Russman

My Feedback: (12)

I am working on my new GSP Hell cat that my sweet wife got me for Christmas and am considering what engine to put in it. I can't bear to think of this beautiful plane covered with glow fuel. It screams for a gas engine. Anybody running one with a gas engine? Rusty

mirwin

My Feedback: (1)

Rusty, I don't know what to tell you about that, but I'd think that a gas engine would work just fine. I'd thought about getting their 75" Corsair but I read too may bad reviews about the cheap fiberglass fuse, so I'm waiting for the World Models 75" ( +/ - ) Corsair due out later this year.

But I DO really like GSP's F6F, and thought about picking one up. I would be real interested to know your opinion of the quality of the model. I fly off of a grass field, so I'm concerned about the retracts. Retracts seem to get bent slightly out of position and then won't fully retract or - worse yet - won't deploy when it's time to land. What diameter wheels does that baby use? I'd need at least 3" to handle the grass.

Good luck on that beauty!
Mike
[email protected]

SpitfireMKI

My Feedback: (2)

I fly the GSP FW190 with a Zenoah G-26 and APC 16x10 @ about 13 lbs. , extra power and fast. Excellent combination. I'll bet that F6F would be just as hot. You'll need some extra weight in the nose anyway......so why not !

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raston

I am in the process of putting a Roto 25cc gasser in my GSP Spitfire. It also needs lots of weight up front and I am really looking forward to $2.50 per gallon instead of $25.00 per gallon of fuel (Canadian prices of course)

Russman

My Feedback: (12)

mirwin:
The quality of this kit is awesome. It is very complete with a lot of hardware. The covering and paint is flawless. There is no way I could build a plane this good. I am installin Century Jet air retracts. They have functional struts and hopefully will handle those "no so perfect" landings.


SpitfireMKI
I bet that thing is awesome with a G26. Did you have to ad tail weight?


raston
What do you think of the Roto engine so far? I was looking at that one and also the RCS 140 and 180.

mirwin

My Feedback: (1)

Rusty, what's the diameter of the wheels? Mike

raston

Russman,

I also looked at the RCS 140 & 180 engines. Although the 140 would have fit perfectly in the cowl (with room to spare), from what I was able to gather from other peoples experiences (posts on this and other forums), the 140 would probably have been fine but no excess power if the plane ended up weighing anything over 11 lbs. I like to have a little extra juice... just because!!! I also like to buy as big an engine as I can squeeze in so that in future projects, if I transplant the engine, I don't have performance issues.

I looked at the 180 but there was no way to squeeze it into the Spitfire without major holes.

The Roto 25 looked like it would fit pretty well within the cowl, and all the stuff I read fom others has been extremely positive. (And I just like the look of it)

ptgarcia

My Feedback: (36)

I'm in the process of fitting a Zenoah G26 (converted to electronic ignition by RC Ignitions) into a Model Tech P-47 (67" wing). I'm also fitting a set of Robart retracts with RoboStruts and 3-1/4" robart wheels. I'm hoping it comes out under 12-lbs, 11 would be nice...time will tell.

Russman

My Feedback: (12)

The wheel diameter o the Hellcat is 3".

mirwin

My Feedback: (1)

3" works for me. I would very much appreciate knowing how it turns out. Maybe some photos too? Thanks much, Rusty. Mike [email protected]

Richard L.

My Feedback: (24)

Note that scale wheel size for this plane is 4.35" in diameter, so 3" will be way too small and will look funny on this relatively large plane. Even the smaller 65" span TF P-51D and TF P-40 call for 4" wheels. I have 4" wheels on mine:

SpitfireMKI

My Feedback: (2)

No tail weight needed. I had to add nose weight !

As far as RCS goes, the 1.40 didn't fly my FW as well as the G-26. It also resulted in my first plane eating a hole in the ground. I can go into detail if you would like.

I will also say that the customer service from RCS is the worst I've ever had in this hobby.

S1

Russman

My Feedback: (12)

S1 - Did you do any reinforcing on the firewall? Rusty

SpitfireMKI

My Feedback: (2)

Nope, not needed. Plane flies great, got at least 100 flights on it. I'll bet you'll find most firewall failures are due to unbalanced props and mounting screws not being PROPERLY lock tighted in.

How many guys clean the screws and blind nuts with alcohol ?

