Yes, I did use CJ retracts. They held up pretty good. They came with improved oleos that didn't bend as easy. I did replaced all the pop rivets in the scissor links with button head screws and lock nuts.

Thanks, I'll keep the idea of screws vs rivets in mind when I receive mine.

You will find out that after a dozen smooth landings or so, the pop rivets will be slightly loosened, causing the scissor links to have some play in them. Below are pictures showing the low profile lock nuts and metal screws I used in place of the pop rivets. I still left one rivet in there.

Hey Richard was wondering since I have the Hellcat also. When you put the CJ's in did you have to cut through the first part of the spar, clear through to the small hole. I ended up putting Robarts in with 7/16" struts and with lots of checking got all the angles close enough I didn't have to touch the spar. One of the other guys at my field just finished it with the CJ and had to cut through the spar to the hole. I was worried about wing failure when I saw it but decided that the wing had such a thick root that it would be ok now I am not so sure after hearing about yours. Kind of glad I was able not to touch mine.

I cut mine just enough for the air cylinder to fit through. My wing did not fail right there. It actually failed further out beyond that spot. Keep in mind that I had three hard, deadstick landings. The wing would have been fine under normal landings with power on.

I doubt the hard langings would cause the wing failure. My guess is the wing would have eventually folded no matter what engine was bolted up front.

Richard, your landings looked pretty good to me. No bounce and very normal that I could see on your video, of course those were with power on. I'm fitting my CJ retracts and it appears a mounting block needs to be added as the built in plate would recess the retract to deep into the wing. Also it appears the mounting flanges on the retracts need to be ground dowm as they are too wide to fit the wing opening. Am I seeing things correctly? I think I'll make a plate to go aroung the opening cut (epoxy a plate of plywood on both sides)in the spar. Thanks mike J.

Thanks. To me, that was one of my worst landings ever. In a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being best, I would give that landing a 3.

Yes, you would need to add two mounting blocks per side. Instead of grinding the retract mounting flanges, I trimmed the wing sheeting to allow the mounting flanges to fit.

Richard, you sure would laugh at some of my landings then. That would be at least an eight for me..Thanks for the tips, sounds good to me. My son and I were testing them (retracts)without the adjustable valve and they really smack on opening & closing, the quaility look good and I have an adjustable vale on order. Thanks again for the info...............I really won't start on mine as I have two projects to complete, a Hanger 9 Taylorcraft and a .40 size GP Extra 300. With a big snow storm later tonight & thru Tuesday heading our way I'll have the time to work on them.Mike J.

I put an Enya 120 on mine and today I flew it, It required NO nose weight and it flew like a dream, Take offs are a breeze , it took one click of aileron trim and that was it. Landing are just easy with this plane. Since I had the Enya 120 with a 15-8 prop I had about 1 1/2 inch of clearane.
I built this right by the instruction, the only thing I did was I put 1in fiberglass cloth on the center section top and bottom. I don't have retracts.

I would greatly recommend this plane, The fiberglass work is excellent, wing is beautiful, you even get a fiberglass cowl, and it comes painted, all this for such a low price--I did discard the wheels-Way to small for a grass field.
Someone mentioned the tail snapping--this worried me too --but I put some "g" on it today and I had no problem, with the tail or wing
I will be honest and say I usually fly mine scale and I don't jerk it around-My theory is fly it like a person was inside--could he live through the manuever you just did--If you fly that way you shouldn't be overstressing the plane.

The guys who have wings fold and tails fold--all I can say is it has happened to all of us--just get back on the horse and ride another one
This is too much fun to worry about crashing.
There are two types of plane those that have crashed and those that are going to crash
If you worry about crashing YOU ARE IN THE WRONG HOBBY
Pictures tomorrow

I agree with Hellcat. Was told by one of the old timers at my field "Don't want to crash then don't fly". Kind of weird for it to break that far out on the wing Richard. I had thought that it had been from the retract area. Kind of wonder if had a weak spot in that area. Was it before or after the wing has the break and goes up slightly?

hahaha
I have this plane, I only pay 178 for it, that is with delivery, just like pizzahut.[sm=bananahead.gif]
EBAY IS GREAT[sm=RAINFRO.gif]

I paid less than $178 for mine, hehe [8D]

HEY!
Why are thier a smiley and a angry face on R.L?

