mike1974

My Feedback: (1)

Hi everyone,

I am happy to be building my first warbird! I have wanted tobuild a Corsairfor the past twenty years and I am finally getting around to it. I really did not pay much attention to retract selection when I bought the plane, as I thought there would be a wide selection. Wrong. I have found it very difficult to find a reasonably priced retract set. I looked into air, but don't want the hassle. Electric retracts seem to be the way to go. The few that I found are either super expensive, don't really exist (E-flite 60-1.20) or are out of stock. I looked into the Wingspan retracts, but the ones that fit the Corsair are a month or two out and are going to start at 230.00. I don't mind spending money on this hobby, but it has to at least seem reasonable in my mind. With the technology that is available, there is no way in my mind that a set of two electric retracts with no struts should be anywhere close to the mid 200's.

With that said, I found theseRCLander retracts.http://www.sonicelectric.com/Merchan...ory_Code=LDERS Specifically the LD-MERS-AM100 retracts. A reasonable price in my mind would be from 100.00-150.00. These seem to fit the bill. The down side is that I cannot find out much about them. There are really no reviews and not much on the forums that I can find. I went ahead and bought these becauseI simply can't justify 300.00 with struts for a set of retracts.

The point of this thread is not to complain, as it may sound, but to ask if anyone has any info. on these retracts? Has anyone actually used these? What are people using other than air on their warbirds? The company seems to produce quality products from what I can find. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!!!

Me410

That RCLander stuff looks interesting and inexpensive.
From the pictures though, it shows the actuator motor to the front of the retract assy, the gear of course folds back towards the traling edge. This may mean that you can't get the gear strut as far forward as possible, as it needs to be. If the gear strut sits too far back from the leading edge you will have nose over problems.

I flew a TF 60 Corsair for years, i used the Robart 615 rotating gear. They are not so good as the side sisor links will bend on a rough landing, and that usually ends your flying day. They are difficult to bend back into shape, new ones are about $6.50 each, and you need four.

If I had waited 20 years to build my pride and joy 60 Corsair, I think i would bite the bullet and buy the Sierra 60 size rotating gear, at about $270.00, includes nice struts. They may be the best out there.

That extra $170 bucks may make the difference between good times and bad times at the field.

As you have ordered the RCLander gear, please let us know how they turn out, i suspect only a few people have used them ?

Tom

mboland

I too have built this model and fitted the Robart 615 retracts, In fact I have 3 sets of these I bought, for p-40 and Hellcat, both now deceased ;-(

I also purchased a few sets of scissor links, and yes, you can bend them if you dump the plane on landing, but they can sometimes be straightened if not bent too badly, and it's not a real chore to replace them if you can't.

For their price I found them to be a very good retract, although you must go over them and file flats with locktite under all grub screws if you want a set and forget installation.

Dash7ATP

Speaking for myself only, I would not be too afraid of air retracts. For the most part ( with maybe two exceptions) that is all I have used for many years. The problems are usually due to leaks, and that is due to poor maintence. Any gear, including mechanicals, need to be gone over once in awhile to sort our possible problems before they happen. It's called Preventative Maintence, and it's a part of full scale aviation.

I tend to go cheap sometimes, and usually end up regreting it.

Dash

Redback

I have built 2 Corsairs, first had Robarts and had the usual problem with the scissor links. Second time round I went for Sierras and have found them very reliable.

They cost a bit more but stuffing around with retracts at the field is a real pain.


Terry

mike1974

My Feedback: (1)

Thank you for all the replies!  I will definitely let you know how they work.  I will post a youtube video when I get them.  I am hoping they ship this week.  I didn't catch the space issue with the way the motor is mounted.  Thanks for pointing that out.  I guess we will see what happens.  I will let you guys know how it turns out.  Thanks again!!

CorsairJock

My Feedback: (90)

I agree: altho they look interesting, and maybe even promising, if the actuator motor is in the front side, that would be a deal killer for me. Corsair retracts NEED to be mounted as far forward as possible.

As for the 615s: I am having pretty good luck with mine now that I modify them as shown on this page:
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=1438302

mike1974

My Feedback: (1)

I took out my plans and did some measuring. There is no way those retracts will fit. Unfortunately I canceled my order. I was really looking forward to testing this product. It was going to ship today and I would have had them by Friday. This seems to be the only place with large scale electric retracts that actually have stock. I have arrived at the conclusion that I will just bite the bullet and wait for the Wingspan retracts that are designed specifically for my Corsair to come in. I am not a patient person, so this retract search has been very frustrating and it looks like the Wingspans are a month or two out. I might consider air, but the electrics seem to be less or equal in price overall and I don't have to worry about the plumbing or pumping them up every time.

Does anyone have any input on building the wing with the stock gear and then adding the retracts later? Or should I wait until I get the retracts before building the wing? Thanks again for all the help.

CorsairJock

My Feedback: (90)

I THINK they can be built with the option of installing removable fixed gear, then later they can be removed and replaced with retracts (as long as there are provisions for 'plumbing').

I have a set of the coveted Lados, with 5 mm (slightly over 3/16") strut wire holes, and with proper mounting tabs. Problem as I see it with them: they cannot be mounted as far forward as I would like, hense my next Corsair (the Top Flite ARF) with have 615s. I'm thinking I SHOULD have installed the Lados in the TF P-40 ARF that I am building: would have worked out great in that plane, but too late now (already installed modified Robart #102 mech rotating retracts).

mike1974

My Feedback: (1)

It is built with removable fixed gear. I just remember reading a thread that said you should have the retracts on hand to make sure they are going to fit correctly. I think I will continue my build, especially since the retracts from Wingspan are going to be made specific to the TF corsair.

Me410

I made 1/4" plywood plates that would sit on the landing gear rails and screw into the existing holes for the retracts. A wheel strut was made from piano wire that was u-shaped to sit on the plate and were clamped to it. I then had temporary fixed gear that could be used while I was waiting for parts for my rotating gear.

You don't want to drill extra holes in the gear rails, but if you knew exactly where the gear holes need to be for your coming retracts, then you could have a temp set up to fly with.

mike1974

My Feedback: (1)

Well , I think I found a set of retracts that will work. I spoke to a very nice gentleman at Wingspan to ask about the difference between the current 100 degree and the upcoming 100 degree retracts that are both for Corsairs, etc. He said the ones coming out will have the circuit board seperate from the retract; which in turn allowed them to have a smaller footprint to better fit the ARF. According to the measurements on my plan and the specs on Wingspan, the only modification I should have tomake is .04 - .05 inches width wise. The retracts are .04-.05 inches wider than on the plan. The length and depth are no problem. The gentleman at Wingspan said it is not much of an issue if you are building the kit, as modifications of this sort are much easier than on an ARF. Soooooooo, I have found a set of retracts that I will be buying (again )and he said they should ship Monday. The few day shipping delay is only because he will be out of town. Here is a link to the retracts. Any input would be appreciated. I probably won't place the order for a day or two to make sure I did not miss anything, like the motor location. Here is the link: http://www.wingspanretracts.com/LGR610T

AllTheGoodNamesAreTaken

My Feedback: (180)

Please post if those new Wingspan retracts rotate 90 or 100 deg.

CorsairJock

My Feedback: (90)

VERY IMPRESSIVE!
But, they are too tall for the ARF, I'm thinking tall for the kit too, but could be made to work.
Also, I wish it had faster cycle time: 7 ~ 9 seconds is TOO slow, I'd like to see it between 4 ~ 5 seconds.

mike1974

My Feedback: (1)

Thanks for the info. I better do some more measuring! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3BtHFhZE0U