rcuser002

My Feedback: (12)

Nexxa,

I think I'll be alright as far as the weight goes since there won't be any landing gear or rudder added.

The only mods that will be adding weight would be the necessary 256 rod for the elevator, the heavier servos and the skid under the fuse to keep the crap off the head of the 32sx. Resulting in around an additional 2 or 3 ounces @ the most.

I can't see inside the wing to inspect the control set up for the ailerons like you did when you recovered your wing.

Is it strong enough to stand up to the additional torque needed for the anticipated high speeds?

Do you think I'll be okay with the one HS-225MG servo for both of the ailerons?

root

Gull_Wing

I just purchased a new GP Combat Corsair and it has the worst covering job that I've seen. Lots and lots of wrinkles everywhere. I'm wondering if it will be possible to smooth them all out with an iron, or am I better off returning it to the dealer.

Please give me your comments / suggestions...

Thanks,
Gull_Wing

rcuser002

My Feedback: (12)

Gull_Wing,

The Corsair I just put together had a pretty crappy covering job ....I thought what the hey , I'll just apply the MAGIC of the heat gun to it...well, be REAL careful with the heat ...my gun shriveled it up in 2 spots and I had to magic marker the burnt spots cause the monokote didn't "take" to it.

The GP Combat Mustang I received yesterday has the same sort of wwwwwwwrinkles too. It's your call, but i think you just have to bite the bullet and realize that this is the main caveat besides the weak control rods.

It's still a pretty decent deal for under a C note.

If I were you I would apply the iron to the bad spots with the lowest setting and maybe even a sock to boot.

Crank up the heat until the covering responds and be willing to do it again at a later date....especially (according to an earlier post in this thread) in the summer when I heard it's more prone to wrinkle again.

hope this helps

root

nexxa

All the mods discuss about in this tread was on my first one.
First I flew it stock, after 3 or 4 flights I lost one ailerons and half of the elevator in the air.
During the winter I decide to revise all, dual ailerons servos, bigger rod for elevator, carbon.... new covering, wheels! At the end the plane came out maybe 10 oz heavier. A real pain to hand launch.


My second Mustang, I assemble it in a weekend, and I didn’t start a thread with this one. Here the mods I made: (not really modifications, it’s more like: additional care to!)

- Review all joins in wing and fuselage with thin CA (glue the ailerons, elevator, rudder first before putting CA everywhere). Revise the firewall with epoxy.

- Use standard CA hinges, not these provide in kit

- Use metal, ball bearings servos for ailerons and elevator. Hitec 225 will do the work without trouble. If I made a season with my cheap SL300 (plastic, no ball bearings, no high torque) the Hitec will do the work easily.

- Reinforce with one or two layer of fiber glass and epoxy the cowling (bottom). Prevent crack on landing. Or install a skid to protect engine head, carb and cowling on landing.

- Elevator, the one you will put the control horn, add a ply or fiber glass under the control horn. Cover a bigger surface to distribute the stress. With time, the control horn will come of with a part of elevator. This mod, I didn’t do it! That’s why there is no more Mustang!!

For the CA (review all joins). I do this on all my models. Habitually I shrink the covering to remove all wrinkles, install all the control surface. Before gluing the wing half together, I drop CA inside and play with the wing to make it run everywhere. Same for the fuselage.

The wing on the Mustang is well built and strong. I abuse them a lot and they never broke apart.

Have fun...

ARF Guy

I'm still flying my Corsair after nearly 3 years. I used the STOCK hardware BUT the fuel tank did split and I ended up recovering the fuse from the canopy forward and the wing saddle to the gull bend. I used real MonoCote and a real close match. I washed the wood down with denatured alcohol and the covering looks as good as new. The factory covering is some low temp stuff. If I had known then what I know now, I would have sprayed every square inch, inside and out with clear (for shiney) or flat clear polyurethane.

I fly with a Magnum .30 4 stroke and use Hytech 81 servos with no problem. I put gear and a working rudder on mine and have in excess of 300 flights. It's a nice scale-looking warbird and it was not intended to fly Mach 2 with a pound of screamming .46 bolted on the front. If you deviate from its intended purpose you must modify or have a very short lifespan. I guess I'm puzzled as to why anyone would want a scale plane to fly like a seagull on meth, but to each his own. I just tossed my two cents in because I know if the plane is powered and flown as intended most of the stock hardware and recommended servos work fine and lasts for years.

