Another shot:

From the rear quarter:

From the front quarter:

Richard, excellent job on the Big Cat. Looks totally real.


"H3ll if that plane could cook... I'd marry it"

Great job.
Which engine did you go with?

I went with the pumped OS 120 Surpass III four stroke, together with Slimline inverted Pitts muffler. The whole engine fits inside the cowl. Only the two exhaust pipes stick out. As a result, the plane looks great.

Do you intend to use the strut covers?

I have a standard set of CJM rotating retracts for mine. Do you think they will work?

snyder_man

Congrats on your maiden flight. The plane looks awesome. I'm sure there will more posting regarding this airplane now that somebody has finally flew it. Again great job, I still think the color is wrong and not to scale....LOL...

Robert

snyder_man, I don't know if the standard set of CJM rotating retracts will work. I highly doubt that they will fit. The only way to tell for sure is to trial fit them into the wing.

Yeah the color is wrong, but it still looks great.

I wish they did the plane in either the official tri-color scheme or overall glossy sea blue. That would rock.

The nose is slightly too long (which can be a good thing). The plane was way nose heavy when I put it on the C.G machine. I had to move the receiver battery pack from behind the firewall back to the wing trailing edge to get the plane to balance.

hi all
i bought the gsp p47 thunderbolt took it to the field for it's maiden flight after adjusting the engine i noticed the paint peeling off the bottom of the fuse.I cleaned off the plane and took it home .i can't seem to clean the fuel and oil residue off the plane. the plane is all spotted i am wondering if they are using fuel proof paint on there planes.i am using 15% nitro, is this normal on this type of matt paint.i was thinking of protecting it with a clear satin coat but have to find a product that is compatible .i know the hell cats,corsairs,and spitfire are made with the same materials.. can nay one help?

Richard:

Glad to hear that the maiden went well. Now finish the getting the Mustang ready so I can clear coat it before the weather turns on us

Rob:

I agree. There are a lot of things off like the color, the wing dihedral, the nose is too long, the tail wheel is in the wrong place, the rudder is the wrong shape, the flaps are not right, etc. But, what do you expect from an arf? GSP never claimed that it was scale and if they did, they need their eyes checked

I have one as well. By the way airwethead I live in Centerville, not to far from you. I have implemented a set of Rhom rotating retracts with Robart Robostruts into my plane. Will be using a Weedeater 25cc Featherlite conversion with C&H ignition for power. Will turn a 14x7 Graupner 3 blade prop at about 6700 rpm and fits entirely inside the cowl. No messy glow fuel to deal with. Servos will all be mounted in the tail to help the balance. Engine weighs 36 oz. without ign. battery. Will post pics soon. Later, Maximus

Richard, congrats on a beautiful job with the Hellcat. Very well done. Your pics are excellent, and the airplane looks fantastic.

I was looking for a project this winter, and that may be it.

Good work!

Anybody find a matching paint for the lower grey paint?
I have reduone the wheel wells and have installed servo covers for the Ailerons. I called GSP and they said they will have some "touch up paint" but have never heard back from them.
I would like to repaint the wheel wells and my covers. Thanks
Greg

You can mix 50% Dark Gull Gray (FS 36231) with 50% Flat Gull Gray (FS 36440) to get close to the gray color used on the lower surfaces. Another option is to take a piece of wheel well covering that you cut out to your local paint store and have them mix some paint for you. You will need this paint to paint over the wood filler that you will use to fill up the big gaps between the belly pan and the bottom of the wing surface. The best option is to re-spray the whole plane in the official tri-color scheme, consisting of flat Dark Sea Blue (FS 35042) on the upper surfaces, flat Intermediate Blue (FS 35164) on the sides and vertical tail, and flat white on the undersides.

Richard, how has your paint job been holding up. I have read in a couple of places about people having trouble with GSP planes paint peeling or coming off from fuel damage.

My paint is still holding up pretty good so far. Fuel only got onto several small areas on the belly pan. If the paint starts to peel, then I might clear coat the entire underside with LustreKote flat clear.

I recently put the plane on a postal scale. The fuse weighs 7 lbs 10.2 oz and the wing weighs 4 lbs 2.4 oz. So the total weight is 11 lbs 12.6 oz, or around 11.79 lbs, which is not bad. I probably got about half a pound of fiberglass reinforcement in the cowl and the wing saddle areas.

av8r4aa:

I have yet to fly a warbird or get around to building my 1/6 Dave Platt's Spitfire. I want to buy the GSP Hellcat and save $100. I tried your suggested ebay and searched for Jamara: nothing came up.

Could you give me the source you got yours from? Thank you very much.

I bought mine from Jet Hobbies with free shipping. However, they have since sold out most of their warbirds. Why not order this GSP plane directly from GSP themselves?

I can tell you why I would shop at Jet hobbies.
Lets start with free shipping.
Lets add on 349.99 from GSP
and lets shop Jet 265.00
For the same plane.
I for one could use the extra money

Yeah the people at Jet Hobbies are easier to deal with. At least they reply to your e-mails. Those chumps over at GiantScalePlanes.com have yet to reply to my inquiries about replacement decals. Why put up your contact info and e-mail address on your website when you never respond to your customer's questions anyway?

I made seven more flights today. Here is a picture of a high speed pass four feet above the runway:



Here is a fly by shot:



No drag-inducing main wheels hanging out of this beauty. I wish I could retract the tailwheel up into the fuselage also.

Sweet Richard L !!!!Now, How did you manage to hold your tx in one hand and that camera with the other and then do that great looking low pass? LOL!
You gotcha a great looking plane there Richard! Happy Flying!
John

Well you guys talked me into Century retracts then I had to make the tail wheel I built retract as well. The retracts are due in Monday.
Darryl Usher