Firepower R/C

My Feedback: (10)

JurassicJet,

It seems you are not going to win with those things... jerk them out, send them back, and buy something better. You are gonna burst a blood vessel.

We feel your pain... and we thank you for sharing your experience. I for one won't be buying any until I see some serious reworking done on these, if ever.

1UGLYPUG

That is what I did. Michael was good enough to refund my 200 bucks, and I still thank him for that, but, there just does not seem to be any reliable electrics out there as reliable as , say, the robart retracts on my giant scale corsair. I am still watching and hoping some will come along. I really thought these were the ones, but.......

irocbsa

My Feedback: (12)

It's a real shame too. I also thought that these were going to be the final answer for affordable electric retracts. I really think that some minor changes to the design could remedy the situation, but I don't know if that's happening or not.

1UGLYPUG

200 PLUS DOLLARS is not what I would really call affordable. But,,,, I would almost pay 250 for a pair that would really be reliable..... but, I don't see it happening with rotating retracts. I am about to buy a set of air retracts for my H9 corsair, since I have had replacement H9 retracts on back-order for months now, and see none in sight. My wingspan retracts that I had, had one not go down and locked all the way, and when it landed, it completely destroyed it self by folding up and actually twisting the motor housing. I am grounded now, since I threw away my old H9 retracts when I got these thinking how great it was going to be. Oh well,,, at least I got my money back, and thanks go to Michael for that. I just hope he can get these things working. I would really like to see an American company beat out the Chinese on this. And, with his good customer service, people will flock to him when he does.... Good luck all.

irocbsa

My Feedback: (12)

Well, $200, if the retracts were reliable, would be very affordable relative to say a Down and Locked conversion which puts you around $400 when it's all said and done. Unfortunately, when the products doesn't work and your plane is grounded because of it, even free is too expensive.

JurassicJet

My Feedback: (3)

Isn't that the truth

I sent an email to Wingspan this morning. We shall see what he does.

I think my blood pressure has gone back down a little.....

Firepower R/C

My Feedback: (10)

Well, for now I am staying away from electric gear on anything but .40 size and smaller electrics. Pneumatic gear at least won't self-destruct if they happen to fold, and I believe they will remain the more robust choice for some time to come. It's a pity though, as I too have a romance going with the smooth operation of electric gear... love that scale retraction!

WORLD, WE NEED SOME GOOD 100 DEGREE ROTATING RETRACTS!!! COME ON, NOW!!! This is getting rediculous. Has anyone thought about modding the robart gear to get rid of those silly links that always bend?

JurassicJet

My Feedback: (3)

Does anyone know anything about Larry at Southeast Model products.

He apparently builds custom electric retracts. Talked to him this morning and he is not that much more money than Wingspan and his includes struts (and brakes if you want them).

da Rock

In my experience, we do have reliable rotators that match the Robarts. Having seen Robarts in the flesh, and seen them in action, it would be dishonest to keep quiet about my Lados.

I've had Lados in my Corsair since they first came out. Never had one instance of trouble. They aren't the fastest in the world, but never had a failure of any kind. They were probably the first batch from the original owner/operator, Lado himself. It was an effort to get the next set but they have also worked flawless. I'm not sure how many I've got now since I've been swapping Lados out to get the WingSpans with their 100* travel. ....and swapping Lados back in when the WingSpans did their next failure. For me, Lados have been like the Bunny, they just keep on working and working. I just wish the rotating Lados had 10* more travel.

Ford34tom

Does E-Flite make 100 degree rotators? It sounds like they make a good product, I just don't know about the 100 degrees.

Lados sound really good just rarely available. I talked to them and they said "maybe in a month".

irocbsa

My Feedback: (12)

Unless they snuck something in right under my nose, E-Flite doesn't have rotating gear for anything above a 46 sized plane.

JurassicJet

My Feedback: (3)

I wish I owned a business that as fast as I could make something they would sell out. I really don't understand Lado at all because it seems that they are never in stock and that had been going on for years....

No one answered my previous post but how about Southeast Model Products retracts from Larry. Talked to him on the phone the other day and seems that he knows what he is doing. Don't know if he makes rotating retracts. Might be worth a shout....

www.southeastmodelproducts.com/
Also check out post #28 on this thread. This is larry's gear. He told me they were $125 each but that included everything you see.... retract, strut, wheel and even brakes on them.... www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php

RBean

I've now gotten about 30 cycles and 20 flights on my third set of 85 degree standard retracts. Maybe he's got the problems solved at least in the "standard retracts".

raptureboy

Any more updates on the rotating units? I see he has a new set for the TF P-40 arf http://www.wingspanretracts.com/LGR630T

Ford34tom

The new ones are what they call "top mount" for the Top Flite planes using rotating main gear. I talked to Mike at Wingspan and these will not be made in the "bottom mount" configuration. He says that the old "bottom mounts" are much better than they were with much more powerful motors. They are just about the only electrics to go into a Hanger 9 P40. I guess I will give them a try and see how they work. The Hanger 9 stock mechanicals sure do not work well at all. Anybode else but the bottom mount rotators from Wingspan lately?

raptureboy

Thanks for the fol up. Iwas going to give Mike a call because Ihave had it with the Robarts. The links are so weak that anything but a spot on landing causes them to give out and twist. My p40 is most likely at the 12lb limit. I'm tired of fixing my cowl from taking it on the chin

raptureboy

I got my email from Mike saying the new top mounts are ready to ship now. I will follow up when I get them. Keep your fingers crossed.

