glazier808

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Congrats chad! love that last shot...

Casey

lightning 759

Hi Chad
she looks great ,superb pics . ive just about got the stab & fin/rudder done just a bit of shapeing to do on them & made a start ont the fuz . i,ve got one of those ngh 17cc petrols ??? thinking of useing in mine do you think that would be enough for her ??? dont want to have to chop the cowl to much as its a real work of art youve done . also considering electric taken a small step into that area with a hanger9 cosair 50 that i bought cheap off my mate , fly,s really nice ..
keep up the good work
Andy

p.s thinking of pinching your scheme for mine if you dont mind , not seen any red hellcats in the uk yet

Chad Veich

My Feedback: (60)

Andy,

I think one of the 17cc gassers would be ideal and, in fact, that was the direction I was leaning for my second airplane. If I don't end up going with an electric power system I will most likely go with a small gasser. Glad to hear you are making progress on your build and please don't hesitate to share pictures if you like. I would certainly not be offended if you chose to go with red on your bird as well. In fact I could probably help with a number of colorful schemes if you decide you want something a bit out of the ordinary. My brother and I are currently re-finishing a Hangar 9 ARF Hellcat that is going to be overall yellow like the picture below. Apparently this airplane was used for remote controlled dive tests. Yellow is the easiest color for me to see so I lean that way a lot!

Firepower R/C

My Feedback: (10)

Chad, it's looking good! I love how it looks sitting on the gear... so many models have struts that are too short and stubby. Not yours! I have a care package ready for ya, I assembled some of the doo-dads fer ya... hope you can use 'em.

Chad Veich

My Feedback: (60)

Thanks a bunch Rich, for the compliments and the care package. Can't wait to see the "goodies". I am making good progress on my second Hellcat and your parts will just add icing to the cake.

Speaking of Hellcat #2, the wing is about 98% done as is the fuselage. I will be joining the two together very soon and then I plan to use it to make a plug for the belly pan. I will try and get my good friend Vic Catalasan to make a mold and hope to be able to offer a fiberglass belly pan to those who want one. The belly pan is a real pain to build and make fit nice and a glass one will make the entire process much simpler. Anyway, that is the plan at this time.

lightning 759

Hi Chad


. *In fact I could probably help with a number of colorful schemes if you decide you want something a bit out of the ordinary *

anything out of the ordinary is great , love the blue schemes but every man & his dog have done them i like things to be a bit differant even if i get some stick about it (pink spit many moons ago but even thats becoming a well done scheme ) got a bates hellcat to do so im always on the look out

andy

lightning 759

Hi Chad


. *In fact I could probably help with a number of colorful schemes if you decide you want something a bit out of the ordinary *

anything out of the ordinary is great , love the blue schemes but every man & his dog have done them i like things to be a bit differant even if i get some stick about it (pink spit many moons ago but even thats becoming a well done scheme ) got a bates hellcat to do so im always on the look out

andy

Chad Veich

My Feedback: (60)

Andy,

Unfortunately there were not too many foriegn users of the Hellcat so unusual combat schemes are few and far between. However, there were a number of different drone and test aircraft paint schemes to choose from. Finding really good documentation on most of them is tough though! Below are a few options to consider. I really like the first one and it is well documented to boot.





Operation Crossroads Hellcat drones. Primarily red but you get to pick the color you like best for the tail surfaces! I almost went with one of these before settling on "D94" for my airplane. Not shown here but some of them had white tails too which I really like.



Here are some "regular" blue Hellcats but with somewhat out of the ordinary markings.

USS Santee Hellcat (top one) with white and yellow trim. I was going to use this on my #2 Hellcat but I think I'm going with reserve markings instead. The white and yellow trim would certainly help with orientation in flight though. Something to consider!



Fleet Air Arm Hellcat. Of course the FAA had camoflauged Hellcats as well.




Another Royal Navy Hellcat.



Uraguay used a few Hellcats as well. Green is pretty uncommon on the Hellcat!

Tko310

My Feedback: (7)

The YES SanteeIa the scheme I choose and did on my hellcat at the beginning of this thread .love that scheme

lightning 759

Hi Chad
thanks for the reply .
love the first & last schemes you,ve shown

andy

hessian123

I've been planning to do this one for a long time. I love the bee-dodging-bullets nose art! I could end up doing this with my RCFW model, or later when I do a Ziroli.

Chad Veich

My Feedback: (60)

I think you should do it on the RCFW Hellcat hessian, but I'm probably a bit biased!

Have not had a chance to get any more flight time on my Hellcat. Was planning on taking it out again tomorrow but the forecast is for 25 mph winds so I will probably have to postpone. Wednesday is looking acceptable so may shoot for then if tomorrow is a bust.

Below is some proof that I really am building a second Hellcat and it is progressing slowly but surely.

hessian123

I can't argue with that! Unfortunately, I'm a newbie builder and will need more instructions and hand holding than is currently available on the RCFW website. Not to put the pressure on you, but I'm waiting to start my build until the instructions are filled in a bit more. (I'm realllly hoping you include some of the scale detailing how-to stuff as well.)

