Hellcat F6F Wild Hare RC - G-Pete's build and review
#651
My Feedback: (1)
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
Thanks P51Tom
#652
My Feedback: (1)
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
P51Tom
#654
My Feedback: (49)
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.
#655
My Feedback: (49)
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.
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.
#656
My Feedback: (49)
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.
#661
My Feedback: (49)
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.
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.
#662
My Feedback: (101)
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?
#663
My Feedback: (49)
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
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.
#670
My Feedback: (49)
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.
Oct 28. Primed and painted the doors today. Almost done with this project.
Last edited by LBJ; 10-28-2013 at 04:45 PM.
#671
My Feedback: (49)
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]
That's the ESM P-39, not mine.
URL=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/numskin/media/planes/IMG_3048_zps292ada54.jpg.html][/URL]
#674
My Feedback: (49)
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.