What did you fly today?

[Elbee]

I hadn't heard about a sale of Robart? Do you have any more info on that? I sure hope that doesn't cause them to reduce inventory or quit the business altogether.

DG, As a group they are selling the intellectual property (IP) for their Aluminum Retract Line, Aluminum Struts & Wheels.

The Rubber Tires and Plastic bits are being outsourced, but they say they will not miss a beat keeping up with those Inventories.

All the ZAP adhesives are still a part of Robart as far as I know.

I believe there are prospective buyers, but I have not heard of a pending sale.

I had chatted briefly with 'she whose authority exceeds my rank' about the prospect and finding out more.

When I researched the opportunity, I found that it is only the in-house aluminum manufacturing segment being dismantled and only the IP that is for sale as stated above.

Best, LB

[Hugh Wiedman]

Hey Hugh: a little off topic, but just wanted to let you know that I've been giving my test SMC 5000 a workout with several planes, especially my F-18C and F-15C. Flies great in anything I put the battery in. I plan to buy more of these soon.

Thanks!

Davegee

Dave,
Not necessarily off topic, anything that improves our flying experience is right on.

Speaking of SMC, got out yesterday with a couple I rarely fly, but with SMC packs they fly great. The FMS 1700mm P51, definitely underpowered (and yes, I do need to weather it, but something else always ends up getting priority, like repairing after mishaps), but flies much better on their 4400HiV or 5300 standard, nice and light, which helps this pig.

Also flew my 8S F4 & F16, which gives me over 5 minutes on the HiV 8S 5900.

Got my repainted Stinger 90 up which I've upgraded the fan to the 6S big 12 blade I took out of my F16 when I converted that to 8S. The Stinger is a rocket with that fan and is flown on a SMC HiV 6S 5900 for 5-6 minutes. Can't beat that. 🤙🤗

[davegee]

Davegee,

Great looking models. Glad the tires made a difference. I hope Robarts wheels are staying produced by someone after there sale. Would like to have the FMS JUG in my fleet someday

Hi Rex: I hadn't heard about a sale of Robart? Do you have any more info on that? I sure hope that doesn't cause them to reduce inventory or quit the business altogether. I had to order the 3.5" wheels directly from Robart yesterday, MRC and the others were out of stock. But no problem going to the source to get what I needed, this time, anyway.

Yeah, I think at least a little weathering is appropriate for warbirds, or any model airplane based on a full size aircraft. The trick is not to overdo it to where it looks worse than if they hadn't tried it at all! Sometimes, less is more with weathering. It's a real art. Your Corsair came out very nice, and you can use that knowledge to tastefully enhance all your future planes, or even some around the house that you haven't made any final touches to yet.

Best,

Dave

[jetfool]

Davegee,

Great looking models. Glad the tires made a difference. I hope Robarts wheels are staying produced by someone after there sale. Would like to have the FMS JUG in my fleet someday

[jetfool]

Wildman, Thank you. Your FW-190 looks great also. Yeah I had to repaint the moment I removed it from the box. The landing gear is strong and I'm surprised how good it holds up on landing on our grass field. I installed the softer tires and they make a difference.
Probally harder to land but a ME-109 (1600-2000mm) from Motion w/bells and whistles would be great. I am still holding out for a Zero from Motion to go with my Corsair.

Davegee, Agree with you on repaint. Since taking your advice on weathering w/chalks (over 2yrs ago) I have a hard time looking at a WWII plane and not see some weathering to be done . A friend has the FMS Red Tail Mustang stock and I keep pestering him to weather it, It doesn't have character just looks like a toy.

Best Regards, Rex

[davegee]

Ah, heck! You'll do just fine on those airplanes, Rex! The ones that really get my blood pumping are my F/A-18C and F-15C. They fly very fast (for me) and I always struggle to keep them in tight in the pattern. It is really easy to let them get out too far because of their speed, and then you might be in trouble trying to get them back safely! Not for me, just asking for a friend. (LOL!)

I have not flown the FW-190. It looks totally cool and a Bad Ass on the ground or in the air. I used to have a Freewing Me-262 way back. Great flier but it almost always scuffed the bottoms of the nacelles due to its proximity to the runway surface.

Tigercat is really a great airplane. I had the MRC one, I really like the FMS version better, with the exception of the raised rivets which the real one did not have. But I do admire the excellent scale landing gear.

My Corsair continues to soldier on well, last iteration testing LB's magnificent Brewster bomb rack and 500# bomb. It's always fun testing out new ideas on these airplanes, especially if no one you know has tackled some of them before.