See action shots of my plane on pages 7 or 8 and 14.

ARF Guy

rcuser002

My Feedback: (12)

For me and a few other of my flying buddies, there's something about climbing high enough to be able to come down the center of your clubs field at a 45 degree angle with a wide open throttle and watching YOUR plane rrrrrrriiiippppp by you the fastest it can go that takes the place of flying 3D or flying in a scale like manner.

To be able to do that, you must overpower your plane. The Great Planes Combat Corsair and Mustang are cheap enough, small enough, and don't need a real expensive engine to be able to do this.

It's also a really cool, absolute blast and MAJOR part of this hobby FOR ME to b-a-s-h- a kit or ARF to its utmost speed potential by reading these forums and finding out what others have done and borrow their ideas, techniques,choice of hardware, fuel blends etc., etc., to be able to do this. Even if they were meant to be a "scale plane".

The last thing we all want to do is crash something we spent hours and hours and hours on in order to get it just right so we can accomplish what we want to accomplish. Whether it be flying scale and listening to the comments in the peanut gallery behind us or flying 3d and hovering right off the deck in the solitude of the evening or early morning without a soul in sight, or just flying with speed as the main concern.

So...flying fast is fun and the GP Corsair and Mustang CAN fly fast if overpowered, so they are.

root aka Bob G.

p.s. "Like a Seagull on Meth" ....I love it.....Hey Arf Guy, Do I have your permission to use that?

ARF Guy

Like I said, to each his own. That's what makes this sport so appealling! Besides, the ARF and kit makers love it!

"p.s. "Like a Seagull on Meth" ....I love it.....Hey Arf Guy, Do I have your permission to use that?"

Permission from WHO? As a free 'merican livin' in 'merica, I don't ask NO BODY for NO permission for NUTHIN'!

Fly fast, land safe!

ARF Guy

longdan

Oh boy. Under the tree this morning was a large box. I opened it up and there was this beautiful work of art in the form of a GP Combat Corsair . Another smaller box contained an ASP .25 engine. My family must know me too well.
Can't wait to get to work on this. I've read through this entire thread picking up all the great ideas and advice. Hopefully I'll have it in the air in a couple of weeks.

ARF Guy

A Merry Christmas indeed!

Enjoy.

ARF Guy

rcuser002

My Feedback: (12)

longdan,

I second that...MERRY CHRISTMAS....and don't forget to maiden that Corsair with the largest diameter prop for the greatest amount of pull-out/thrust ...just in case she torques horrendously to the left like mine (and others from this thread) did... also, a couple of degrees of extra right thrust washers added to the firewall wouldn't hurt.

root

ps. I added 1&3/8" invasion stripes to the top of the wing to be more visable and also a little more "scale-like" - soon to do the same for the bottom, what do you think?

longdan

Root- Thanks for the tip. I think I've got a MAS 10x4 prop somewhere that I could use. I'll see how the chinese engine likes it when I run it in.
More right thrust? Ok, I'll give it a try. It already looks to have a lot, but I saw earlier in the thread that a lot of planes would torque to the left on launch. I'm not doing the rudder mod on mine (yet), so I guess I can always take the washers out if it wants to fly in circles, or after I learn to deal with the left-torque.

Progress so far - glued wing halves together, installed ailerons, ironed out wrinkles in covering, sanded inside of cowl in lieu of reinforcing with glass. Question here- should I glass the inside of the cowl now or wait until the ply ring is glued in? It's a pretty tight fit in there and another layer of glass may be too much. My thought is to wait until the ring is installed.
I have also sprayed the inside of the fuse with clear polyurethane for fuelproofing.

I can't get over how good this thing looks[8D]

I won't bother to post any pics, since they are all the same. Might put up one when it's finished.

Those invasion stripes on your P51 are just the thing to finish it off. Makes it look way more authentic.

longdan

I've been thinking long and hard about what to do about the weak horizontal stab. I have some 3/8" wide thin carbon ribbon stuff that I will try to attach to the underside of the stab. If I slit the covering, I might be able to slide it in under the covering with some CA, then iron it all down again and hopefully it won't be too noticeable or add so much thickness that the stab won't fit in the slot. If it works, I'll post some pics.

rcuser002

My Feedback: (12)

I doubt you'll be able to re-iron the covering........it really stinks.......definatley NOT standard monokote....more like low heat stuff.........just plan on recovering the cut ....I used low temp econokote that i had lying around when I did my invasion stripe add-ons. Good Luck.

root

rcuser002

My Feedback: (12)

The long skinny hole is for the landing skid (made of bent 440,silver soldered to a bent landing gear strap/support, screwed to the firewal)

I lightened the total weight by cutting the plywood wherever I could...its only about 1.5 lbs ...guestimate.

