Chris Nicastro

My Feedback: (3)

Looks great Michael! Thats how these ARF's should cone from the factory.

Who's 3 view drawings or scale ref's did you use the most on this project?

A local flyer opened up a new model airfield and private club so last weekend after the Scale Masters qualifier I pulled out my Corsair for a couple of fun flights. The runway is 700x80 and new grass. Anyway this model does set up nicely for landings and take offs are not a big deal. My club runway is 550x45 paved and I use up about 400-450ft of it from touch down to roll out. On the bigger grass runway you get plenty of space to set up and line it up dead center and let the plane settle in. In calm wind under 0-10mph you can use full flaps, above that use half flaps and then just balance the plane on power to descend.

Since yours is heavier than mine just remember two things 1) dont yank it off the deck taking off, let it get on the wing, and 2) keep up your landing speed and land on the mains a little faster than normal at first until you get used to the plane.
I had one slow approach and touched down hard because I was holding off too long learning the Corsairs landing speed range. From about two feet the plane dropped suddenly no dramma or wing drop but the force broke the plywood rear bulkhead. It peeled off the lower wood block for the retract from the plywood because the design does not tie in the block to spread the load so the plywood delaminated.
Otherwise in all other respects the Corsair is actually pretty forgiving and I have flown mine pretty hard at full power to test the limits. I hope this gives you some notes on what to expect, good luck and enjoy it!

MRadu

Thanks Chad,

I'll get this plane up and running soon. Stay tuned. . .
I'm getting a little nervous about flying her. Ha Ha. At least I know how to put her back together should I need to.
This test of an ARF modification came out ok. I had know idea how much work I was going to do, I simply kept going. I still want to add a drop tank and have it droppable.
I believe adding the weathering will make the plane even more realistic.

Michael

MRadu

Thanks Chris,

Yes I too wish they came out of the factory like this! Ha Ha. I would be willing to pay a little more. What do you think $50.00 to $100.00 more. Ha ha. . .

It was funny to see the faces of other R/C pilots, when I told them it was an ARF. No one believed me! Not one. Well it was hard to keep a straight face when telling them.

Super Glad to hear about another field opening up anywhere. I'd love to see photos. Please post when you get a chance.

As for the documentation, I used multiple resources and found many discrepancies. That is why I had to redo some areas of detail. I'll post them here in the next couple of posts. I also add them all to my DVD's

Just as a side note:

I make DVD's of my build threads. These have mostly photos with my voice as commentary about the build. I also add music so you don't have to listen to me. Simply select which audio track you want. I have many more photos then posted here and along with videos I can make copies for those who wish to have one.
I find it enjoyable to sit in front of my TV and watch the progress. Also you can pause the video and see the products I used along the way.
If you want one let me know and what type of music and I'll add that to yours.

Thanks,

Michael

kochj

Looks great....

What did you use for the yellow sticker vinyl? It looks thick enough to show but not too thick for rivets...?

You removed the pin striping, after laying them out and painting, and that was all involved to do the paneling??? Very nice idea...

I am doing a p-51 mustang right now. Any ideas on how to do the proper layout of the pannel lines???

I have NEVER done it before....
I had only dabbled with droping very tiny drops of med CA and then hit it with some ca-kicker... for some make shift rivits.. (it actually looked as good as those Elmers glue layouts)

MRadu

Kochj,

Thanks for posting. The yellow vinyl graphics are from my 24" cutter. The panel lines are tape then I painted over them with automotive thick sandable primer. It is great and with light sanding and a second coat makes the panel lines stand out. After painting the primer and a light sand you can simply peel off the tape. Then just paint final color.

Give it a try. Let me know how it comes out.

COL J

Michael, what a beautiful job. What 3 blade prop is that? Is it a static or flying Prop. Again, what a job and what a talent.

MRadu

Thanks COL J,

The three blade propeller you see in my last photos post is a static propeller from Ziroli. I really like it however, I must say that the blades and hub are not for the unexperienced builder. The mold was bad and had more deep creators than the moon. It took me almost five coats of bondo and tons of sanding. The hub is plastic and does not line up as well as I had hoped. Maybe it's just me, however, I thought that for the cost and that it was for a static propeller I should not have to do that much work. I almost could have made a real propeller. Just kidding!
With the way it finally came out I believe I would do another. So I guess I should say it was worth it.

