Jerry Bates F4F Wildcat
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RE: Jerry Bates F4F Wildcat
A Saito 450, Laser 360 and Zenoah G-80 fit in cowl. A G-62 will have the spark plug cap stick out of the cowl. There are a couple of build threads on rcsb that have more info. Easy Tiger may make a ARF Wildcat at some point but currently Bates is the only 1/5 Wildcat available to my knowledge. There was a English design and MAN plans design for a 1/6 that Century Jet offered gear for.
#52
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RE: Jerry Bates F4F Wildcat
Chickenhawk,
The plans say 91.25 inches for the wing span. Jerry Bates plans are very nice, I don't think you can go wrong with any of his stuff.
I'll have to measure the cowl for you later. As Carl said there a few really good engine choices. Cowl's and Canopies are available from Spychalla Aircraft.
Gear choices are Robart and Century Jet.
Take Care.
The plans say 91.25 inches for the wing span. Jerry Bates plans are very nice, I don't think you can go wrong with any of his stuff.
I'll have to measure the cowl for you later. As Carl said there a few really good engine choices. Cowl's and Canopies are available from Spychalla Aircraft.
Gear choices are Robart and Century Jet.
Take Care.
#53
RE: Jerry Bates F4F Wildcat
thankx flakbait.
ill be waiting for that measurement.. yeah i would want to install a seidel 9 cylinder or a mokie 150. ive never done a stick kit b4 but im sure i could handle it
thankx
ill be waiting for that measurement.. yeah i would want to install a seidel 9 cylinder or a mokie 150. ive never done a stick kit b4 but im sure i could handle it
thankx
#55
RE: Jerry Bates F4F Wildcat
ahhhhh ! sounds like a mokie 150 ,250 ,seidel 9-90 will all fit....and maybe squeez a seidel 7-260B gasser as well........... sweet !
thank you..
thank you..
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RE: Jerry Bates F4F Wildcat
I think a Moki 150 would fit but it is a lot of motor. The Seidel 9-90 looks very nice but doesn't spin up alot which IMHO means more than 12" pitch prop is required. A bit hard to find in smaller diameters. I am getting 6.3k with a Menz 21x12 on my Saito 450R and need all of it. 6.5k rpm is great though. I have read the 9-90 spins a 24x12 at 5.2k, great for bipes but I need more speed for a monoplane warbird. Note the cowl necks down alot to the front.
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RE: Jerry Bates F4F Wildcat
Well, She Fly's !!!
Went out early and put the maiden flight on her. My wife took some cool pictures, and supported me during this whole project. I would like to say " it went off without a hitch" or "It took no trim at all" and this one is good, "it flies like it's on rails".... and so on. Anyway, I am pretty happy, just need to finish the painting and weathering. With a few more "tweaks" it will be a solid airplane. I lost my bottom hatch on the second circut , I did find it. I need to figure a better way to hold it on than the eight rare earth magnets.
The flight was pretty good. I had to put in some left trim and some up as well. The engine ran good. The mid range isn't all that great yet, Three tanks through. I asked Denny over at RCSB what prop he was running and I now have a 23X10.
Pitch was a bit sensitive so I think I need a little more nose weight, I landed with full flaps, and it rolled out pretty nice. Just need to take things apart to get a good look around to see if everything is still good and tight.
Here are the Pictures:
Went out early and put the maiden flight on her. My wife took some cool pictures, and supported me during this whole project. I would like to say " it went off without a hitch" or "It took no trim at all" and this one is good, "it flies like it's on rails".... and so on. Anyway, I am pretty happy, just need to finish the painting and weathering. With a few more "tweaks" it will be a solid airplane. I lost my bottom hatch on the second circut , I did find it. I need to figure a better way to hold it on than the eight rare earth magnets.
The flight was pretty good. I had to put in some left trim and some up as well. The engine ran good. The mid range isn't all that great yet, Three tanks through. I asked Denny over at RCSB what prop he was running and I now have a 23X10.
Pitch was a bit sensitive so I think I need a little more nose weight, I landed with full flaps, and it rolled out pretty nice. Just need to take things apart to get a good look around to see if everything is still good and tight.
Here are the Pictures:
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RE: Jerry Bates F4F Wildcat
Congratulations. You should have that last pic as your desktop photo. That's a great shot. Just driving nails in the coffin for me eventually taking the plunge on one of these birds.
Mike
Mike
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RE: Jerry Bates F4F Wildcat
Congratulations Stephen. The Wildcat is a great flying airplane. Just an FYI, I am flying my Wildcat with the CG at the recommended 4.75" from the wing leading edge at the fuse, but using only +/- 10 degrees of elevator throw. This gives great pitch control with nice loop capabilities and no tendency to snap when slow and full up elevator. +/- 20 degrees of throw seems to be way to much in my opinion. Most Warbird need +/- 15 degrees or less. My suggestion would be to try less elevator throw and leave the cg at 4.75". That just my suggestion.
#72
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RE: Jerry Bates F4F Wildcat
Well, not really,
F4F-3/4
Powerplant: Pratt & Whitney 1,200 hp R-1830-36 14-cylinder radial engine.