I just hope it tracks straight on my short grass runway...if not i'll bend the gear till it does or add a spare rx, battery and rudder/tail wheel.

If only the weather would cooperate ---wind and freezing temps aren't conducive for flying.

root

P.S. Hey nexxa,

I followed your advice w/ the 32sx, the stronger hinges and rods, reinforcing pad for the control horn and extra CA and epoxy in the joints and firewall and used the 3 smaller HS 85MG's (rather than HS225mg)w/ a 6V 1650 mAh battery near the tail for more servo torque and to get the CG at 2&1/4.

rcuser002

My Feedback: (12)

The dolly didn't work, so 24 hours later...I worked up the courage to try a hand launch ...even after I lost my Corsair that way. After a good run and a pretty straight toss while at a tad less than 2/3 throttle, it nosed downward and to the left but I was quick to apply right aileron and up it went at a 45 degree angle. I went to 1/2 throttle right away realizing that this plane is as fast as everyone has previously said. I was doing close to 75MPH at little more than 1/2 throttle in less than 10 seconds and at least 100MPH at full throttle and that's with an APC 10x5. It trimmed out with only about 3 clicks of down elevator and rolls were almost a blur at the 3/8ths low rate throws. My idle was trimmed too high and the throttle cut wasn't effective enough to stop the 32sx so the prop broke. I replaced it w/ a MAS 10x6 and there was a noticeable drop in speed. I wasn't ready to put on a APC 9x6 for only its 2nd hand launch for fear of lack of torque (previous APC 9x5 Corsair paranoia). It flew at 1/4 throttle comfortably without any stalling tendencies and looked simply awesome. Everyone commented on the flight characteristics and I was very pleased. My nerves were not shot a bit to give you an idea of the overall outcome. The muffler came loose and the nobody had a replacement nut so the day was over. BTW, the 440 skid worked well to keep the field out of the engine head and I highly recommend it. Corsair #2 should fly so good! At least that's what I'm hoping for.

Thanks for listening,

root aka Bob G

longdan

Man, those speeds sound scary with a high pucker factor. Glad it was succesful.
This talk of losing a corsair on handlaunch is scaring me. I'm nearly done building mine -just got to fit all the servos and rods etc. I plan to hand launch, but I would be absolutely gutted if it went in on the first launch. But others on this thread have said the corsair handlaunches no problem.

BTW - I did the rudder mod on mine. Just couldn't see any reason not to - it was too easy, with the rod tube and servo cut out already there. And I managed to glue some carbon laminate under the covering on the lower surface of the stab. Hope this gives it enough strength. Doesn't look that great but it's on the under side, so no one will notice.

I'm gonna look at putting a wire skid under the nose and beside each aileron servo too. I've seriously considered moving the servos to the top of the wing. It looks like all I would need to do is cut out the balsa in the top skin, and glue some blocks to the top surface of the ply mounting plate. I'll procrastinate on this a bit more before making a final decision.

rcuser002

My Feedback: (12)

longdan,

no need for the wire skid under each servo....just do the one under the plane at the fire wall w/ 440 rod..there'll be enuf of an angle and the servos will be cool...just put the washer or 2 between the engine mount and firewall for the right thrust compensation and you'll be cool there too. Be ready for right aileron and rudder for launch and make sure your launcher person chucks it STRAIGHT and EVEN. Gotta say they both LOOK really fine when flying.

root

longdan

Maidened the corsair today. There was quite crowd at the field and it attracted a lot of attention. I was under a lot of pressure to put it in the air, so I fired it up and got another member to launch it for me.
It almost flew out of his hands with a 9x6 on it, with no pulling one way or the other, just flew straight out. It got faster and faster and faster. Wow. It really boogies. I had the throws set to low rates and it was still super sensitive. Probably need to shift the CG forward a bit and reduce the throws slightly.
The new ASP .25 performed flawlessly and flew for about 10 minutes on the 4 oz tank.
I am very impressed with this plane. It's everythining everyone says it is.

rcuser002

My Feedback: (12)

longdan,

ALWAYS good to hear that. Flying in front of the peanut gallery is always a little more nerve racking.

