I just finished hooking everything up, it's still kind of messy but there's a lot of stuff going on and retracts make it look worse.

Had to do it

Guys,
If I may, remember this is a proto-type no other plane exist of this model but the two in Tom's garage. That's good because it's not a cookie cutter design from somebody else. This is a new design from nose to tail. Tom has the Squadron Signal books on the Hellcat he knows how to tell the difference between the -3 and the -5. He knows the difference between the drop tanks and the bands that hold them. You dont see any of that stuff because he was too busy building and flying. I can tell you first hand the landing gear is nice, it's stout and it works as advertized. The scissors go the right direction and the landing gear is not 90 degree it's 100. There are gear doors and they are solid, but like Tom says he does not have a way to mount them. (All that needs to be done is have the builder CNC some alum mounts and problem solved.)

I wouldnt worry about graphics or squadron numbers or any of that, just the blue on top and the gray on bottom the rest the owner can handle. The graphics you see are there so you can see the plane at a distance flying and I can tell you that's good. I personally like Version 1 proto-type that's painted and not shiny. To me it looks more scale. The cowling has panel lines and dzus fastners etched into them.

The rudder is scale and powerful, this plane does not wander down the runway, at least not on grass. Ailerons, elevators are solid and the plane is not touchy, it tracks where you point it and the horizantal fin does not fishtail nor does the plane porpose. Test Pilot "A" even did some 3D harriers and he spun the plane (I dont remember if he did flat spins) and he did hover the V1 plane with the DLE 55. The flaps are good on the Ver 1 and Tom decided to increase the flaps and decrease the ailerons because the plane aerobats so good. Landings are a piece of cake and not the white knuckle affairs with P-51's and no way as difficult as a P-40. In fact the F6F lands like a trainer and she slows down well with the flaps she had on the Ver 1. The very best feature about this plane is that its being designed, built and flown by aerobatic guys and when I say that I dont mean one that is not is bad, what is means is every attention is paid to weight and balance. Keeping the plane light is one of the top priorities. The Ver 1 plane fully loaded sitting on the end of runway ready to fly will hover with a DLE 55 and you dont have to use full throttle. Guys your gonna love this plane, it's good.


jds

Ok Stuart, how did you get the pic of the inside of my plane?

LOL, that new dalton will hopefully look a tad more organised! Jim I am a warbird junkie at times too, please dont tell anybody LOL! I will be at warbirds over the rockies Fri & Sat, (sun des nations) your welcome to some shade and a beer!

I'll be there on saturday. Might take you up on the beer and shade.
The Hellcat sure looks awesome!

Is there a way we can get on a pre-order list for the Hellcat? Thanks.

Yes, I'm just about ready to start accepting orders. We flew the version 2 Hellcat this evening and all went well, so it's about time for me to place an order for planes.

As it turns out I was able to get it to balance with the DLE-55 and the scale cowl and it flew great, so the debate over the extended cowl is pretty much over. No ballast was added except for a 4 ounce prop washer and the dual A123 batteries are mounted on the motorbox sides.

More to come later this weekend and we got some video which is being worked on right now.

Here's a photo from the field of the finished plane.

TF

tom will u be selling a blade prop for the hellcat

Hate to belabor this issue but in any picture I see the vertical tail still looks small! Would sure like to see a nice profile picture of the plane that puts the nose / tail in one perspective. Regardless, I'll probably be on the buy list for this one.

Did you mean a 3 blade prop? Unknown, I am a dealer for Mejzlik props but I'm not sure I can get the right size.

The prop I'm using is a Biela 3 blade 20-10. That sounds small for a DLE-55 but it really loads the engine and produces excellent speed.

TF

Thanks to my friend Peter Fritsche (G-Pete here on RCU, he can be found in the warbirds forums and is a world-class scale modeler) I have drawings of the full scale plane that are scaled to match
the Wild Hare Hellcat.

I can assure you that the rudder matches the drawings exactly. The tail is to scale.

You may be seeing it as small because of the perspective. Here's another picture from the rear.

TF

I suspected the perspective of the picture was a problem. I'll be looking forward to the release of these planes one day down the road.

Tom thats a pretty plane. I have always loved the Hellcat and have thought about getting one. I was thinking a little bigger but after seeing this I dunno...

I chose 85" wingspan as a compromise between cost and everything else.

Going to the next size which is probably 96" span with a 85-100cc engine would likely double the cost. The plane would cost more, engine a lot more, retracts need to be stronger, servos need to be more powerful, everything moves up.

Also, a bigger plane is harder to transport. This fuselage should fit in almost anything, it's only a little over 5 feet long and the wings are in two panels so you don't need anything special to haul it around. In a pinch the stabs/elevators can be removed too, making it practical to put it in the back seat of a sedan. This is a real consideration, I get a lot of people stopping by to test fit a plane in their vehicle.

People don't want to have to buy a Suburban or a trailer just to haul their airplanes.

TF

Tom how's the video coming also any order pics.
Will the hellcat come with everything pre-hinged like your order models

We shot the video but it's still being edited. I will start working on the web site page this week.

It's hinged, but the hinges are not glued. I don't know if I will be able to get the builder to finish the hinging but I'll ask.

It takes me about an hour to glue the hinges, not including glue setting time, it's pretty simple.

TF

Awesome plane,
Have you considered offering a ARC or Kit version? (I'm not a fan of iron on covering on warbirds)
Have you determined a price point yet?

I think most guys prefer to glue hinges themselves, I know I do

it's no big deal to glue hinges and it sure will not make or break the deal for me,but my last wild hare sure did spoil me.

I do plan to offer ARC but it will be primarily for pre-orders. I don't want to get stuck with a warehouse full of planes, and even though a lot of people ask about ARC almost nobody actually buys one.

TF

What's ARC ? [&o]

Almost Ready to Cover

oh ok,thank u

Please tell me they are a pinned hinge and not a CA type.

Of course, CA is only applicable to planes under 10 lbs. and the junk that Chip Hyde used to sell.

The hellcat has 3/16" pin hinges.

TF