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New 50cc Hellcat is for real

Old 09-16-2010, 02:05 PM
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rctom
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Default New 50cc Hellcat is for real


OK It's time to show this beast off. These are photos of the 2nd prototype of our new 50cc F6F Hellcat ARF. The new plane is going into production and the first run should be here in the January/February time frame.

Specs are 85" wing span, length approximately 64". The length can vary a bit because the builder may want to pus a lightweight engine forward to improve balance. Weight with a DLE-55 is between 20 and 21 lbs, the first sample weighed exactly 21 lbs. RTF with a half tank of gas.

Changes from the first sample include hidden glue-in composite control horns, revised canopy, shorter cowl, fully sheeted wing, revised ailerons and flaps, and many many other small items.

The Hellcat will be available as shown, or with a slightly longer cowl to allow the engine to be pushed out even farther. I flew the first prototype on a DLE-55/long cowl and the balance was perfect, with the shorter cowl you can use a heavier engine or shove a lot of weight to the front and make it balance, it can be done but it's easier with the long cowl. I'm thinking short cowl and either TOC-53 or G62 with electronic ignition, some engine around 4 lbs. A 3w anything would work well also.

Wings are fully sheeted, fuselage is almost fully sheeted except the bottom is covered, this is again to keep weight out of the tail. The Hellcat has a tunnel which could be used for a canister, but I'm actually using it as a place to mount the air tank for the retracts.

Speaking of retracts we will have billet aluminum retracts available pre-mounted in the plane. These are works of art and so far have worked quite reliably.

The cowl mounts with a cowl ring so no fasteners are showing, the plane is a lot like our aerobatic planes with full length removable hatch, wings and stabs mounted on CF tubes, it's very easy to live with.

This Hellcat is very close to scale and flies like a trainer, and i Mean that literally. My adrenalin was pumping on the first flight but it turns out to have been for nothing, it flies straight and true, lands easily with or without the flaps. With flaps you could almost land it without watching it, it sets up in a perfect glide slope and you just keep the wings level and feed in a little up elevator near the ground. And it will fly most aerobatics too!

The price is planned for around $1,095 with pre-mounted retracts, both main gear and tailwheel.

TF

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Old 09-16-2010, 02:57 PM
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Default RE: New 50cc Hellcat is for real

Here are a couple photos with the longer cowl. To be honest, unless you are an absolute scale "nut" I think the longer cowl looks better and it certainly makes it easy to build the plane light.

My emphasis on light weight is a carryover from aerobatic planes. I know that many scale planes are really heavy and they fly that way. On this F6F Hellcat, my first entry into the warbird world, it is my belief that having a plane that flies well will appeal to pilots who have been reluctant about investing a lot of money when they are afraid it will fly like a brick.

I can assure any prospective buyers, this plane is no brick and is no harder top fly than one of our 50cc aerobats. It will make any pilot of "fair" skill or better look good.

TF

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Old 09-16-2010, 08:14 PM
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Default RE: New 50cc Hellcat is for real

Tom,are u saying the TOC would be heavy enough to use the short cowl
Old 09-16-2010, 09:23 PM
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Default RE: New 50cc Hellcat is for real

Tom, that plane looks Great! I can't wait to see what it looks like up close!
Old 09-16-2010, 10:06 PM
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Default RE: New 50cc Hellcat is for real


ORIGINAL: dredknot

Tom,are u saying the TOC would be heavy enough to use the short cowl
Probably. I was able to get pretty close with a DLE-55 by putting the batteries way out in front and using a couple weighted washers on the front of the engine.

The TOC-53 is about 12 oz. heavier which roughly offsets the batteries. It might need a little more weight in front but not much. Putting 12 oz. of batteries on the motorbox should do the trick.

It's interesting, the CG changes when the wheels retract because the gear goes to the back, you can feel it change when you fly it and change the gear position. All my flight testing was done with the DLE with 1 weight washer in front and about 1.25" spacers behind the standoffs.

My best WAG is the TOC will be acceptable with the short cowl, though I can't be certain without doing a whole installation.