Chad Veich

My Feedback: (60)

I'll go as fast as I can hessian. Sorry it is taking so long but I hope the finished web site will be a valuable resource for a long time to come. I will do my best to cover everything right up to the test flights inluding my techniques for the scale details. My three top priorities on Hellcat #2 right at the moment are:

1. Finish up the flap installation so that information can be added to the web site.
2. Get the full cockpit kit designed and the tooling made to produce them.
3. Build a plug so that a fiberglass belly pan can produced.

hessian123

Thanks Chad, I appreciate your efforts and I'm looking forward to the results!

Chad Veich

My Feedback: (60)

EPIC FAIL gentlemen. If any of you have reached the point of constructing the flaps please take note, the method shown for slaving the two flaps together WILL NOT WORK! Not sure why this was not apparent to me before now. Heck, I even tested the method on my temporarily installed flaps and it seemed to work fine. However, once the flaps are permanently locked into place the geometry simply will not work. I'm working on the solution as we speak and will post my updates to this thread. The easiest fix would probably be to give each surface its own servo but I don't really want six servos in the wing of a .60-.90 size warbird. Instead, I think a wedge shaped spade between the flaps (ala Corsair) will do the trick. Needless to say this is a bit embarassing!

baldguy

My Feedback: (4)

Just a slight set back is all it is.

hessian123

I have a hard time stringing together a sentence containing the word failure in combination with the above photo. :-)

Chad Veich

My Feedback: (60)

Thanks for the encouragement guys. My biggest concern is that somebody out there is building their Hellcat and not checking in on this thread and thus will not be aware of the mistake until they experience it for themselves. The nice thing about balsa though is that there isn't anything that can't be fixed. It's just easier to do it right the first time! I am very excited about having the flaps on my second airplane but I will admit right up front here that they add a tremendous amount of complexity to the build. The good news is that I am finding that they are really unecessary and for those who wish to keep the airplane simple I don't think you will miss the flaps too much should you elect to leave them off.

I put another flight on my Hellcat today and even though Murphy got his licks in AGAIN I really could not be happier with the airplane. The flight was a short one due to an engine that was sagging a bit at full throttle. (I think I leaned it just a tad too much.) At any rate I landed a bit long and went into the dirt over run. That in itself is no problem. However, in order to give myself plenty of over run and not end up out in the sage brush I angled off a bit to the left side of the runway and ran smack into a stupid utility structure of some sort. I was not flying at my usual field and did not even know it was there until it was too late. Had I of angled right instead of left I would have been in the clear. I'm starting to think Murphy has a thing for red airplanes or something! Anyway, damage was light and included a bent up retract arm on the Robart gear, minor dings to the leading edge of the wing and a gear door, and some popped glue joints. I'll probably have it back up and flying by the weekend. Now for the good news. I am very excited about how will the Hellcat handles both on the ground and in the air. I am particularly encouraged by the fact that the airplane is still something of a floater, even at nearly 12 pounds. I really had not expected that at all. (It also explains why I overshot the landing today.) The stall is very mild by warbird standards with a very gentle wing drop which is easily picked up with rudder and power.

Chad Veich

My Feedback: (60)

PS - I would like to add a congratulations to my friend John West, aka budmo, in regards to a successful test flight on his TF Corsair today. I think I posted a pic of his airplane a couple pages back but below is another one for good measure. John gave me the great privelage of being the test pilot for his pride and joy and, IMHO, he's got a good airplane on his hands. Despite a few squawks that will need to be addressed before the next flight the airplane flew great and required very little trim. I knew within just a few seconds of the airplane breaking ground that it was going to fly just fine. Kudos to John and I can't wait to get our two airplanes in the air together.

lightning 759

HI Chad
just couple of pics of my build so far ,tail feathers just pinned on to she how she looks will leave shapeing & sanding of these till as late as poss to help cut down on the hanger rash i m bound to inflict, great build so far if only all kits were designed this good its a real joy so far . just got to make my mind up on the flaps or no flaps ???

Andy

Chad Veich

My Feedback: (60)

Hi Andy, your Hellcat is coming along very nicely and thank you for the pictures. Please keep them coming! Thank you very much for the kind words about the design as well and don't hesitate to share any criticisms you may have in regards to the build. I am always interested in an honest assesment so that I can make the next one better. Very much looking forward to seeing an RCFW Hellcat gracing the English skies so keep on truckin'.

I have the engine and fuel tank out of my Hellcat at the moment. I have attempted to fly the airplane three times in the last couple of weeks without success due to a balky engine. I finally traced the problem to air bubbles in the fuel line but I have not determined exactly where they are coming from. I've got the engine on a test stand as we speak and will be heading out to run it in a couple of hours. Hopefully I will get it worked out and back in the airframe for some more flying this weekend. I'd like to have the airplane ready for our club's scale fly-in the last weekend of this month and I'd sure like to have some more stick time on it before then. Fingers crossed!

budmo

Chad, I would be willing to bet its the fueler.

baldguy

My Feedback: (4)

Chad, I never have air bubbles in my fuel lines!

Chad Veich

My Feedback: (60)

Nope, we bypassed the fueler and still had the same problem. I think it may be a bad o-ring in the needle valve. I picked up a new one and will give it a try.