Mine investigating senses guide me to guess R.L. crashed... too bad... But JAPANESE ZERO IS NUMBER1! JAPANESE SAITO is good...

I make my plane with this configuration:
ST 2300
bission exhaust system
CJ retract set
8x10 APC
7xS3004 servo
1800 NIMH battery.
127df blackbox
My total plane in "Benjamins":
725

how!, i am king of cheapo depot shopping...I feel shame[&o] been defeated if you are truthfull price warrior...
my price was 148.00 then delivery to my flat : 30

Yep, I paid less than $178 delivered to my door. If Japanese Zero is Number 1, why are you bothering with the inferior Hellcat?

if item is made in Japan it is NUMBER 1,
but NUMBER2 can also be enjoyable, but not as good as NUMEBER 1...
HELLCAT is IN NUMBER 2 FAMILY of fighter planes.

If the Zero is was #1 and the Hellcat #2 then why was the kill ratio so lopsided? I guess just luck. Sure, just sounds like another thing to discuss that won't be settled one way or the other. Think SPRING...................

Did I miss something here ? Why are we blaming the saito for a crash ? Was it an obvious flaw in the motor or was it the ground crew ?

I've only had one engine failure that was NOT my own fault, that was an OS52 that blew a huge hole in the center of it's piston on take-off. It was a part defect and was replaced no questions.

My other engine outs have been related to something I was responsible for like a tank clunk getting stuck. I had an interesting problem with a Zenoah 45. I installed a carb ram stack, which does improve the mid range performance. The engine out came when you cut the power to idle (H9 cessna) dropped flaps and did a 45 degree decent. The best I can figure is that stack rams too much air into the motor which is at low rpm causing a flame/lean out. My P-40 has a Sachs 4.2, the carb is at the same angle as the G45, it too had a ram stack. On the down side of a loop I would throttle her back, as I transitioned back to level flight, there would be a scary delay in engine response as I advanced the throttle. I then put two and two together and realised the stack was the problem. That stack is fine at higher speeds, but low rpm and high airspeed doesn't mix. I'm thankful the P-40 never went dead as I would really doubt I'd make it back to the field. I have since removed those stacks and no more problems. In fact the P-40 picked up RPM. I guess the point is, the problem was self-inflicted.

I am not much of a fan of the Saito, they do have more power than OS per size but I think due to the timing and porting used to obtain more power they can be a little touchier to tune. They tend to like higher nitro further increaseing the tuning touchies. Their idle quality suffers from this too. Don't get me wrong, my Saito 100 runs fine, my OS120 is just a tick nicer.

Sorry to hear about the loss.

S1

S1, Icouldn't have said it better. Saitos are a funny breed and sure aren't adjust and forget like my OS engines. If you can afford them YS engines are great. I'm using OS 120 pumps in my Helcat and Zero. Think SPRING...........

Got the first flight on the cat today. First flight everything went good ,take off was about 50 ft clime out was good , had to add a little down elev. Retracts worked good very little trim change . I put the flaps down and to my supprise the nose didn't pitch up. Landing went fine with full flaps then taxied back. Second flight motor was running a little rich. got a glitch from something, I took it out to set up for a landing and the motor quit. I landed this time without flaps I was a little high and fast. landing was on the runway bounced a little . no damage just chewed up a tire. The muffler was lose and that might have been my glitch. I am real happy with the Cat. I flew it with a Magnum 91 FS. and it flys scale.

Hi Guys,

I'm also finshing my CMP Hellcat.
OS 120FS with pump, CJM retracts.
Here some photos:











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krall

very nice!!did you fly it yet if so how does it fly.nice looking pilot were did you get him,i am looking for a pilot for the same plane.

Thanks
No - not yet. In Poland we still have winter
Pilot is also from CMP (a little cut)
More photos:
[link]http://fly.kartuzy.com.pl/hellcat1.html[/link]
[link]http://fly.kartuzy.com.pl/hellcat2.html[/link]
[link]http://fly.kartuzy.com.pl/hellcat3.html[/link]

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krall

Krall tell us how you do the weathering it reaLLY LOOKS nice. Thanks