Please post pics of your planes when you do fly them, You may find it wasn't as hard as you thought it might be to get them back to mother earth safely! The soft scale tires are definitely a big help, IMHO. I just changed out my second set of wheels/Robart tires on another P-47 that I plan to fly tomorrow morning, weather permitting. I had to order another set of the Robart tires through Robart and they should be here within a week or so to complete my last P-47 mods.

Best,

Davegee

I went out to fly this morning with the second of my three FMS P-47s modified with the Robart tires. This airplane performed much better for ground handling, tracking, and really "sticking" the landing on each of the 5 flights I put it through this morning. Just waiting on my order of two more Robart tires to come and then I can modify my third aircraft to complete this mod for my P-47 fleet. Very happy with the results.

Also, I have to give some credit to my wonderful E Flite Beech 18 that I use for my warmup plane for flights tests like I did today. But it is also a true joy to fly, very stable even in moderate winds, and able to takeoff just in a matter of feet on our short crosswind runway when needed due to winds. Plane loves to land in a two-point, just like its big brother. A few pics included after the flight tests. I guess I've probably had over 100 flights on it since I got it a few years ago.

Happy flying, all!

Cheers

Davegee

[davegee]

Great looking FW-190s! Rex, I agree with totally overhauling the OEM paint scheme to one that is historically accurate. Well done! And well done with the maiden and getting it back safely on the ground, ready for a new career of flying with the other planes in your hangar.

Cheers

Davegee

[Hugh Wiedman]

Davegee,

These are photos of my E-Flite FW-190 that I test flew yesterday. Some scale mods and complete new paint scheme from the terrible OEM scheme that came on the model. Painted as a real JG300 STRUM. After 2 yrs. of looking at it ,it was time to fly. It needed very little trim and flew as if on rails. I highly recommend it but change the horrible OEM paint.

Best Regards, Rex

Outstanding repaint Rex! I definitely hated the clownish paint scheme it came in, which kept me from even considering it, even though I could have repainted it. A buddy has one and it does fly great.

Found a balsa 62" Extreme Flight FW 190 "Red Tulip" (Aces High-now discontinued) and got that instead. Absolutely love it. Installed 2 model sound speakers and it flies on a SMC HiV 5900 for over 10 minutes. Would like to see Flightline do a 1600mm FW or a BF 109.

[jetfool]

Davegee,

These are photos of my E-Flite FW-190 that I test flew yesterday. Some scale mods and complete new paint scheme from the terrible OEM scheme that came on the model. Painted as a real JG300 STRUM. After 2 yrs. of looking at it ,it was time to fly. It needed very little trim and flew as if on rails. I highly recommend it but change the horrible OEM paint.

Best Regards, Rex

[davegee]

Not too bad. The Robart tires have an inner ring molded in the tire that has to be removed more or less, so that you can put in the two halves of the E Flite/FMS wheels from either side of the tire. The plastic wheel halves have pins on one part and holes in the other, so you need to have anything of the Robart tire removed enough so it doesn't get stuck between the two halves of the wheel.

I don't see any reason to glue the halves of the plastic wheel together. I did for a while, but the manufacturer never saw that need, as you have a pretty tight fit with a C clip at the end of the axle that keeps everything together. As long as the C Clip doesn't come off, you should be in great shape.

I wish FMS and E Flite would have gone with something like the above setup instead of making those very hard plastic wheels that can cause fits trying to land without bouncing and possibly damaging the gear or even other parts of the plane. To me, this mod is a superior way to go over the OEM design.

One of the best things is I have found that as long as the touchdown is reasonably good, you won't get that big bounce the OEM wheels often give. Most times, it "sticks" the landing!

If you feel like it, give it a whirl. Let me know if you have any concerns or questions over this mod for both E Flite and FMS P-51s/P-47s.

Cheers

Davegee

[Coconut]

Are the tires easy to change out?

[davegee]

Congratulations Davegee! Your fleet is improving each year with all your gradual improvements. The scale mods are just icing on the cake too.

Yesterday was the first test flight on my E-Flite FW-190, flys beautifully with no problems. We fly off grass and the long gear holds up very well, also have the e-flite soft scale tires on. Next up is the Tigercat then later the Corsair which I'm sure my knees will be knocking.

