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

[sethscorsair]

That would be my guess as well the multi function box malfuntioned you are very lucky it wasnt worse than it was.

[karltrek]

That would be my guess as well the multi function box malfuntioned you are very lucky it wasnt worse than it was.

So true. It could have been worse.

I had forgotten that the steering was not working until I cycled the retracts switch. Someone pointed that out in my video. Has anyone else noticed this behavior on their Corsair? I think that is a big clue. Probably the multi connector blue box is the culprit. I never lost power to the receiver.

[xviper]

It could have been the multi box. Perhaps some of the connections there had poor grounding. When I build planes with these boxes in them, I always yank ALL the plugs out and wiggle them back in firmly and make sure they are all seated and in the correct polarity. With mine, I also carefully inspected the connections in the wing. Mine had one retract plug and one of the control surface plugs swapped. The other retract plug was not seated all the way (nearly at the beginning of the connection). One of the control surface plugs was inverted and that servo never worked at all till the polarity was corrected. Since yours all worked to begin with, it could still have been one or more plugs not seated and this could cause intermittent current flow, which could have interfered with the control board's overall function. Did you check any of these things when you built the plane?

[karltrek]

It could have been the multi box. Perhaps some of the connections there had poor grounding. When I build planes with these boxes in them, I always yank ALL the plugs out and wiggle them back in firmly and make sure they are all seated and in the correct polarity. With mine, I also carefully inspected the connections in the wing. Mine had one retract plug and one of the control surface plugs swapped. The other retract plug was not seated all the way (nearly at the beginning of the connection). One of the control surface plugs was inverted and that servo never worked at all till the polarity was corrected. Since yours all worked to begin with, it could still have been one or more plugs not seated and this could cause intermittent current flow, which could have interfered with the control board's overall function. Did you check any of these things when you built the plane?

Yes. I do the same thing. I always check all the connections. There was no indication of any that were not seated fully.

[xviper]

Yes. I do the same thing. I always check all the connections. There was no indication of any that were not seated fully.

You did all you could do then. I've always contended that an inordinate number of these control boards suffer from poor grounding or intermittent grounding possibly due to current leaching from one solder to another. I've taken one of these boards out of a crashed plane and looking at the underside soldering through a magnifying glass, I could see some solder points being very close to and some touching another solder point. I'm wondering if they do a circuit test on all these boards as they come off the assembly line. I'm thinking perhaps not since they are likely put together and soldered by hand. It's not like mass produced printed circuits that are manufactured by robotics where they make millions of them every month (eg, cell phones).

[Cws]

When I would deploy the landing gear on my Corsair the rudder would drive off to one side. I bypassed that box with all of my flight control surfaces and just ran the landing gear through it, after that no problems.

[RichJ53]

Can anyone tell me what went wrong with my new Flightline 1600mm Corsair? As soon as I deployed the retracts I lost all control. I did not lose the radio signal. I was having a beautiful flight when I decided to do a touch and go. As soon as I was line up and on approach, the plane stopped responding right as the gear extended. The plane has minor damage but $70 worth of retracts are toast. After the crash, everything was working fine. So I am guessing the damn Multi-Function Control Box must have malfunctioned. I am so disappointed right now. Here is the video for your enjoyment. :Angry:

https://youtu.be/wUKXXLVXBiQ

Firstly, I am sorry about your crash. based on your video, I could not see the underneath side of your plane. It did not appear that your gear was all the way down before loosing the elevator control? That is definitely a bummer. I cycled my landing gear higher up before doing my approach for the first time on my maiden. I noticed the gear deploys with about 6 second delay. I cannot explain why you lost control of your elevator.


As you will remember, the elevator servo plugs directly into your receiver and not the blue box. there no reason for this to fail other than a possible ESC brown out type of situation? The elevator servo is not connected through the blue box...
What do you think?
this is a photo of my receiver connections to the blue box for reference.
All the best
Rich

[Grossman56]

Friggin' maddening:Not-Talking::Angry::Angry::Angry:
But I'd make a bet it was the blue box of death. Had the same thing happen with the Spitfire on takeoff. Left the ground and left rolled over and into the ground. Fortunately it was repairable. Analysis showed that the wire coming out of the box for the ailerons came loose.
I've had good success with the blue box in the Bearcat, now 3 years old, so they either work or kill an airplane. I have a new one in the Spitty and keeping my fingers crossed....

Grossman56

[downwindleg]

TOA, Looking forward to watching your progress. I have yet to start either, though there might be a "Freewing Flying Fortress Spring Project" beforehand and then there's that new F/A 18C. Yes, distractions abound.LOL Best, LB

Hey Karltrek, that is a frustrating bummer. Also, never had the experience of having to cycle the gear before the steering worked. That's odd.:Thinking:What's this about a Flying Fortress? Do you know something we don't or is this a case of wishful thinking?

[Elbee]

What's this about a Flying Fortress? Do you know something we don't or is this a case of wishful thinking?

