kinverflyer

Unless you plan to fly with your wheels down, I would balance with your wheels up, especially with a Corsair as the wheels retract rearwards.

Whistling Death

Unless you want it to be tail heavy, not a good idea on maiden flights, then you need to balance it with the wheels up. It will be slightly nose heavy when you drop the gear down to land but that is not a bad thing.

c550

My Feedback: (16)

Skillet,

I think you will be ok but I would check with the gear up, If you are using the KMP wheels(I am) they are pretty heavy, that being said your cg point is pretty close to mine and it flies well.

regards,

Dave

skillet92

Well I have reread a good bit of this thread and seem to get mixed imputs! There are guys flying anywhere from 4 to 5". Where do you have yours at with the wheels up. I must of had a brain fart because I know that and still did it the wheels down! I am using the Sierra Retracts(nice) and the stock light foamy wheels. I have a TF Mustang so yes I learned that I would much rather have it nose heavy than tail heavy to begin with. The first flight on that one was fun!

skillet92

With wheels up it is at 4 3/8 straight and level. I am going to try it there and see how she handles and adjust from there!

c550

My Feedback: (16)

Skillet,

I will try to check my cg when I get a chance. but yours sounds ok> you might consider moving it up a 1/4".

Dave

smchale

My Feedback: (67)

Just read thread through about the last third of this thread as I'm considering getting on of these and going with elec power. As I summarize some of my notes for comment on by those who have built and flown this model:

1. Seems like there rages a good debate on what the best location for the CG is. Despite the online instructions showing 130mm, looks like 103 or slightly fwd of this is the best starting location?

2. The scale of the model is 1:6.65, which would indicate a 4.75" dia main wheel being close to scale (would be 4.81" actually), but it appears that 4" is recomended with the model? What tire options with alum hubs are being used as a good balance between strength and light weight?

3. AUW appears to be in the 18-19 lb neighborhood with the recomendation to get as much gear up front as possible?

4. Upgrade to Sierra retracts seem to be the consensus. Are these 90 degree or 100 degree retraction angle? I read that 100 may put the wheels too far forward?

5. Retractable tailwheel needs to be of a custom design by the builder.

6. Cowl has an ID of 7.5" for dummy radial fitting.

7. Dummy radial engine options include TF 1/7 scale, FTE 1/6 scale (7.25" dia), and the williams 1/6 scale kit (tower item LXWAF4).

8. Looks like the flap hinges need some attention. Robart hinge points offer the cleanest installation.

9. Replace the flap drive wire (between each flap) from the supplied wire to a ply tongue.

10. Can anyone advise what the wing depth is in the flap servo pocket?

11. Replace elevator pull-pull cables with a single CF rod?

Any other modifications or hardware upgrades folks are recomending in the setup of this model?

Thanks kindly, Sean

LDM

My Feedback: (15)

Sean , good recap , I am starting to gather my stuff for the build , had an os 200 now going to eletric , keep me posted , I am close up here in Lancaster

smchale

My Feedback: (67)

Sounds good LDM...didn't I buy an ESM 109 off you some time back? We met at the Harley Factory....

LDM

My Feedback: (15)

No sir , not me , I dont own that one , I do have the CMP Fw190 , with a major bash online , and many others lol,
cant wait to get started on my Corsair , it will be my first large eletric , always been glow /gas

c550

My Feedback: (16)

Sean,

In answer to some of your questions, the Sierra retract angle is 100 degrees this is a good thing as it puts the mains at the leading edge of the wing helping to avoid a nose over. I think you could go with a larger wheel you might have to open the bay up a bit. I went with the esm wheels and they seem ok to me. I used a robart #121 retract unit. The only change needed was to install a bulk head to mount it to and to make the gear doors.

Regards,

Dave

smchale

My Feedback: (67)

Thanks Dave. Did you find the 121 to be heavy duty enough? Do you fly off grass?

skillet92

Sean Good recap also! I have one with a G-38 and I still had to add about 2 pounds of weight up front! Mine came in at 18lbs 12ozs. I love the plane and the way it handles. I have the Sierra gear and the 100 degree is OK! It does help on nose overs! And they are STRONG! (ask me how I know) Don't know about the flap ply tongue I used Carbon Fiber rods to connect mine and they work great! I also used the Flap hinges that came with the kit and I have not had any problems with mine. Of course i did not use the little wooden blocks underneath mine that the plans call for. I also am using the pull pull for the elevator but not the rudder. I did not use the pull pull wire and hardware that they supplied either. And the most important tide bit that I can give ya is Wheels up nose slightly down mine balanced at 4 1/4" from the leading edge! Good luck and have fun flying her she looks great in the air.

c550

My Feedback: (16)

Sean,

So far the 121 unit has held up fine and I have flown it off of grass and petromat.

LDM

My Feedback: (15)

I was going to add the robart scale retractable tail wheels , I guess with nose weight being needed I am asking for trouble ?

c550

My Feedback: (16)

LDM,

I added a full cockpit and the retractable tail wheel and needed 2 pounds of lead with an OS 1.60. The flight performance is fine and the model carries the weight just fine. I think its worth it to see the tail wheel sucked up with the rest of the wheels on a flypast.

Dave

LDM

My Feedback: (15)

Thanks Dave , did you use the bigger tail wheel retract unit or the smaller plastic version ?
I was going to use a OS 200 4 stroke , thinking of a big eletric , I can get all the weight on the firewall and will target 18lbs .
Great feedback keep it coming please

smchale

My Feedback: (67)

Dave, do you have any pics of how you tied in the rudder actuation with the tailwheel steering, as well as the tailwheel retraction and gear door operation? If it's already in a post in this thread, just send a link. Thanks!

c550

My Feedback: (16)

Here are some pictues; the first one ise the rudder tail wheel servo. I just added a pull pull for the tail wheel steering wich goes slack with retraction. The last three shots are of the tail wheel and gear doors the door actuation is just balsa arms that the tail wheel hits when it retarcts.

LDM

My Feedback: (15)

I am thinking the unit that I have for the tail is way to heavy

aghost

My Feedback: (13)

Nice afternoon here. Got in flights #32, 33, and 34. This sure is a nice flying bird!!

Brian

smchale

My Feedback: (67)

Congrats Brian. Mine arrives tomorrow and I can't wait to get started. Have most of the items I need so should be able to dig into it shortly. What did your final weight end up at, and where did you settle for a CG?

aghost

My Feedback: (13)

smchale: Mine weighs about 18 1/2# now. CG is at at the 5.12" (130 mm) as shown in the manual. I have a G-38 for power and no additional weight.

See my posts on page 45, numbers 1117 and 1120 for more info. I actually had the CG at 4.88" for the maiden flight back in June. Later on I put an additional former in the fuse just behind the wing mounting blocks. I also found the bulkhead with the rudder/tailwheel was loose on one side. I wondered why those pull-pull wires kept working loose!! A little epoxy and fiberglass cloth there. These fixes moved the CG back to the current 5.12". I have 13 flights on it with that CG.

Brian

smchale

My Feedback: (67)

Thanks Brian, congrats again. The debate on CG location makes my head spin...and seems quite disconcerting.

aghost

My Feedback: (13)

This Corsair seems to handle a range of CG well. Looks like the folks on this thread pick a CG between 4" and 5", fly it, like it, and see no reason to change their selection. Maybe that's a tribute to the original full scale Corsair designers and the ESM model designers.

Brian