Best Regards, Rex

Ah, heck! You'll do just fine on those airplanes, Rex! The ones that really get my blood pumping are my F/A-18C and F-15C. They fly very fast (for me) and I always struggle to keep them in tight in the pattern. It is really easy to let them get out too far because of their speed, and then you might be in trouble trying to get them back safely! Not for me, just asking for a friend. (LOL!)

I have not flown the FW-190. It looks totally cool and a Bad Ass on the ground or in the air. I used to have a Freewing Me-262 way back. Great flier but it almost always scuffed the bottoms of the nacelles due to its proximity to the runway surface.

Tigercat is really a great airplane. I had the MRC one, I really like the FMS version better, with the exception of the raised rivets which the real one did not have. But I do admire the excellent scale landing gear.

My Corsair continues to soldier on well, last iteration testing LB's magnificent Brewster bomb rack and 500# bomb. It's always fun testing out new ideas on these airplanes, especially if no one you know has tackled some of them before.

Please post pics of your planes when you do fly them, You may find it wasn't as hard as you thought it might be to get them back to mother earth safely! The soft scale tires are definitely a big help, IMHO. I just changed out my second set of wheels/Robart tires on another P-47 that I plan to fly tomorrow morning, weather permitting. I had to order another set of the Robart tires through Robart and they should be here within a week or so to complete my last P-47 mods.

Best,

Davegee

[jetfool]

Congratulations Davegee! Your fleet is improving each year with all your gradual improvements. The scale mods are just icing on the cake too.

Yesterday was the first test flight on my E-Flite FW-190, flys beautifully with no problems. We fly off grass and the long gear holds up very well, also have the e-flite soft scale tires on. Next up is the Tigercat then later the Corsair which I'm sure my knees will be knocking.

Best Regards, Rex

[davegee]

I flew my P-47D Penrod and Sam as well as my P-51D LOU IV this morning. LOU IV couldn't have flown better, very nice flights on it. Regarding my Jug Penrod and Sam, I had a lot of issues with it "skipping" just a bit back into the air despite my best efforts to squeak it on without the bounce. Very little to no wind so that wasn't a factor.

Very minor damage to the tailwheel arm on the Jug which was easily "muscled" back into place ok. But I did look at the main gear and wheels closer afterwards. E Flite produces the LOU IV. For anyone who bought one with the stock wheels on it, you know what a pain it could be with "bounce" after touchdown with those hard rubber wheels. Well, today after my flights, I looked at the FMS P-47 wheels, and they are Exactly the same as those on the E Flite P-51. So, I removed the stock wheels from the P-47, and replaced them with the modified combo of the soft, hollow rubber 3.5" tires from Robart, and putting them on the E Flite hubs, which are the same in both the FMS P-47 and the E Flite P-51, as previously noted.

I have the new tires on my "I Wanted Wings" P-47, my oldest P-47 foamie that I have in my hangar, and if the winds are low in the morning, I"ll test out these wheels/tires and see if that helps with the landings. I suspect that it will help, just have to test fly it and see if that is true. Will report back

Cheers

Davegee

I installed the combo Robart 3.5" soft and hollow rubber tires onto the stock E Flite/FMS plastic wheel hubs yesterday on my I Wanted Wings FMS P-47 yesterday. This morning, did a test run with my dependable "weather ship" Beech 18 aircraft to warm up and get any reads on possible turbulent or problem areas aloft. That all went fine, a crosswind of 4/5 knots from the right, but fine for my purposes. I did some ground checks on my IWW P-47, taxi tests with the new wheels, and then took off.

Exactly as I was hoping and mostly expecting from my previous experience with these wheels on my E Flite P-51s. Tracking was beautiful, but the"acid test" was: how does it land? It was, in a word: "Beautiful!" Erased were all the problems I have had with bouncy landings, with the OEM tires, and some damage to the gear that was caused by the harder landings. Today, each landing "stuck" with no bounce. It tracked right down the runway with limited need for the rudder to keep it straight. It was almost eyewatering, the difference it made!

So, I have two more FMS P-47s that will get the new wheels/tires before I fly them again. I think this should spell the end to crappy landings when they didn't have to be, had the planes been outfitted with softer tires from the factory, IMHO.

So, I don't know if this info will be of any value to other modelers out there, but I highly recommend changing out the OEM tires on the 1.5M E Flite P-51s and the same with the FMS P-47D razorbacks. I changed out the tires and wheels on my Flightline 1.6M Corsair years ago, not because the OEM tires were "terrible" but they were smallish for scale, and did have a tendency to bounce a little bit on landings sometimes. But the replacement Robart 3.5" tires have been nearly flawless for the past few years that I have flown that airplane.