TF
Old 09-17-2010, 04:48 PM
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Default RE: New 50cc Hellcat is for real

thanks tom,my edge might lose it's toc,
Tom what type of servos are you using,i guess what i want to know is how much do i have to spend in servos
for a good safe setup
Old 09-17-2010, 08:51 PM
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Default RE: New 50cc Hellcat is for real

Wow, a WildHare warbird. I'm impressed. Looking at the pictures, it looks like the vertical fin / rudder are small as if they were modeled after the prototype or very early Hellcats. This might just be an optical thing in the pictures .... not sure.

Overall, count me in on this one. Love Hellcats!
Old 09-17-2010, 09:54 PM
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Default RE: New 50cc Hellcat is for real


ORIGINAL: Truckracer

Wow, a WildHare warbird. I'm impressed. Looking at the pictures, it looks like the vertical fin / rudder are small as if they were modeled after the prototype or very early Hellcats. This might just be an optical thing in the pictures .... not sure.

Overall, count me in on this one. Love Hellcats!

It's a good thing to have a small rudder in this case. The rudder is super sensitive, to the point that you can fly the plane on 3 channels, rudder/elevator/throttle, and almost imperceptible throws. It will happily do a rudder roll with no ailerons at all. If you get one, be very careful with rudder inputs, it is extremely effective.

TF
Old 09-17-2010, 09:59 PM
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Default RE: New 50cc Hellcat is for real


ORIGINAL: dredknot

thanks tom,my edge might lose it's toc,
Tom what type of servos are you using,i guess what i want to know is how much do i have to spend in servos
for a good safe setup
I was using HD 9150s on the first one. This one I used Spektrum A6020 on elevators and a Hitec 5685 on the rudder, I did this because I was looking for inexpensive servos available from the major brands. The HD 9150s are good servos with 220 oz. of torque, way overkill on this plane.

I don't think you need to spend more than $50 per servo, but it does need 7 of them (plus throttle and choke). Use metal gear servos, but anything that will work on a 50cc aerobatic plane will be overkill on this.

TF
Old 09-17-2010, 10:06 PM
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Default RE: New 50cc Hellcat is for real


ORIGINAL: rctom


ORIGINAL: Truckracer

Wow, a WildHare warbird. I'm impressed. Looking at the pictures, it looks like the vertical fin / rudder are small as if they were modeled after the prototype or very early Hellcats. This might just be an optical thing in the pictures .... not sure.

Overall, count me in on this one. Love Hellcats!

It's a good thing to have a small rudder in this case. The rudder is super sensitive, to the point that you can fly the plane on 3 channels, rudder/elevator/throttle, and almost imperceptible throws. It will happily do a rudder roll with no ailerons at all. If you get one, be very careful with rudder inputs, it is extremely effective.

TF
That would be quite a contrast to my Ziroli Skyraider that needs full right rudder on takeoff to stay straight down the runway. Real warbird fliers will be able to handle a "gentle" warbird!
Old 09-18-2010, 05:56 AM
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Default RE: New 50cc Hellcat is for real

TF,
You just couldnt resist showing off that propeller !

LOL

JDS
Old 09-18-2010, 08:22 AM
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Default RE: New 50cc Hellcat is for real


ORIGINAL: cap10b

TF,
You just couldnt resist showing off that propeller !

LOL

JDS
No, I couldn't.

My friend Johnny Snead came over the other day to have me drill his 3 blade Biela prop. When I saw it I whined about how much I liked it until he felt so guilty he let me have it.

True friends respond favorably to whining, thanks Johnny!

About ground handling, the Hellcat also has a steerable/retractable tailwheel assembly. I made a double pull-pull, the outer pair of wires go to the rudder and the inner pair go to the tailwheel. The plane handles great on the ground and there's no problem making it go straight on takeoff with just tiny rudder inputs.


TF
Old 09-18-2010, 09:38 AM
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Default RE: New 50cc Hellcat is for real

hey tom any pics of the interior lay out and pics with out the cowl,also what's the plan to keep the fuse in one place when you don't have on the wings,like when u have it in the back of a pickup truck
Old 09-18-2010, 11:15 AM
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Default RE: New 50cc Hellcat is for real

Wildhare you have done it again, very impressive my I be the first to want one .would like to see some picture inside. Price is to to low need to raise it like that other company with the P51 for 1895.00
Old 09-19-2010, 12:15 AM
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Default RE: New 50cc Hellcat is for real

At this point I don't have a plan to hold it in place, I was thinking of making a little rig out of PVC pipe to support it through the wing tube hole.

