Hello all,

I am waiting on my new ESM Bearcat to arrive so that I can start the assembly process. It should arrive around 8-3-2011. I will be installing a DLE 55cc gas engine in this little beast and will have to make some mods to the airframe for strength. I will beef up the fire wall and I am thinking about machining an aluminum wing joiner to replace the ply joiner that is supplied with the aircraft. Would like some input as to weather or not you guys think this is needed. I have the Sierra retracts coming for this plane also. Would like to hear everyones thoughts on this plane and how she handles. I will post pics of the ARF as soon as I recieve it.

As a dealer flyer of ESM planes I do not feel in my opinion you do not have to machine an aluminum joiner.

Thank you for the fast input. I will definately take your advise into consideration.

I received my bearcat today from VQ Warbirds and got it unpacked. Everything was in great shape and looks to be a very good quality ARF for the dollars spent. I will try to get some pics tonight and post for all to see. I am very excited to get the DLE 55 mounted and see how it fits in the cowl. Just from measuring it looks like there will be about a 1/2 inch of the cylinder head protruding from the bottom.

pictures?

The plane flys great. It's fast, but very stable. The DLE 55 should be a good match as you need a lot of weight up front to get the CG right. Just keep the speed up on landings and you will be fine.


Jeff

Ok guys. Glad to see a few people are looking into this thread. Here are some pics. The plane looks great out of the box and I have yet to find any defects. I will however be changing all the hardware as I am not fond of the ESM supplied hardware. I think I will also be able to scab the tailwheel fork assembly off of an old broken robart retractable tailwheel and make the tail wheel look more scale in appearance. It still will not retract but I think it will look better than the cheesy wire setup. Progress may be a little slow as temps here are well over 100 deg. and I won't hit the garage until 9:00 or so to beat the heat. Sorry for the focus on a couple of the pics. I thought the camera was on auto focus.

Got some time to work on the bearcat tonight. I decided not to try to beef up the firewall from the inside and instead I cut a piece of 1/8" hardwood ply (not light ply) to the shape of the firewall. Then I screwed and epoxied the plate to the outside of the firewall and when I bolt the engine though both pieces it should create a sandwhich affect on the fiberglass and be stout as heck. I also drilled the hole for the engine mounting bolts then I mixed up some thinned epoxy and fuel-proofed the outer plate. I think it came out pretty good. Here is a picture to illustrate.

Well, today was the maiden flight. Every thing went wonderful. This thing really moves!! The DLE 55 ran like a top. I can't wait until the breakin period is up and I can switch to a Xoar 22-10 instead of the 22-8. That should really make her move. Here are some pics of the plane without the gear covers installed. I will try to get some more pics with the gear covers mounted.

Remember the higher the pitch, the more the plane moves forward per revolution.As you increase your thrust you will have to idle the engine back more to slow down for landings.

That will actually be a good thing as it slows down really easy now. I like to carry speed when landing a warbird anyway. But that is good info. for anyone to understand what happens when you change the pitch of the prop for speed or for thrust.

hi all,<div></div><div>i see that this treat is from august 2011, but still</div><div></div><div>i would like to buy the esm f8f, but i'm thinking to use a dle35ra &hellip;</div><div>our field is only 235 feet long&hellip;</div><div>i'm also thinking to buy the electric retracts from esm (version 2 is now available)</div><div></div><div>@cutnmetal, if you have used a dle55 engine&hellip;;dit you realy have to add weight in the noise????</div><div>so the c.g. in the instruction manual is totally wrong????

tips, idea's are verry welcome......</div><div></div><div>cu</div><div>juweeltje</div><div>(Belgium, Europe)</div>

hellO,,? anyone???