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Hellcat F6F Wild Hare RC - G-Pete's build and review

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Hellcat F6F Wild Hare RC - G-Pete's build and review

Old 06-30-2013, 01:57 PM
  #651  
p51tom
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Default RE: Hellcat F6F Wild Hare RC - G-Pete's build and review

The Don Smith Hellcat is same size as the Byron Hellcat that has flown fine at 32 lbs and above. The Sierra mains with Robart wheels and doors alone are just under 4 lbs. The G 62 is very heavy and I have already added 2 lbs of nose weight to the cowling. The model is all wood with a glass and resin finish. All panel lines, hatches, and rivets are on the model. It also has a latex finish. The main problem I have these days is carrying the plane up the steps and into my truck. I had a Top flight giant F4u-4 at 32 lbs and it flew fine.
Thanks P51Tom
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Old 06-30-2013, 02:08 PM
  #652  
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Default RE: Hellcat F6F Wild Hare RC - G-Pete's build and review

I would like show some of my models along with their weights. These larger models can carry a lot of weight and still fly great. My TFGS P47 is 29 lbs and lands at a walking pace. My TFGS P51D is 26 lbs and flies like a trainer. My Platt Spitfire is 28 lbs and is not difficult to fly. My TFGS Corsair is 32 lbs and flies great. I'll turn 70 in Sept. and as I said the most difficult problem with these planes is transport and putting together at the field.
P51Tom
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Old 06-30-2013, 02:24 PM
  #653  
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Default RE: Hellcat F6F Wild Hare RC - G-Pete's build and review

Sorry I do not have any photos of P51D on the computer and showed my 76" Bob Holman Corsair ( 23 lbs). I told you I am getting old. As you can by the Spitfire Photos this plane is 15 years old and still going strong.
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Old 06-30-2013, 04:37 PM
  #654  
LBJ
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Default RE: Hellcat F6F Wild Hare RC - G-Pete's build and review

Tom, I have a 90" TBM Zero which is 31 pounds. I have to say, at that weight, it's a bit of a pain to get to the field and back. Flying is the easy part, flies like my lighter 82" CMP Zero. I love the warbirds, but that can be lots of work.
Old 07-10-2013, 01:26 PM
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Default RE: Hellcat F6F Wild Hare RC - G-Pete's build and review

7-19-13 Hi guys, sold the retracts, so they are gone to a new home.

I have my set of mains to sell since I adapted the Sierra's to work on the Hellcat. Asking $75 shipped for them. They are used, not in pristine condition, had a hard landing with dead engine, but you might be able to use some parts or go ahead and make them work on your Cat. The main problem with them is that they will not stay locked up inflight, nor always stay locked down on landing. This is the problem with the design of the Wild Hare retracts, so nothing new there. These are hard to find these days, I will bet. The Sierra's cost me $550, so, these are priced fairly, in my opinion. Gear doors included.

I would still be using them if I could not afford the Sierra's, so they are in working condition.




Here's the wings with the Sierra's installed. Gear doors are next, but will fly before that job.

Old 07-21-2013, 02:18 PM
  #656  
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Default RE: Hellcat F6F Wild Hare RC - G-Pete's build and review

Got the F6F out to the field today. Managed to remember to bring the camera. She sits up a bit high, but looks good. Flew fine, but took off with rudder in low rate, not good. Landing was fine as is usual with the bird. If you can afford the Sierra's, then they will work fine for you. Lock's positively UP and DOWN. Gear doors coming up soon.



Old 07-22-2013, 02:29 PM
  #657  
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Default RE: Hellcat F6F Wild Hare RC - G-Pete's build and review

Got some work done on the doors. .025" is pretty easy to work with.



Old 08-13-2013, 05:20 PM
  #658  
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Got some more work done on the doors. Finally got an attachment method down. Same setup I used on my CMP and TBM Zeros to hold the doors onthe struts. Not too scale, but it works without a lot of fuss. Needs paint.