The markings are from ProMark and I have some extra graphics. I'd be willing to make theses props for a price. I can get a price for you if you want.

Thanks again for the kind words, much appreciated,

Michael Radu

esacco

My Feedback: (30)

Hello everyone!!! Great posts... and unreal detail.. mine is all stock with DLE55, robart all around. Here is a vid of mine flying last week... had a gear stick... had to shim the rear end of the gear as the wheel was hitting the well. It only stuck after it retracted and was induced with the vibration... this plane is also a great belly lander with virtually no damage other than the prop and gear door cover. She is 24.5 lbs


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Szjjw...lnqNMJweX-Pf6A


Hope you all love your as much as I do mine!!!

ThunderBoat42

My Feedback: (1)

this would be a nice power package....

Chad Veich

My Feedback: (60)

Some very high quality static scale propellers can be purchased from Scale Specialties. They require very little in the way of preparation before painting. Worth a look anyway.

http://scalespecialties.com/

Warbird Man

My Feedback: (95)

Awesome job Michael! I'd say that's definitely a master piece.

MRadu

This post is a little one. Here in California it was over 100 degrees. So I didn’t get much done.
I’m still adding text and I painted the oil coolers vents.
I did the first pass on the gun smoke with flat (satin) black.
I’m happy how the text under the head rest came out.

Thanks Chad. I'll order one this week! Very nice scale prop. Do you have one? Is the Hellcat yours? It is fantastic!

Thanks WarBird Man. Coming from you means a lot to me!

Chad Veich

My Feedback: (60)

The Hellcat is mine Michael, thanks for the compliment. I think you will be very happy with the prop. Scale Specialties also have the best dummy radials on the market, one of which can be seen in my 'cat. It was 118 here today by the way, feeling your pain!

COL J

MRadu,
rAre those BVM air cylinders and if so, What size are they? And what did you use for the mounting lug on the door? Looks very clean. Thanks

MRadu

Hello COL J,

The air cylinders are three quarters of an inch. Sorry took so long to get to you. I have been working and getting really close to maiden my Corsair. My plane weighs in at 38 lbs! It is all the tail work I did in the tail. Four doors and hinges, the tail hook and all the hardware to activate it all made it so I had to add more counter weight in the nose.

Tomorrow (Friday) I'm going to my local field to engine and taxi test. Then Saturday off to Woodland Davis to maiden.

I hope she flys well.

rt3232

My Feedback: (6)

MRadu

Concratulations on getting it done and ready for some testing good luck

And I thought mine was heavy at 30 + lbs. well it will fly and I think great and as I have found Speed I your frind with this bibd.

Good luck on the maiden and looking fwd for a nice report.

Cheers bob T
AMA13377 Corsair Brotherhood #5

MRadu

These three photos show the final and fifth muffler and the fuel vent.
I had to reduce the size of the muffler as the one prier was simply to close to the inside of the cowl.

This muffler becomes very hot and I did not want it to melt.

MRadu

These photos show this Friday the 19th. The plane is finish. I’ll paint the weathering after I maiden tomorrow.

Now it was time to run the engine and adjust any and all findings. Check out the scale exhaust. It was hard to clean for two reasons.
One it looks cool and scale like. Two it took a ton of scrubbing with 409 to clean.

MRadu

Here after the testing of the engine and running up and down the runway.
These test runs I had to adjust the tail wheel for straightness and it had to much throw. I was able to turn on a dime!

All ready for maiden so I thought. . .

MRadu

First I’m sorry I was not able to get anyone to film or photo my flight. These photos are of my post maiden.

Here is what occurred.

Short description is that the gear lost air pressure and the gear would not extend fully and I was forced to belly land my 38 lb plane on the runway. Very little damage. Main gear doors were stripped off at the hinge points. No damage to the doors. Little damage to the flaps as they were extended half way and the gear doors tore into the flaps.