dale_bradly

I'll add to this thread:
I purchased two sets of WIngspan retracts, with the intent to do the same H9 P-40 as the OP, removing the stock mechanical setup.
I am in New Zealand, so adding considerably to shipping costs.
I bought two sets, to give me some onhand spares (and/or onsell if unneeded).
And now the bad news:
One of the retracts died during install. It appears, based on my observations, that they have no travel limit switches/positioning, and rely on the overcurrent draw cutoff function to stop the retract when it reaches the end of travel.
I appears that this overcurrent current did not operate, and the retract continued to drive forward, ultimately pushing the drive shaft through the end casing.
I did email Wingspan about this, and they offered to replace under warranty. However, I had not informed Wingspan that i had trimmed the mount as per the OP, and also filed down the strut mount, to fit robostruts, therefore, I considered my warranty would not be upheld, and when factoring in the return shipping costs this unit was written off.
Good thing i had a second pair huh?
Well, after similarly modifying to fit the wing/robostrut, the installed pair would not retract on the bench with the weight of 3/8" robostrut and 3-3/4" wheel, and would cut out on half way through the retract cycle on the overcurrent feature. They could not extend when the wing is inverted. This might seem an unusual and unrealistic expectation, but if they can't extend against gravity, how will they extend against a 30mph headwind?
This was running at 6V nominal, and even tried at the maximum recommend of 7.2V. I used by icharger set to power supply mode, which also shows current draw, and the overcurrent appeared to operating at 1.2A, not the 900mA advertised.
Therefore, this model has not flown with these retracts, and i have no faith in their ability to do the job advertised. They are being removed now, and i will work on other avenues.
I will email this information to Wingspan for their comment. As stated, i do not expect a warranty refund/replacement, but perhaps they might have some feedback.

irocbsa

My Feedback: (12)

Sorry to hear about your experience Dale. Its seems pretty typical for those of us who have been through the WingSpan wringer. They should not be selling those units in their current form.

JurassicJet

My Feedback: (3)

Dave:

I feel your pain. It is so unfortunate that this happened and then to top it off you are half way around the world.

Your modifications to the retract really have absolutely nothing to do with their reliability. It will be interesting to see if Mike sees it that way or not. You deserve a 100% refund including shipping in my opinion. I will bet it costs him less than $25 per unit to make, since the crapping thing is made in China.
What really ticks me off is we all paid a fair amount of money for these retracts and essentially they are junk. And by me stating these issues on the public forums, I have now basically devalued my Wingspan retracts to virtually zero.
Another thing that really torques me off is, when I was having all of these issues, Mike said that he would send me a bomb bay kit for free for all my troubles with his retracts. He sells these kits specifically for the Top Flite B-25 that I have and I thought, "wow, that would be great." Did I ever see that free kit for all the BS that I went through and the weeks upon weeks that my airplane was grounded due to these retracts? NOPE. Just more insult to injury.
I have decided to switch over to these retracts from Hobby King. They have an overcurrent protection in addition to travel limit micro switches. There are two things I don't like about them though. One, the trunnion has a 10mm hole so RoboStruts do not fit since they are about 12.5mm in diameter. I fired up the lathe and made some adapters out of steel that easily solved the problem. Two, I don't like how the trunnion is cast. It seems like it may not be that strong but I have not tested them in the aircraft. What I do like about them is the price...$28. I could buy nine of them for the price of one set of Wingspans. BOOM! http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...dProduct=28981
I have bench tested them and they sure seem to work good.

raptureboy

Well I just went through all of this with both the wingspans and the RC lander versions both of which were returned for a refund. Mike gave me a full refund even after I drilled out the trunions for 3/16" wire to fit the std robart struts because of the same issues with the motors being too weak to lift anything more than a wire strut. I finally wised up and bought a pair of Sierras and these things need to be put in a museum to show what quality American made products look like. They are absolutely beautiful and well worth the money. I know we all have a hard time coughing up $300 for retracts on a $300 plane but when I consider all the time, aggravation, and $ spent screwing with electrics and also the cheap robart 615's which collapsed over and over and caused all kinds of damage to my TF P-40 I could have paid for half the cost of the Sierras. The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweet taste of a bargin has gone. Everyone I know that has purchased Sierra gear has said the same thing, absolutely the best and they hold their value at resale. What kind of quality are you going to get for $28 ? Is it worth banging up your plane when they fail? The problem with all the electrics is they use cheap motors and parts from China and are way overpriced, even the down and locked conversions by Robart have had all kinds of issues burning out and failing.

irocbsa

My Feedback: (12)

I bet you're spot on with that estimate. I found the motors that they use in those things online and they're all of $8. The board is probably cheaper. Considering that the case is made of cheap pot metal I'd guess that doesn't add much to the price.

I ordered 4 of those retracts a couple of weeks ago. They should be here soon. Thanks for reporting on them. I don't like the 10mm trunion hole either. Most of my planes are less than 15lbs though, so I'll just use a 3/8" RoboStrut which should slide right in.

LDM

My Feedback: (15)

One thing about RC lander , they are rc people who are trying but failing .
I am told they are the ones behind the new 30lbs rated $179 Parkrc P40 style gear .
I reached out to Max at that company and he said they are testing each set .
On another note , I am use the FMS 1700mm Corsair retracts , there sets in my possesion , $79 a set from Motion RC and they work fantastic .
I have them in my Corsair and my new 1700 mm Hobby King P40 (can be seen in the P40 thread ) and or the FMS thread

irocbsa

My Feedback: (12)

I checked out the MotionRC website. Is it just me, or do these units look identical to the Eflite 60-120 gear?

http://www.motionrc.com/fms-designed...1700mm-planes/

da Rock

They're for P51 and P47s for one thing. Not rotating, and no mention of what angle they assume when down. If it's 90degrees, they will not be 90degrees to the ground. Jeez, are there any gear mfgs today that have a clue what they're doing?