Official FlightLine F4U-1A Corsair 1600mm (63") Wingspan

[jetfool]

Doug,
The FMS Corsair is the correct model F4U-4 that was used in Korea. You flew it like you had a lot of flights on it in your video. Great flying.
I flew my small cub New Year’s Day at club field, it was foggy and I lost sight of so I am cutting down a tree today. Glad it wasn’t a expensive model. Probably should not have flown but club members were having fun so. Rex

[Dougcarr73]

Congratulations on your maiden. Video was awesome. All Corsairs look great. Wish our weather was as good as yours. Best Regards, Rex

Thanks, Rex. We are definitely blessed here in the southeast. Barring the occasional storm, we have great flying weather year round. I tend to go a bit further and push the limits with strong winds, low ceilings, and even light rain, which widens the envelope of opportunities for me to fly while the faint of heart say, "nope."

I'm primarily a jet guy, but after watching the movie "Devotion" I developed an affinity for the Corsair warbird and began my search. The Black Horse Corsair has a relatively complex build process, so not today on that one. The 1.2 & 1.4m Corsairs were small and lacked some scale details. The Flightline 1600mm was a great option, but lacked a retractable tailwheel (I could compromise on that), but then the 1700mm FMS bird had attractive size and detail, but was significantly underpowered. It was an easier modification for me to fix the power issue on the FMS than to do what Elbee's doing on the tailwheel, so I went with the FMS. I added an 8S ESC and I'm thoroughly satisfied with the result. That beefy ESC also added the necessary weight that made the plane achieve CG perfectly.
Happy New Year, Doug

[jetfool]

Congratulations on your maiden. Video was awesome. All Corsairs look great. Wish our weather was as good as yours. Best Regards, Rex

[Dougcarr73]

I had a successful maiden of my Christmas gift (1700mm F4U Corsair). My buddy was kind/skilled enough to get some drone chase footage of the event. Check out the vid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GwGxeurpDs

By the way, Elbee, if you apply any of those engineering skills to the FMS Corsair, I'd definitely pay money for one of your upgrades.

[jetfool]

Your blowing my mind Elbee with the wanta haves I want to add to mine. Since mine is a marine version flying off land I have removed the Tail hook but the tie down ring looks great. I will wait on doing this aera on mine until you have scaled yours out. Your going to have a beautiful plane when finished.
Davegee, Appreciate your comments. The little trim rod isn't fixed in the correct position on the stabilizer but will do on this model. On my BT 82" Corsair it is functional, an un-finished labor of love. Rex

[Elbee]

Looking Super, LB! Do you have any plans for tailwheel doors, versus "no doors" that the plane comes with? I was disappointed with that on my plane. The FMS 1700mm Corsair model comes with retractable tailwheel doors, but they hang directly down instead of splayed out, which is a little vexing...

Cheers

davegee

DG, There is just so much a guy can do until he wants to move forward.

The simple answer is 'yes', but the practical answer is not on this build. I thought long and hard about doing exactly as you stated and it's doable.

The caveat for the way I saw it was I wanted a 'clean slate', if you catch my meaning.

Cut out a section from the thrust line downward and aft starting at the molded panel line ahead of the vertical.

Clean out the foam, add a vertical bulkhead, a tapered horizontal panel, and go from there.
I even redesigned and printed a modified version of the old "Robart Retractable Tail Wheel Mechanism'.

Figured the door panels would be ''pulled' closed with expansion springs and held open by friction, possibly a rod or something from the tail wheel assembly.

I was becoming concerned about too much dead weight that far from CoG, Figured servo and long CF rod from below or forward of the cockpit to actuate.

So yes I've thought about it and would noodle it out on another build, but for now it was much simpler to 'dress up the gear'. Maybe next time...

Thanks for compliments and as they say, whomever 'they' are, "great minds think alike".

Best, LB

[davegee]

Corsair Guys-n-Gals, painting and assembling my mod for the tail wheel assembly and wanted to add a more scale-like (heavy emphasis on the 'like') tail wheel and tire.

Printing a version of the covered wheel, might do an open wheel, not certain, but I did design a tire and have wanted to try some of the flexible filaments, so I designed a tire as well.

Ordered a spool of TPU filament which is flexible filament that should be here by week's end.

More when there is more. Best, LB

Looking Super, LB! Do you have any plans for tailwheel doors, versus "no doors" that the plane comes with? I was disappointed with that on my plane. The FMS 1700mm Corsair model comes with retractable tailwheel doors, but they hang directly down instead of splayed out, which is a little vexing...

Cheers

davegee

[Elbee]

Corsair Guys-n-Gals, painting and assembling my mod for the tail wheel assembly and wanted to add a more scale-like (heavy emphasis on the 'like') tail wheel and tire.