DWL, I wish it were 'wishful thinking'. I bought one of the few remaining Freewing B-17s from MotionRC when those were offered last summer. I read that these were ARF's that had been converted to PnP and then offered. It says it is 'silver' so I thought I'd work at it to resemble a "G" model and try out some of the 'chrome' paint techniques. My Dad flew B-17s in '44 for the 8th AAF in England & the 13th AAF later in the Pacific. Between the Corsair and the Fortress I be bein' busy, I think. And then there's that pesky Hornet, :Whew: Best, LB

[Ken Smith]

Cannot remember just what caused it but the gear on Corsair acted up, I think I had them retracted on transmitter when they were down when I plugged in the battery. Now I always double check before plugging in and cycle the gear and check all controls so surfaces including flaps. Because I fly out of a field, literally speaking, I always take some of kind stand. Lucky I haven’t had any problem with the on board electronics on any of the three Flight Line models I own.
Just as full scale, sometimes it’s the little things that cause serious problems.

[Elbee]

Hey Y'all, Has anyone posted the Home Depot Color Codes for Non-Specular Blue and Intermediate Blue in this forum? :Confused: Best, LB

[Aros]

Ever since swapping out the stock wheels for the Robart 3.5" wheels I've had two nose overs on what should be nice greasers. Adding the extra weight to the cowl combined with the upgrade wheels makes her nose heavy with gear down so I need to be in the mindset of coming in on high rates for max elevator throw so I can help the tail settle, especially on a 2-pointer (like this evening, a beautiful 2-point greaser that rolled out into a nose over in the grass that broke the top half of the rudder near in half). Bummer! I may have to shoot for 3-pointers to keep that tail low on landing. So it's something to be mindful of for those considering switching to the 3.5's.

[downwindleg]

Ever since swapping out the stock wheels for the Robart 3.5" wheels I've had two nose overs on what should be nice greasers. Adding the extra weight to the cowl combined with the upgrade wheels makes her nose heavy with gear down so I need to be in the mindset of coming in on high rates for max elevator throw so I can help the tail settle, especially on a 2-pointer (like this evening, a beautiful 2-point greaser that rolled out into a nose over in the grass that broke the top half of the rudder near in half). Bummer! I may have to shoot for 3-pointers to keep that tail low on landing. So it's something to be mindful of for those considering switching to the 3.5's.

That totally sucks Todd. I hate that first ding!! At least the rudder can easily be replaced. I have the extra weight plus more(four wheel collars) and haven't had the nose over problem at all. Might be worth rechecking you C G. I have mine set so it just balances with the gear up and C G per the manual.

[p51mustangman]

Ever since swapping out the stock wheels for the Robart 3.5" wheels I've had two nose overs on what should be nice greasers. Adding the extra weight to the cowl combined with the upgrade wheels makes her nose heavy with gear down so I need to be in the mindset of coming in on high rates for max elevator throw so I can help the tail settle, especially on a 2-pointer (like this evening, a beautiful 2-point greaser that rolled out into a nose over in the grass that broke the top half of the rudder near in half). Bummer! I may have to shoot for 3-pointers to keep that tail low on landing. So it's something to be mindful of for those considering switching to the 3.5's.

I haven't flown mine yet, but was thinking about adding graphite or grease to the axel along with possibly reaming out the diameter of the wheels a touch to help prevent this...

[Ken Smith]

I haven't flown mine yet, but was thinking about adding graphite or grease to the axel along with possibly reaming out the diameter of the wheels a touch to help prevent this...

I don’t think that these are needed it rolls just fine. I did the same thing about two feet from stopping but I was holding a little to much up with just a little to much speed, that and I hit a clump of grass or hole. I bought a new rudder but fix the original and kept the new one as a spare.
I have noticed that taildraggers can go over very easily, not only model but full scale.

Ken

[paladin]

Ever since swapping out the stock wheels for the Robart 3.5" wheels I've had two nose overs on what should be nice greasers. Adding the extra weight to the cowl combined with the upgrade wheels makes her nose heavy with gear down so I need to be in the mindset of coming in on high rates for max elevator throw so I can help the tail settle, especially on a 2-pointer (like this evening, a beautiful 2-point greaser that rolled out into a nose over in the grass that broke the top half of the rudder near in half). Bummer! I may have to shoot for 3-pointers to keep that tail low on landing. So it's something to be mindful of for those considering switching to the 3.5's.

if its touching down and rolling more than 10-15ft b4 nosing over try short field procedure. land w flaps 45-50degrees so you have to carry throttle, once it touches down and begins to role (wt on wheels) kill the flaps (I have mine set up on a slider to do this). the tail wheel will slam down when you remove the flap, then kill the throttle and spectate for the role out.

Joe

[Aros]

Actually my wheels are not spinning as freely as the stock did which could be the true culprit. Not sure why, the axle seemed to fit fine when I installed...I will take a closer look over the holiday weekend...Thanks for the input fellas.

[OV10]

Actually my wheels are not spinning as freely as the stock did which could be the true culprit. Not sure why, the axle seemed to fit fine when I installed...I will take a closer look over the holiday weekend...Thanks for the input fellas.

That plastic bushing in the Robart wheel is the most likely suspect.
They grab the axle shaft and rub then eventually wear and then wobble.
I've always used alum tube as a bushing on the Robart
The stock wheel has a metal bushing;) 5mm ID alum tube is pretty common.

[Aros]

Good to know thanks! I usually don't swap out my wheels...Looks like a trip to the local hardware store is imminent. ;)