Full description is that I knew about the air problem with my UP-3 valve. It always worked on the gear, however, sometimes the gear door would not close. The would always open just not always close. When this occurred the valve would continue to bleed air until depleted. So as I prepared to start up the plane for this maiden, I told my spotter that once I took off I’ll retract the gear and to please confirm that the gear doors closed.
As I taxied out, the plane felt solid and ready to go. I pointed her straight down the runway and slowly added throttle. This Corsair tracked really well I continued to add throttle and she picked up speed quickly. The tail came up in about 25 feet. At this time I could feel the rudder gain control. Once the plane was running at 3/4 throttle I began to pull up on the elevator. The tail lowered slightly and she continued down the runway. I pulled and pulled and she did not lift off! All this occurred in seconds. I started to think that all my weight was to much for this bird. I had almost reached my full range on my elevator stick and the plane lifted off just before the end of the runway. The plane lifted with authority and I switched the gear to retract. My spotter asked why I had used all of the runway to lift off. After I explained he assisted me by adding trim for me as I flew. He had to added all the trim available. This was almost enough to level out the plane. As I came around for my first pass I asked if my gear doors were closed. My spotter said yes. I made three circuits around the patter and then saw that the doors were in fact not closed and then tried to extend the gear. There was not enough air pressure and the doors opened fully and the main gear was only extended half way.

I began to try to get the gear out. I tried looping and rolling to no prevail. It was at this time I took noticed that this plane is a solid and good flying plane. Also I believe that it is nose heavy. It will good to remove some weight. As I knew I had plenty of fuel I flew around and continued to test. I went up high and extended the flaps half way. The plane continued with a slight nose down and I knew the elevator compensation was good.
Full flaps made the plane balloon so more elevator will need to be added. Half flaps really slowed the plane a great deal and the plane started to feel like a trainer. This is going to be a great flying plane. No other trim other than the elevator was needed.

Now time to land the Corsair on her belly. The runway is large and made of something like petro matt. I knew the plane would slide on the matt. However, I would have to kill the motor as my carbon fiber propeller would eat up and tear the runway. At this time my spotter asked if he could try to fly some maneuvers to get the gear extended. I gave him the controls and his attempt was no good as well.

After his attempts he simply told me to reach over him and switch the kill when he told me to. He landed on the center of the runway and the plane slid about 12 feet and from the photos you can see very little damage, however, I need to resolve the air valve.

I’m thinking about having my gear converted to electric.

This is still a great great flying plane. I made myself worry for nothing.

TonyBuilder

My Feedback: (11)

That’s to bad you had some difficulties with the maiden. One thing to consider on highly scaled models like this is to make them flight ready at the primer stage. Once you have the plane flying and all the bugs worked out then do all the fine detailing and painting. It is much easier to repair at the primer stage. I would not go with the electric retracts, not reliable at all. A good air system works great. You know how this goes, if you can hold air for over 24 hours and get a bunch of cycles out of it you are good to go, if not then you need to fix that before you fly. The gear doors are always a hazard. I am using servos and a sequencer to operate my doors.

Great job on the build.

TB

BobH

My Feedback: (2)

Maidens can be hazardous fortunately you have minimal damage so that's a good thing. Sounds like you are way nose heavy if everything is built right. Maybe Re CG or try a different CG method.

pappy 883

My Feedback: (2)

Mike she looks great!! don't worry about a little " gravel rash ", Corsair's are supposed to have that.

I'm puzzled about the pitch issue. Let's say that @ 38 lbs. what you're doing during take off is actually at around max weight load so it's going to take a lot of runway,( a lot of airspeed)
I say re-check the C.G. and let's check the angle of incidence on the wing and the stab just to make sure the ARF is in the same ballpark.
If that doesn't work we'll have to put her on a diet.............joe

I'm with TB ,save you're money and make the air stuff reliable, it will be fine .

Warbird Man

My Feedback: (95)

Sorry to hear you had some issues. I suppose it could have been worse. I had a similar situation with my gear doors as you describe. I too thought the UP-3 valve was the problem and it wasn't. Carefully check your gear door air lines where they go from the wheel well through the aluminum spar. It's difficult to see but I found when the gear was retracted, the air cylinders move forward and pinch off the gear door airlines. Thus not allowing the gear door(s) to close.

rt3232

My Feedback: (6)

MRadu

+ 1 on the C/G but I found that the 5 3/4 fig is to far back and make for a real tuchy bird, I don't have the ARF, but I went to 5 1/4 and have now removed weight to get 5 1/2 and that seams to be right on for my bird.

About the air system if you have not used the little alum farrels over each connection and that could also be the problem ( I think they are made by dubro) just a after thought don't forget to bubble soap all the connections. just as a reff point I start with 105 psi and my system drops to about 75 and then hold that for 12/24hrs

Cheers Bob T