RE: Top Flite Giant Corsair ARF Disappeared.
 

Well we are talking apples and oranges if we dont know how they are built even though its an ARF. Mine was done by the book so far as the tail is concerned. From what I see so far its not airworthy and thats my only point.

I flew a DC-3 with some play in the rudder that turned to major flutter at a certain speed.

I wouldnt be surprised if the characteristic tail wag people talk about with Corsairs is just attributed to poor rudder set up.

On a side note I removed the small strips of ply the keep you from getting a hand in the forward compartment to install the fuel tank and engine mount hardware. This area is a pain to access.

On the wing mounting Im thinking of adding wood to the fuse mount and taking a closer look at the wing bolt areas as this is where John had his come apart.

RE: Top Flite Giant Corsair ARF Disappeared.
 

I guess I could have sprinkled a lot of sugar on it for you bushong572.

RE: Top Flite Giant Corsair ARF Disappeared.
 

Looks like Tower just knocked off $20.00

Currently listed at 729.99

RE: Top Flite Giant Corsair ARF Disappeared.
 

Hi everyone, just got the ARF and wanted to know if anyone has used a G62 for a motor and what you thought? Thanks!

RE: Top Flite Giant Corsair ARF Disappeared.
 

Here are a few links to short videos I made of the tail installation.

Is this what any of you are seeing in your builds?

http://youtu.be/xvKYXnu3SZ4

http://youtu.be/R3rFasa2Ftg

http://youtu.be/wkYf9XfzdwY

RE: Top Flite Giant Corsair ARF Disappeared.
 

I had a look at your videos that is alot of play, what is happening? is the torque rod moving around inside the surfaces or is it flimsy hardware or what. I am just about to order one of these but this makes me a bit nervous

RE: Top Flite Giant Corsair ARF Disappeared.
 

Well the torque rods are epoxied in the LE of their respective surfaces so there is no play in the wood. The elevators are easy to twist so you know what will happen in flight is they will twist from the inner part out to the tips under load having less effect towards the outside edge. The rudder will not center period. The metal in this kit is low grade and NOT music wire as it should be. Its easy to bend and all the torque rods and linkages from the servos are made of the same material, It would be OK for a 60 size plane but not for one this big.
The long linkages from the servos placed forward in the fuse should be a carbon arrow shaft or similar and then have epoxied music wire ends. Instead these soft steel wires run the whole distance. The rudder linkage is unsupported from the rear retract bulkhead to the torque rod so it flexes back and forth.

These are fundamnetal flaws and this is not airworthy as is in my opinion.

RE: Top Flite Giant Corsair ARF Disappeared.
 

this is what I saw on the one that fluttered.

RE: Top Flite Giant Corsair ARF Disappeared.
 

I have not had a chance to inspect one of the new ARFs, however I did build the kit about five years ago. If they used the same methods and type of torque rods I can offer a suggestion of where to look to solve some of the problem. The plastic housing used as the bearing on the torque rod is several thousanths larger than the torque rod itself. When deflecting the control surfaces look at where the rod comes out of the plastic sleeve and most likely you can watch it move back and forth. Another problem with the rudder was the L portion of the torque rod could have been left longer, that would have stabalized some of the play. And lastly one reason the rudder appears to have more play is the distance from the hinge line to the rear tip of the rudder is about twice or more than that of the elevators. This results in more distance traveled in the arc of the movement.

I extended the threaded L portion of the torque rod on the rudder. I even removed a portion of the former so I could get as close to the fuse skin as possible. The next option may sound a little crude but it helped and has not caused a problem to date. I took some very thin K & S brass sheeting. I cut a length about a half inch long and just wide enough to wrap about 2/3 of the way around the torgue rod. I rolled it into shape, lubed up the rod and slid it into the housing creating a shim. This helped most of all.

Good Luck

RE: Top Flite Giant Corsair ARF Disappeared.
 

Thanks for the tips I'll look into that for sure.
What is the metal used in the kit you built? Is it black like music wire or is it silver like mild steel?

RE: Top Flite Giant Corsair ARF Disappeared.
 