Maximum Speed: 318 mph at 19,400 feet.
Initial climb: 1,950 ft/min.
Service ceiling: 39,400 ft.
Range: 770 miles.
Weight empty: 5,758 lbs.
Maximum take-off weight: 7,952 lbs.
Span: 38 ft.
Length: 28 ft. 9 in.
Height: 9 ft. 2.5 in.
Wing area: 260 sq. ft.
Armament: six .5 inch Browning machine guns; two 100 lb. bombs.
FM-1/-2 Wildcat
FM-2s from USS White Plains, in June 1944.
General Motors / Eastern Aircraft produced 5,280 FM variants of the Wildcat.[2] Grumman's Wildcat production ceased in early 1943 to make way for the newer F6F Hellcat, but General Motors continued producing Wildcats for both US Navy and Fleet Air Arm use. Late in the war, the Wildcat was obsolescent as a front-line fighter compared to the faster (380 mph/610 km/h) F6F Hellcat or much faster (446 mph/718 km/h) F4U Corsair. However, they were adequate for small escort carriers against submarine and shore threats. These relatively modest ships carried only two types of aircraft (along with the GM-built Avengers). The Wildcat's lower landing speed and ability to take off without a catapult made it more suitable for shorter flight decks.[19] At first, GM produced the FM-1, identical to the F4F-4, but reduced the number of guns to four, and added wing racks for two 250 lb (110 kg) bombs or six rockets. Production later switched to the improved FM-2 (based on Grumman's XF4F-8 prototype) optimized for small-carrier operations, with a more powerful engine (the 1,350 hp (1,010 kW) Wright R-1820-56), and a taller tail to cope with the torque.[16]
Tasked with supporting ground forces off Leyte, sorely under-armed planes from escort carriers such as Gambier Bay in the "Taffy" task groups found themselves up against a major surface fleet which they helped turn back in the Battle off Samar. Four FM-2 Wildcats from Shamrock Bay's Composite Squadron 94 (VC-94) helped shoot down a number of kamikaze planes attacking Laffey off Okinawa before running out of ammunition.[citation needed]
Just trying to "Make it look real".
F4F-3/4
Powerplant: Pratt & Whitney 1,200 hp R-1830-36 14-cylinder radial engine.
Maximum Speed: 318 mph at 19,400 feet.
Initial climb: 1,950 ft/min.
Service ceiling: 39,400 ft.
Range: 770 miles.
Weight empty: 5,758 lbs.
Maximum take-off weight: 7,952 lbs.
Span: 38 ft.
Length: 28 ft. 9 in.
Height: 9 ft. 2.5 in.
Wing area: 260 sq. ft.
Armament: six .5 inch Browning machine guns; two 100 lb. bombs.
FM-1/-2 Wildcat
FM-2s from USS White Plains, in June 1944.
General Motors / Eastern Aircraft produced 5,280 FM variants of the Wildcat.[2] Grumman's Wildcat production ceased in early 1943 to make way for the newer F6F Hellcat, but General Motors continued producing Wildcats for both US Navy and Fleet Air Arm use. Late in the war, the Wildcat was obsolescent as a front-line fighter compared to the faster (380 mph/610 km/h) F6F Hellcat or much faster (446 mph/718 km/h) F4U Corsair. However, they were adequate for small escort carriers against submarine and shore threats. These relatively modest ships carried only two types of aircraft (along with the GM-built Avengers). The Wildcat's lower landing speed and ability to take off without a catapult made it more suitable for shorter flight decks.[19] At first, GM produced the FM-1, identical to the F4F-4, but reduced the number of guns to four, and added wing racks for two 250 lb (110 kg) bombs or six rockets. Production later switched to the improved FM-2 (based on Grumman's XF4F-8 prototype) optimized for small-carrier operations, with a more powerful engine (the 1,350 hp (1,010 kW) Wright R-1820-56), and a taller tail to cope with the torque.[16]
Tasked with supporting ground forces off Leyte, sorely under-armed planes from escort carriers such as Gambier Bay in the "Taffy" task groups found themselves up against a major surface fleet which they helped turn back in the Battle off Samar. Four FM-2 Wildcats from Shamrock Bay's Composite Squadron 94 (VC-94) helped shoot down a number of kamikaze planes attacking Laffey off Okinawa before running out of ammunition.[citation needed]
Just trying to "Make it look real".
#74
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RE: Jerry Bates F4F Wildcat
Flying the Wildcat at WBOTR and at home. This is agreat flying plane, on the ground it can be tricky. Hopefully I'll get it figured out!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyImU...ure=plpp_video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyImU...&lf=plpp_video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyImU...ure=plpp_video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyImU...&lf=plpp_video
#75
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RE: Jerry Bates F4F Wildcat
I believe the F4F-3a had a 9 cylinder in it.
Nice video. I use a grass field and still have some issues with proper throttle and rudder management. Looks like you have a pretty good handle on her!
Nice video. I use a grass field and still have some issues with proper throttle and rudder management. Looks like you have a pretty good handle on her!