I"ll attach a few pics of my flight today, after the tests. One is a closeup of the new wheel/tire on the P-47. You can see the spokes on the plastic wheel. This will be covered over with a round mud cover for scale. I just needed to verify that the C clips wouldn't come off on the test flights, first.

So, have fun all!

Cheers

Davegee

[davegee]

I flew my P-47D Penrod and Sam as well as my P-51D LOU IV this morning. LOU IV couldn't have flown better, very nice flights on it. Regarding my Jug Penrod and Sam, I had a lot of issues with it "skipping" just a bit back into the air despite my best efforts to squeak it on without the bounce. Very little to no wind so that wasn't a factor.

Very minor damage to the tailwheel arm on the Jug which was easily "muscled" back into place ok. But I did look at the main gear and wheels closer afterwards. E Flite produces the LOU IV. For anyone who bought one with the stock wheels on it, you know what a pain it could be with "bounce" after touchdown with those hard rubber wheels. Well, today after my flights, I looked at the FMS P-47 wheels, and they are Exactly the same as those on the E Flite P-51. So, I removed the stock wheels from the P-47, and replaced them with the modified combo of the soft, hollow rubber 3.5" tires from Robart, and putting them on the E Flite hubs, which are the same in both the FMS P-47 and the E Flite P-51, as previously noted.

I have the new tires on my "I Wanted Wings" P-47, my oldest P-47 foamie that I have in my hangar, and if the winds are low in the morning, I"ll test out these wheels/tires and see if that helps with the landings. I suspect that it will help, just have to test fly it and see if that is true. Will report back

Cheers

Davegee

[davegee]

Sounds like your taking all the fun out of guessing the aircrafts orientation Dan! And LB always wondered why my aircraft are painted in psychedelic colors. "The better to see you with my dear."

Got Lasik in one eye a few years ago but all it showed me was how bad I flew. Ignorance was bliss. But I still kept using bright colors.

Seriously, you'll be amazed how much easier it is to fly when you see well. I also can diagnose my crashes quicker now that I see what stupid moves I've done.

Hey Hugh: a little off topic, but just wanted to let you know that I've been giving my test SMC 5000 a workout with several planes, especially my F-18C and F-15C. Flies great in anything I put the battery in. I plan to buy more of these soon.

Thanks!

Davegee

[Hugh Wiedman]

So I'm going for Lasik eye surgery on the 23rd of July, I'm really looking forward to it, hopefully no more glasses but at least no more cataracts. Maybe those pesky airplanes will be easier to see!!

Grossman56

Sounds like your taking all the fun out of guessing the aircrafts orientation Dan! And LB always wondered why my aircraft are painted in psychedelic colors. "The better to see you with my dear."

Got Lasik in one eye a few years ago but all it showed me was how bad I flew. Ignorance was bliss. But I still kept using bright colors.

Seriously, you'll be amazed how much easier it is to fly when you see well. I also can diagnose my crashes quicker now that I see what stupid moves I've done.

[davegee]

I had the new Spitfire and the old Bearcat up this morning, whew, is that Spitty hard to see in a blue cloudless sky! I put a new 760 kv motor in the Bearcat so I wanted to ensure I had properly aligned the motor to the fuselage. All worked out perfectly.
So I'm going for Lasik eye surgery on the 23rd of July, I'm really looking forward to it, hopefully no more glasses but at least no more cataracts. Maybe those pesky airplanes will be easier to see!!

Grossman56

Best of luck on that, Dan. A good friend of mine helped develop LASIK surgery and the use of the Excimer laser as a Navy ophthalmologist back in the 80s. I've been familiar with LASIK through him since the mid-'80s. Amazing developments and they're still improving techniques and machines to help people see better. I'm sure it will go great in your case. I myself had a procedure called PRK in one eye. It worked great and that was 20 years ago.

Cheers

Davegee

[Elbee]

Congrats, sounds like the perfect Win-Win.

[Grossman56]

I had the new Spitfire and the old Bearcat up this morning, whew, is that Spitty hard to see in a blue cloudless sky! I put a new 760 kv motor in the Bearcat so I wanted to ensure I had properly aligned the motor to the fuselage. All worked out perfectly.
So I'm going for Lasik eye surgery on the 23rd of July, I'm really looking forward to it, hopefully no more glasses but at least no more cataracts. Maybe those pesky airplanes will be easier to see!!

Grossman56