Printing a version of the covered wheel, might do an open wheel, not certain, but I did design a tire and have wanted to try some of the flexible filaments, so I designed a tire as well.

Ordered a spool of TPU filament which is flexible filament that should be here by week's end.

More when there is more. Best, LB

[Elbee]

jetfool davegee copy Dave's comments. So nicely done. Filling all the right places, the added details, just what this beauty needs...embellishment of the details. Best, LB

[davegee]

Cold and dreary outside so I have been giving my Corsair the Elbee treatment today. Sanded the seams and filled with lite-weight spackling. Installing the sound system and getting controls hooked up and settings set. Flew the Cub at our New Years day fly , it was a little foggy so tomorrow I go back with the chainsaw to cut down a tree to retrieve my model. HA!
Best Regards, Rex

Coming along well, Rex! Like the elevator trim/balance panel actuator rods on the tail. To me, details like that, set the model apart from just a standard build out of the box.

Cheers

davegee

[jetfool]

Cold and dreary outside so I have been giving my Corsair the Elbee treatment today. Sanded the seams and filled with lite-weight spackling. Installing the sound system and getting controls hooked up and settings set. Flew the Cub at our New Years day fly , it was a little foggy so tomorrow I go back with the chainsaw to cut down a tree to retrieve my model. HA!
Best Regards, Rex

[jetfool]

Don’t know about all of you but I haven’t bought one new airplane this year! Keep em fly-in. Rex

[Elbee]

HNY2U2

[jetfool]

Happy New Year Everyone. Started to add a few details to the engine area. Hopefully it will look better than stock until I decide to install a scale P&W later A work in progress photo Rex

[Elbee]

Well my friend, outside of a photo alongside your lovely bride, I can't imagine a more beautiful girl to be photoed next to. Great pic!

I know, right!?. Yeppers, she's still a curvy great lookin' gal and aging quite well, unlike me...err..aging well, not curvy gal. Heck, you know what I mean. Happy New Year, Best, Steve

[Aros]

My favorite thing to do is pose in front of the SR-71 for a snapshot, Never gets old. Oh, I just happen to have with me, care to see?

Well my friend, outside of a photo alongside your lovely bride, I can't imagine a more beautiful girl to be photoed next to. Great pic!

[davegee]

davegee Hah, well I am just a transplant; however, a small town and one hundred plus years of gossip which would include the Carey Family.

Don't know much, but 'the lovely and talented' has a piece or two of Mrs. C's jewelry from a recent sale, auction or something. Nothing major, but history is history.

Yeah, the Cosmosphere is quite the thing. I've only been twice to walk the exhibits and a couple times to see films at the IMAX theatre,

My favorite thing to do is pose in front of the SR-71 for a snapshot, Never gets old.

Oh, I just happen to have with me, care to see?

Best, LB

Great pic, LB! I never get tired of museums like this one. They have done a lot of restorations of famous spacecraft like Gus Grissom's Mercury capsule that sank and was in about 15000 feet of salt water for about 40 years and I think the Apollo 13 spacecraft, I think more, too.

I got to train the pilot (as a first officer on the 747-400) of the SR-71 that did its final flight from Beale AFB to Washington, DC, landing at Dulles to become part of the Hazy museum there. That flight they flew out of Beale, ,got tankered over the Pacific Ocean, and then made their run in on the California coast finally coasting out over the Atlantic Ocean I think in about 68 minutes, and set a total of 4 speed records enroute (between city pairs) that will probably never be broken by a jet powered aircraft. That was back in 1990. Ed Yeilding was the pilot. Great guy.

Cheers

davegee

[Elbee]

Coconut Yes, would really like to find a way to do any of that.

T and me just have not had much outdoor fun time this past year or more.

Wind, then wind and then some more wind. Well, you've had it too and worse than we, I think.

Hopin' for more flying time this next Summer/ Fall.

Best, LB

[Elbee]

davegee Hah, well I am just a transplant; however, a small town and one hundred plus years of gossip which would include the Carey Family.

Don't know much, but 'the lovely and talented' has a piece or two of Mrs. C's jewelry from a recent sale, auction or something. Nothing major, but history is history.

Yeah, the Cosmosphere is quite the thing. I've only been twice to walk the exhibits and a couple times to see films at the IMAX theatre,

My favorite thing to do is pose in front of the SR-71 for a snapshot, Never gets old.

Oh, I just happen to have with me, care to see?

Best, LB

[davegee]

FlightLine's R&D department???? They still have a job??? Haven't heard from them in years.

Nice work, Elbee. Would love to see this plane and your collection. I'm not far from you. I'm in Wichita and have this Corsair NIB for almost a year now.

Hi Elbee: you're in Hutchinson? Great town, and a wonderful space museum there. I've been there several times got to know some of the folks there. Great story how Mrs. Carey of the salt empire there started up that little museum from nothing to what it is today.

Davegee