Please tell us:

How much extra right thrust washers did you need to add to accomplish the straight fly out?

How much throttle did you need to take off?

How fast would you estimate you were going?

Did you use the rudder?

Landing??, the servos in the wing survive??

etc etc

-------
I flew my Mustang again today -----a lot of fun after a hairy launch by my buddy.... had a crimp in the fuel line and the throttle was richened and not put back where it was so she wasn't as fast as last flight...still a real rocket and have to stay way ahead of it........a real 6 minute rush on a 4 ounce tank......in fact, today I had to dead stick her because of the overly rich setting using more fuel than usual and she literally floated in one minute early...the CG is at recommended factory setting by placing the 4+ oz. NiMh behind the wing/fuse scoop.

Love this plane....Thanks, GP....my Corsair was replaced and is soon to be assembled after I get a few more "jollies" with the Mustang.

longdan

Ah, yes, the gory details - this is what people want to read about.
I thought about adding some more right thrust, but since I did the rudder mod, I thought why not use that instead, so just before launch I put in about 3 clicks of right rudder trim and 2 clicks of right aileron trim. This is what I think helped with the straight launch. But once it was up to speed, that initial rudder and aileron trim had to be taken out to get it to fly straight and level. It's hard to estimate how fast it was going. It was definitely the fastest plane at the field today, and there were some fast planes there including a gas turbine jet, a large pattern plane and various overpowered warbirds and aerobats. The 25 had power to spare, and it's only going to get better, because up until today, it had never been started. I ran a couple of tanks through it on the ground before flying, and it was still a bit tight.
I think the 9x6 prop helped with the speed. I did most of the flight at 1/3 - 1/2 throttle. At full throttle it would pull it vertical, and everything would get scary very quickly. It would also wag its tail around a lot at high speed. I think for the next few flights, I'll go to a 9x5 or 9x4.
My out of control loops and spins were met with oooohs and aaaaahs from the peanut gallery
For the basic flying, I didn't seem to need the rudder - it does very nice pylon type turns, but I did use it for some aerobatic manuveres. I also found it very handy on the approach, keeping it lined up without having to tilt the wings. I flicked the elevator to high rate for the landing, and just flared as I heard the wings start to clip the top of the long grass. It slid in without any fuss. The servos survived just fine, but I did have to pick grass out of them, as well as out of the cowl. It'll be a different story when the grass gets mowed.
I haven't put any wire skids on yet, but that is definitely on the to-do list.

I can't wait to get it out again and really tear some holes in the sky. It feels good to have the fsatest plane at the field, and a cool looking one as well[8D]

longdan

Uh oh. Houston, we have a problem...
While playing with my corsair, I noticed that I can just pull the leading edge of the wing away from the fuselage. It seems that the little plywood tounge that sticks out the front of the wing is not seating in the groove in the bulkhead. I'm not sure if it is the bulkhead flexing forward allowing the wing to come unseated or what. The bottom corner of the ply tounge is a little rounded, so this probably helps it come loose. The tounge always seemed a little short to me. It only sticks forward about 3 mm (same thickness as the ply bulkhead it slots into).
Anyone have any ideas on how to remedy this situation?

borisp

Remove existing tongue completely out with Dremel (Proxon, or whatever you have), make a new longer one and glue it firmly back with epoxy glue. I did it once and worked without a problem. When I said longer one, I mean it should protrude long enough in wing as well into the bulkhead groove.

Dead Roman

My Feedback: (1)

Ok guys, heres my version of the stang. This is the beginning of the fuse. I cut the vert stab to make a rudder and covered the tail in red ultracoat for a tuskegee look. I have a few more things to do to the fuse but except for some bettie page decals on the cowl and lettering its almost done. Hope you boys like it.

hy flyr

My Feedback: (27)

Looking good, Dead! It's always nice to "customize" an arf.

frednjess

I've been following this thread for awhile with my Corsair sitting on the shelf. Finally got the spending money for the servos and have started building. Went with the rudder mod and will use the O.S. 25 LA (yeah, I know). The one thing I haven't seen on the thread is a good picture of the gull wing skids to save the servos on landing. I saw the tip skids towards the beginning, but those look like they would only be useful on pavement. What works well on grass? Thanks.