Old 10-14-2013, 02:31 PM
  #659  
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how are things going with your changes? Have you flown it since changing retracts? You know thos longer struts are more scale than the original set. Has anyone done any painting over this covering? iam debatin about stripping it off or painting over it.
Old 10-14-2013, 02:37 PM
  #660  
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LBJ, since you have cut into the wing so far, what do you think of modifing the wing to add the inboard flaps?
Old 10-14-2013, 02:41 PM
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I've flown a few times with the new gear. Works nicely. Still haven't finished the new gear doors. Only problem is, these are the biggest wheels/tires I can install - just not any more room in the wing to go larger. This is covered with Solar Tex, which is completely different than came with the other WildHare Hellcats. They had a few uncovered planes from the factory, and I started from there. Still cost the same, however. No price break. Ha. No more cheesy chinese made retracts for me either. It's either Sierra or Robart. On painting, Solar Tex can be painted over.

On flaps, what's there is fine. But, I modded mine to drop further than the factory had allowed for. Shaved off some balsa on the flap to allow more droop. Not a big job, but worth the effort.

Last edited by LBJ; 10-14-2013 at 02:43 PM.
Old 10-16-2013, 06:04 AM
  #662  
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Thaks for the info. I bought a kit second hand. My plan is to strip it and possibly glass it. The bottom of the fuse is open framed correct? How was it ironing down the vertical panels? I iained that keeping everything verticlly straight was a chore. Yours looks great. Is the canopy and top front of the fuse plastic, fiberglas or?
Old 10-16-2013, 06:39 AM
  #663  
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Ram-bro, The entire canopy assembly is just clear vacuformed plastic they painted over and left the windows open. I do not like the tinted "glass" as it's not needed and I don't know why they did such a thing. In fact, you can barely see the pilot figure thru the dark "glass." The cowl is all fiberglass. Bottom is open and that was done to keep weight down. I like that part. Installing the SolarTex took a bit of time and cannot be rushed for good results. You need to get a very good vertical line on the fuselage and stay with it. But, if you glass the plane, that would be a better solution. Gives it more strength for protection against every day handling and transport dings and paint will hold up better over the long run. The plane is light enough that you can glass and paint it and still be light, especially using the DLE-55. Just use good glass technique and squeegee off the excess epoxy resin. Same for the painting, don't layer it up more than needed, especially on the tail end.

The main problem I see when folks do monokote and other iron on coverings is that they try to get it done in a big hurry. This is why I have to be "in the mood" to do covering. Some days I just don't have the temperament to do it. You have to do the little things first or the covering won't adhere properly, such as putting thin strips on the edges of the ailerons and flaps so the top and bottom coverings will have a good edge to grab onto. I also run a 3/4" strip over leading edge seams to keep the material from pulling loose from the balsa. Same on the ridge back on the fuselage. Looks good too. Due to the fact that I had to move in the middle of the covering phase, it took me many months to do the job. But, I took my time and am happy with the results. Glad you like it. There are not too many variations in color schemes for the Hellcat. I do like the traditional blues, but so many are out there, I had to do something different. Another good color scheme is the blue fuselage and yellow wings. That's an attention getter for sure. Good luck!

One more thing. When you get to the CG calculation stage, just use the old RC method of 25 to 35 percent MAC and don't bother with the WIld Hare method with the wings off the fuselage. Get a CG balance stand from VicRC and use that. It works very nicely. The wing chord is 20 inches at the fuselage, so the CG should be in the area of 5 inches to 7 inches behind the leading edge at the fuselage. I tend to go with the more conservative 25 to 30 percent MAC for first flights, especially with the rotating gear models, since that shifts the CG aft on retraction. So, somewhere right at 6 inches or slightly less is a pretty good number. This is of course with the retracts in the UP position. On maiden, be ready to drop the gear back down if she acts pitchy with the gear up and you can recover nicely and add more lead to the nose if needed.