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virtualvictum

Hey guys, just thought i'd chime in. I got mine for Christmas as well and the kit quality truly is first rate. After a bit of weathering the plane looks mean as heck. I have their 71" Zero and I have O.S. 1.60fx's in both planes. Haven't got the Hellcat up yet but the Zero is awesome with the 1.6. I expect to be even faster with the Hellcat due to being a lighter kit by almost 2 pounds. I had to add a lead mine in the front of the zero to balance out but it flies so smooth and lands real nice even without flaps. The hellcat has flaps and I bet she needs them as the wing chord is nowhere as thick as on the zero. This means greater wind penetration and higher topend speeds. I have Century Jet retracts in the Zero and the Hellcat gets them as well. Should be here in a couple of days. I am very happy with the Century Jets and with the lifetime warranty on the newer models you can't go wrong. Good luck with your Hellcats.

PJAMESRC

My Feedback: (19)

HI JUST TO ADD MY TWO CENTS
THE RCS 140 IS A FINE POWERFUL ENGINE. IF SPITFIREMK1 LIKES THE G26, THEN I FEEL HE DID NOT SET UP THE 1.40 PROPERLY. IHAVE BOTH AND GET MUCH MORE POWER FROM THE 1.40 THANKS PJAMESRC

Wounded

Does any one have a link to the kit Manufacture

Thanks, Jeff

SpitfireMKI

My Feedback: (2)

The 1.40 was responsible for the destruction of my first FW190, the 1.80 my Hanger 9 Mustang. Yes, they were range checked before every flight (each had 10 when they bit it) The PCM I was using apparently masked (see Futaba website) the interference enough to allow me to believe all was good.

It's real simple, the spark plug boot comes loose (yes it was anchored per instructions) and causes RF, the PCM goes to fail safe and down they go. Now the interesting part is that it appears there is a rubber washer that sits on top of the plug, I noticed a friend's 1.80 had this. Both of my engines brand new from RCS did not have them nor is there mention of them in the instruction manual.

After the FW went in, I assumed that I had done some improper installation so I paid for the repairs, first they wanted to charge $250 for it. That's a new motor, why so high ? They wanted to replace the piston, ring and cylinder-what ? How does this get damaged ? First guy told me I wasn't using the right oil (I used the penzoil as suggested at their ratio), oh you were ? Oh then you ran it too lean.........I ran it a little rich, enough that it gurgled. Then he said it was really worn........I had about 45 minutes time on it. Can I speak to someone else ? The next guy said anytime it comes in contact with the ground running (idle in this case) parts break. Hmmm, pistons and rings ? Then after I told them not to fix it they lowered the bill to $150 to replace the ignition and ring. Ok, I'll go for that.

About this time the Mustang with the 1.80 became land fill under similar circumstances as the FW did. Now I knew something had to be amiss.

I got the engine back (no rubber washer-but then I was still not aware there was supposed to be one) I did extensive range checking in my current FW. I started with FM D/C and got about 5 feet away when it went crazy, put the PCM in and got about 100 feet but it kept going to failsafe as I walked back. I went home and did some research here and found I should try putting a hose clamp on the boot.

Back to the field, without the clamp and FM D/C I got about 10 feet. Put the clamp on and surprise ! Solid 150 feet with the D/C. The engine started to run a little rough at idle, so I contacted RCS via email and mentioned my disappointment and trouble (all diplomatically) and got blasted about taking the carb off (which I did not do) and then something about following their instructions on anchoring the plug wire. What the *ell ? I suggested that maybe he was thinking of another customer. The only contact I had had with them was 2 months before when I had the motor repaired. At that time, I still thought I had done something wrong with the install.

After an hour's flying the front main bearing let go. By this time I've run out of patience. I made arrangements to return both motors to RCS for a complete check up to see what was going on. I explained to the dealer what had happend (Loss of two kit bashed planes that had full glass jobs and paint, not just out of the box arfs) He said he would pass this on to RCS which he did.

Two months later I got a call that the stuff was in with an additional $75 charge for the bearing in the 1.40. Ok, I've lost $2000.00 worth of planes and proven that it was the boot that caused the problem and you still hitting me for $75 ? I wrote a letter to Mike Dooley explaining all that has happened, asking if he can help make sure the problem is rectified and really, do you need to charge me after all the grief I've been through ? I got a response saying to take the motors back to the dealer for a refund. Great ! I've got two new planes all set up for RCS engines and you want me to send them back , thanks for the help !

That is lousy customer service !

I sold the 1.40 and still have the 1.80 and will try to get one of those washers. The 1.80 runs fantastic, I just hope I can get a range check out of it on FM D/C.

Zenoah on the other hand, flies over scale speed (don't need anymore, I've torque rolled it), will last forever, runs flawlessly, has no ignition problems and actually allowed me to take weight out.

Why ? You need to seperate the batteries and switches by at least 12". That puts one pack (1100mah 4.8) far behind the CG, then you need to add weight to the nose to balance. I took out almost a pound of lead out when I put the G-26 in.

Your 1.40 may have more power, mine never flew long enough to find out.

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