It's too late to be the first to want one but I am always appreciative of people who like our products, thanks for the compliment.

I will be finishing this plane tomorrow, when it's done I will post some photos of the interior and the engine mounting section.

TF
Old 09-19-2010, 08:54 AM
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Default RE: New 50cc Hellcat is for real

Hey Tom, man its looks so much better!

I am no expert but am wondering a few things.

Will the production have landing gear covers?

Hopefully a clear canopy?

And on the size of the tail....it seems a tad small in proportion maybe increase it a little for production?

Thanks, I attached some pics in regards to my three questions.......

Thanks, 871



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Old 09-19-2010, 10:06 AM
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Default RE: New 50cc Hellcat is for real


ORIGINAL: show871

Hey Tom, man its looks so much better!

I am no expert but am wondering a few things.

Will the production have landing gear covers?

Hopefully a clear canopy?

And on the size of the tail....it seems a tad small in proportion maybe increase it a little for production?

Thanks, I attached some pics in regards to my three questions.......

Thanks, 871



This plane came with gear doors but no good way to attach them, I'm still working on that.

The tail is scale size, I have drawings that are to scale and sized to match. No changes are planned.

Thanks for the input.

TF
Old 09-19-2010, 04:34 PM
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Default RE: New 50cc Hellcat is for real


Thanks for the heads up....Must be just the pictures on the tail size

Hopefully a clear canopy? Alot of guys like to scale out the cockpit-pilot etc

Thanks!

871

ORIGINAL: rctom


ORIGINAL: show871

Hey Tom, man its looks so much better!

I am no expert but am wondering a few things.

Will the production have landing gear covers?

Hopefully a clear canopy?

And on the size of the tail....it seems a tad small in proportion maybe increase it a little for production?

Thanks, I attached some pics in regards to my three questions.......

Thanks, 871



This plane came with gear doors but no good way to attach them, I'm still working on that.

The tail is scale size, I have drawings that are to scale and sized to match. No changes are planned.

Thanks for the input.

TF
Old 09-19-2010, 06:42 PM
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Default RE: New 50cc Hellcat is for real


ORIGINAL: show871


Thanks for the heads up....Must be just the pictures on the tail size

Hopefully a clear canopy? Alot of guys like to scale out the cockpit-pilot etc

I'm not sure what you mean here. The canopy is clear plastic as close to scale as I can make it.

What's the problem?

TF
Old 09-19-2010, 07:51 PM
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Default RE: New 50cc Hellcat is for real

ORIGINAL: rctom


ORIGINAL: show871


Thanks for the heads up....Must be just the pictures on the tail size

Hopefully a clear canopy? Alot of guys like to scale out the cockpit-pilot etc

I'm not sure what you mean here. The canopy is clear plastic as close to scale as I can make it.

What's the problem?

TF
The footprint looks great, it just looks tinted in the 2nd prototype pics?
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Old 09-19-2010, 10:37 PM
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Default RE: New 50cc Hellcat is for real

OK now I understand, you think it ought not to be tinted. THat's a good idea, I will try to get them to change to untinted plastic.

That had not occurred to me before. This is why I like to get people's views before the plane is committed to production.

TF
Old 09-19-2010, 11:27 PM
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Default RE: New 50cc Hellcat is for real

Tom,

You speak of the TOC-53 .... do you think that engine (probably its newer version) will ever return to the Wild Hare lineup? I really liked some things about that engine.
Old 09-20-2010, 07:30 AM
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Default RE: New 50cc Hellcat is for real

No, I don't. They left me in a lurch refusing to correct the problems with the last batch of engines that I bought from them. I lost a good deal of money and a lot of credibility as a result.

I still get calls from people looking for mufflers that I can't supply. They changed the design of the mufflers several times with no notice and the last ones would not stay together.

The engines were good but if the company won't stand behind their product I can't do business with them. DLE supports me and has a better product line as well.

TF
Old 09-20-2010, 01:42 PM
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Default RE: New 50cc Hellcat is for real

This one looks real good but can you leave the graphics off
I would like to make one my way
Old 09-20-2010, 03:35 PM
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Default RE: New 50cc Hellcat is for real

OF course, these numbers are only on there to show what one might look like. I actually hope to get a few sets done up to match specific planes from the war with proper matching insignias and numbers, the builder would then put them on as desired.

TF

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