Vic RC CG Stand. Nice laser cut aircraft grade plywood kit and assembles in about an hour with yellow glue. You can CG even low wing planes right side up. Vic passed that tip to me and I tried it. Works great. Very much worth the money for all CG calculations.

www.vicrc.com/product_CGerStand.html

Last edited by LBJ; 10-16-2013 at 07:06 AM.
Old 10-17-2013, 08:46 AM
  #664  
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Finally got a few small projects out of the way to get back on the gear doors. Needs primer and paint, but essentially done.

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Old 10-18-2013, 12:33 AM
  #665  
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Glad to see your still behind the kit. Can you tell me is the bottom of the fuse sheeted or stringers? How do you like the wing assembly being that it is a plug in type. I think it is nice and if the fuse is not heavy...even better
Old 10-18-2013, 04:46 AM
  #666  
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Bottom is partially stringers. Plug in wings are nice for transport, but a bit tight in getting the screws installed from inside the fuselage. Just don't forget to install them! That has happened.
Old 10-18-2013, 04:50 AM
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has it happened to you? lol
Old 10-18-2013, 06:08 AM
  #668  
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Nope, not me. Might be helpful to read the entire thread. Lots of good info here on the Hellcat.
Old 10-18-2013, 02:43 PM
  #669  
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oh Ive reaad it. There is someone who had an incident but he doesnt specify what it was but he had a backup plane. Then there was the recommendation to use different size wing bolts.
Old 10-23-2013, 05:38 PM
  #670  
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Flew the Cat with the new doors today. Three flights and went well. I had them velcro'd and CA'd and they held fast for all flights. Not any problems at all with the doors. Had one wheel lock up on the last landing and almost nosed over, but just stopped the engine without breaking the prop. Have to fix that. Next, I need to prime and paint the doors and reinstall them. End of that project.

Oct 28. Primed and painted the doors today. Almost done with this project.


Last edited by LBJ; 10-28-2013 at 04:45 PM.
Old 11-11-2013, 04:27 PM
  #671  
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Got the Cat out today for Veteran's Day. A number of club members turned out for a FANTASTIC day of great weather and great flying. Got some pics of the new doors on the Cat and the finished project. Flew semi-formation with a Giant Corsair and Giant P-40. Hellcat was likely faster than both of those planes. On the 4th flight, I ran the tank drug on a very fast pass over the runway. As soon as the engine quit I went into a Chandelle almost into a stall and then nosed over parallel to the runway downwind and then turned back onto the runway and dropped the gear at the last moment. Landed fine without any problems. The WH Hellcat is a great flying model. It handles like a dream and is VERY FAST with a DLE-55 at full throttle. I will change out the 24 ounce tank to a 32 ounce tank.

That's the ESM P-39, not mine.

URL=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/numskin/media/planes/IMG_3048_zps292ada54.jpg.html][/URL]



Old 11-11-2013, 04:57 PM
  #672  
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looking fantastic. I receved mine about a week ago. I have her stripped down and am prepping her for glass. I need to do some minor repair on the fuse and wing but nothing out rageous. Should be a fun refub. I am also adding the inboard flaps
Old 11-24-2013, 12:35 PM
  #673  
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LBJ, can you take a pic or tell me how the wing actually mounts in the fuse? I am not sure how or what swcures the wing to the fuse? The refurb has begun on mine and this has me scratching my head. I am adding the inboard flaps and glassing it.
Old 11-24-2013, 01:46 PM
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I can take a pic. For right now, the spar goes into each wing section, and they then slide into the fuselage recesses an inch or so until fully seated. Then, you insert the 1/4-20 bolt into the wing from inside the fuselage. After you get all the servos and air tank, etc, inside the fuselage, it gets pretty crowded. I find it hard to get to the bolts to work them into the wings. It's possible, however.
Old 11-27-2013, 06:48 AM
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This is pretty much it, minus the spar. One bolt holds the wing secure. The first 10 times I inserted the wing into the fuselage, it was very tight, but finally has loosened up. It's still hard to get my big hands inside the fuselage to put the bolt in the wing. Oh well, the job gets done.




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