I flew the plane last summer but held the speed down as I saw the elevator flutter at hi speed. This fall I cut the covering on the elevator bottom/mounted a plywood plate and recovered it. I was able to install a large CB associates Horn on the plates. I broke the white plastic wire guides free and slid them forward a few inches, punched a hole in the side of the fuse and glued the white guides through the hole and lined them up with the horn. I had to buy new 48" 4-40 rods and installed them. I had about 1/4-3/8" of play in the elevators before and now there is no slop at all. These are now done the same as the TF P-51 which have no play. I would like to try it again before winter set in here in Michigan. But I feel more confident now. My 2 cents

RE: Top Flite Giant Corsair ARF Disappeared.
 

Thanks for the info.
Did you report any problems to Hobbico about your Corsair?

RE: Top Flite Giant Corsair ARF Disappeared.
 

I built the GS Cosair a couple of years ago (still have the plane), I built it by the manual
and I had a lot of flutter, even at half throttle, here what I did
as I can see, jkeze did something similar on his plane
as for the rudder, the rudder installation on the ARF version seems to be similar to the kit
I have play on the rudder perhaps, a little less then your's but the rudder have no flutter even on dive
an my corsair is quite fast with a 24*8 prop on a evolution 58gx2

hope this help

RE: Top Flite Giant Corsair ARF Disappeared.
 

ARF = almost ready to fix!!

Sorry to hear hobbico service is so poor. Seems like they feel threatened by your stance of wanting to Help improve the product. Maybe all they cAn deal with are refund requests.

Could be a cya situation where these issues were know, supposed to be corrected but never addressed and if acknowledged would lead to a bloodbath in the department.

I seriously had more faith in hobbico. I should NOT be surprised as I was just treated like crap by futaba on an absolutely new purchase. Never an appology or any sense of urgency on their part to rectify THEIR problem that was causing me time and frustration.

Good luck. Do a charge back.<br type="_moz" />

RE: Top Flite Giant Corsair ARF Disappeared.
 

Thanks for the reply and yes its a shame they are taking this posture. If everyone would report the problems to them rather than just accept it as is and fix it there is a chance things can change.

I agree it seems like more of a CYA situation because they repeat themselves like its scripted from one person to another. It seems John Smith ran into this exact same defense and only managed a swap he had to pay for at a discount. Anyway at this rate they are making less and less friends so its just a matter of time before they feel the blowback.

RE: Top Flite Giant Corsair ARF Disappeared.
 

A pic from toda's flying. All DLE 55s. No flutter and no wigwag.

RE: Top Flite Giant Corsair ARF Disappeared.
 

Love my Corsair. No issues at all, flies like it is on rails. No flutter at all.

RE: Top Flite Giant Corsair ARF Disappeared.
 

I guess I was risking my very life flying in the same sky today with two poorly designed and constructed TF Corsairs, especially since they have many flights on them. It's a wonder they didn't blow apart in midair...
Oh, well.

Old Dawg, owner/flyer of the checkerboard Corsair

RE: Top Flite Giant Corsair ARF Disappeared.
 

Are all 3 built exactly to the manual with the provided ARF hardware... No modifications?

RE: Top Flite Giant Corsair ARF Disappeared.
 

Do you have play as shown and discussed in this thread?

RE: Top Flite Giant Corsair ARF Disappeared.
 

Capt G I take it that the modifications that you listed worked?

RE: Top Flite Giant Corsair ARF Disappeared.
 

The plane flys great! I dribbled a little thin CA in the holes where the wires go in to the elevators and rudder before gluing them in. Also sealed the elevator and aileron gaps as always and added a little reinforcement to the firewall and wing holddown plate. That's it.

RE: Top Flite Giant Corsair ARF Disappeared.
 

All this plane needs is stripped, glassed, and a cowl upgrade

RE: Top Flite Giant Corsair ARF Disappeared.
 

Just some different decals and paint here and there. What cowl up grade? Brand?

RE: Top Flite Giant Corsair ARF Disappeared.
 

Fiberglass Specialties is about a 20 minute drive away so I will take the original cowl and fuse to them and let them form a new cowl with open cowl flaps