RickShane

My Feedback: (1)

Hey guys,
Ibought a Top Flight Gold edition Corsair 60 size. and everything that goes with itform a guy thatbought itin 1999. Ihave read nothing but bad stuff about what Ihave.... There is so much doom & Gloom on here it's crazy. I know you never hear about any of the good stuff. So Iwould like to hear something good about the following....

Here's what Ibought from him....

Top Flight Corsair gold kit
Robart 90 degree 615 retracts ( I have read nothing but bad about these on here)
Monokote (From the year1999)
Lusterkote spray paint
OS Max .61 FX with the Warbird header & muffler (I want to trade this for a Super Tiger 90) Idon't think the 61 will fly this kit.
Robart hinges
Top Flight 12oz gastank

I fly is on the Salt Flats, so it's a VERYsmooth soft wide opensurface. No bumps to bend gear!

Thanks!
Rick

Dr1Driver

Sounds good to me. The kit is a complicated build, but Top Flite kits and instructions are usually good. Go slow and you'll be ok. The flaps are complicated and a tinkerman's dream, but I've heard if the instructions are followed closely, they'll work great.

Yea, definitely get the larger engine.

I've had one of these on my shelf for a couple of years now. When I get time, I'll start it.

Good luck!

MinnFlyer

My Feedback: (4)

I would go with an OS 91 Surpass 4-stroke, but aside from that, it all looks good.

Strat2003

My Feedback: (1)

I built (and maidened) one of those for a guy several years ago. It was a pretty involved build but not impossible. I built the interesting articulated flaps which were fun to watch work.
We used an OS 90 4 stroke in it. It was adequately powered with this engine. It was just an OK flyer, fine for just flying around but it didn't encourage you to get frisky. Can't comment on the retracts, I built this one with fixed gear. The Monokote I used was from that era. It was fine then but I've had lots of trouble with the current offering. I had good results with Lusterkote and the Robart hinge points.
Scott

Strat2003

My Feedback: (1)

About the covering....I bought a plastic kit of a Corsair and copied the panel lines from it, doing everything in sections. That made it much easier to cover, especially the gull wing section.

Bax

My Feedback: (11)

Keep the airplane within the suggested weight limit and it will fly nicely. A four-stroke .90-91-sized engine has the same or slightly-less power than the a .61-size two stroke engine. The prototype was flow with engines at the bottom and top of the engine size range, and at the bottom and top of the suggested weight range. It flew well in all cases...that's how the limits were determined. Just be careful during the build. It's very easy to get scale or semi-scale models quite overweight.

Basically, if you can fly a plane such as an Ultra Sport .60, you can fly all of the Top-Flite Gold Edition scale models.

Gray Beard

My Feedback: (-1)

It all looks good to me but like Minn I'm a four stroke guy. I flew the plane {not mine} with the .61 FX and it was a good combo. Even the covering should be good. It was around that time, 99-02 that I started running into the little covering problems and switched. Sounds like you scored good!!

RickShane

My Feedback: (1)

Iam at the point with the Corsair where it's time to mount the tail section, motor, build flaps, few minor things,and cover it. Ihave just never used the things I mentioned in the list of stuff I bought.

I have been flying planes for about 20 years, and I've built the Top Flight F-14 Tomcat, and it flew great. A P-40 warhawk that didn't fly well. It rocked on takeoff then tip stalled evey time I tried to fly it. That was in 1995 before the internet, So any questions were answered on the flying field when you flew the plane. Ithink back on it now, and my thinking is I didn't have the speed or experienceon takeoff with the P-40.

I've also built a lot of ARFS. Right now Icurrently fly the Great Planes Extra 300 with a ST 90, and a Champion 45L with a ST 51.

You can see my RC videos at.. http://www.youtube.com/user/UtRadioGuy?feature=mhumMuch more has been done since the Corsair video was taken.

Thanks for the input!

Chad Veich

My Feedback: (60)

I built and flew the TF Corsair about 15 years ago. Mine was built per the plans, including flaps and retracts, Monokote covered, and powered with a Super Tigre .75 two stroke. I don't know what the all up weight was but probably around 10 pounds or so. The ST .75 provided plenty of power in my opininion and I think the .61FX would be just fine if the weight is kept around 10 pounds. I have a 64 inch span Hellcat which weighs about 10.25 pounds and flies good with the .61FX. My Hellcat also uses the Robart 615 rotating retracts and, thus far, I have not experienced any of the issues so common with these gear. I also had the Robart gear in my TF P-40 with no problems. I fly only off of smooth paved runways however which probably makes a difference. I used Lustrekote paint on the cowl of my TF Corsair and was happy with the results. However, I have had other cans of Lustrekote which did not spray very well so it seems to be hit or miss. The color match on my airplane was perfect for the dark blue, medium blue, and white. I have used Robart hinges for many years and while they can be a bit fiddly to install they are a top quality product when used properly. However, unless you are adding scale hinges to your Corsair, they really are not necessary for this airplane. For sport type hinging I much prefer the simpler CA hinges. That's my .02 cents anyway.

RickShane

My Feedback: (1)

Iam going to use the Robart hinges for the flaps only!

EscapeFlyer

My Feedback: (1)

I think most of the doom and gloom comes from simple realities regarding the scale of the airplane.

1. It is not an exact scale airplane. Close enough to look right if you haven't studied every detail and obsessed over
every square inch of the airframe.

2. There really isn't a scale retract that is designed for this scale corsair. The landing gear cannot be pushed far enough forward
to land comfortably without nosng over. This also has a
tendancy to destroy the vertical stab.

3. People are scared of the gull wing. It's just a wing, and works well.

4. This scale doesn't lend its-self to full scale mods. Weight becomes an issue. However, there are ways to overcome this too.

Ultimately, search for CorsairJock's corsair build threads (warbirds threads). He will show you how to overcome all of these issues. He will blow your mind.

I like the corsair, personally.

eagledancer

had one of these a few years ago, flew great with a o.s. 90 2 stroke, flaps are kind of a pain but worth the trouble of all the fiddleing to get them right. modify the tailwheel connections or you will be cutting a hatch to snap it back in place(ask me how i know) this makes for a nice stand off scale plane just dont get crazy adding detail or you will be overweight fast!! if you want detail then build a ziroli

RickShane

My Feedback: (1)

I have that entiretail wheel area done and covered. So if something happens I'll cut the hatch then. What snapped off?I'm at the point where it's time to glue that tain on, mount motor, build flaps, and cover it. This is the first I've heard anything about there being a problem with the tail wheel.

summerwind

there is a father/son team flying one of these at our field, flies very well and if i had one i'd build it in a heart beat.
i built the wing for my dad back in 91 before he passed away as a favor. thought i had gotten the raw end of the deal (we'd trade each other for stuff), and i felt the wing was the easiest part.

you got a great combo, and like Bill said, keep it light and it'll be fun one.

i've never built a TF kit yet that didn't fly like a dream........most right off the board with no trim needed.

RickShane

My Feedback: (1)

Thank you for the info! Ican't wait to fly it.

Gray Beard

My Feedback: (-1)

Rick, did you have any problems getting the fuel tank in the correct spot for the engine?? I had one, a smaller one I think, don't know what kit it was, I didn't build it. Anyway, the gull wing was right in the way of where I wanted to mount the tank. Other then that little problem it was a fun little plane.

RickShane

My Feedback: (1)

No there's a HUGE place in front of the wing for the tank inside the fuse. Icould fit at least a 20oz tank in there.For the first few flights I'm going to use a 12oz tank.The fuselage is really big on this plane, so there's plenty of room in there.