have a relatively short field for jets ( like 600 feet), it just gets hard to come down. Takeoff shows a very slow rate of climb but good speed, just take your time on take off and make sure your speed is up before you make and turns that are two steep or hard. a gentle wing bank to stat in the wind is fine. Just do yourself a favor and if you can find someone that has experience with jets and have them help you, jets are diffrent regardless of anything else we've ever flown.

[midnightdreamersr]

ill keep you all posted on the first flights. theres a field close by that alot of BVm guys fly at. im going to take it over there when i get back from a bussiness trip in a couple weeks. let them look it over and fly it for the first time and get it flying right before i try it. i normally fly off grass so slowing down after touch down wont be a problem. we fly 1/5 scale warbirds there with no problems. thanks for the info.