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

[Grover54]

Hey Guys! I haven't been on for quite a while. Have a question for all you FlightLine F4U fans. Was checking out the gear on my bubbletop (which I haven't flown for a while) and it seems to be struggling and vibrating when I cycle them. They eventually open and close fine but they vibrate and shake which I haven't see before. It almost seems like they need lubrication or something. They just aren't opening as smooth as they used to. Could it be due to sitting for a while and not cycled? Appreciate any suggestions. Thanks! Grover54

[xviper]

Hey Guys! I haven't been on for quite a while. Have a question for all you FlightLine F4U fans. Was checking out the gear on my bubbletop (which I haven't flown for a while) and it seems to be struggling and vibrating when I cycle them. They eventually open and close fine but they vibrate and shake which I haven't see before. It almost seems like they need lubrication or something. They just aren't opening as smooth as they used to. Could it be due to sitting for a while and not cycled? Appreciate any suggestions. Thanks! Grover54

This may be a sign that the retract has collected some grit or debris in the mechanism. There may even be a small hairline fracture in the casing. You'll have to take them out and inspect them while cycling them via a servo tester and looking with a magnifying glass for the fracture to open up as they cycle. See where all the moving bits are and dab some light machine oil or silicone onto those areas, keeping away from the little circuit board. Last option: buy new retracts.

[Grover54]

This may be a sign that the retract has collected some grit or debris in the mechanism. There may even be a small hairline fracture in the casing. You'll have to take them out and inspect them while cycling them via a servo tester and looking with a magnifying glass for the fracture to open up as they cycle. See where all the moving bits are and dab some light machine oil or silicone onto those areas, keeping away from the little circuit board. Last option: buy new retracts.

Thanks, I'll take those steps. I was also told in another forum that my batteries may be weak in my tester and put fresh ones in just to check. All good advice. Thanks!

[RCAV8R]

I suggest checking the retract casings for cracks before adding lubrication. I just had to replace one of mine due to a hard landing and it was doing that exact same thing....the cracked casing affects the tracking of the trunion (?). Rob

[xviper]

Thanks, I'll take those steps. I was also told in another forum that my batteries may be weak in my tester and put fresh ones in just to check. All good advice. Thanks!

Unless you've got something wrong with your BEC or RX, a weak battery isn't going to do that. The BEC takes whatever volts is needs to put out 5 to 6v to the RX. It's the RX that's then powers the retracts to operate. This plane flies on 6s, which puts out 25.2v when fully charged. It still puts out ~21v when it hits the LVC. This shuts down the motor but it still throws 21v to the BEC, which still puts out 5 to 6v to the RX. All your servos and retracts will continue to work as you dead stick it into the ground.

[Md_cobra]

Got 2 flights in before dark. Love this plane!!

[John Bergsmith]

Death of a Corsair. Flight number 3 on my sons Corsair didn’t end so well. It took off, motor started making noises, a little smoke, and lost all power. It flopped in at the end of the runway and started to smoke. In a matter of a couple of seconds it was fully involved.

I've been involved in the hobby for over forty years. I’ve never had an airplane catch fire let alone burn completely down.

[Hugh Wiedman]

Death of a Corsair. Flight number 3 on my sons Corsair didn’t end so well. It took off, motor started making noises, a little smoke, and lost all power. It flopped in at the end of the runway and started to smoke. In a matter of a couple of seconds it was fully involved.

I've been involved in the hobby for over forty years. I’ve never had an airplane catch fire let alone burn completely down.

OMG, now that's a "scale" mishap! Looks like it got caught by a Zero while patrolling in "The Slot".
Seriously though, sorry to see that. The fire was most likely caused by a short or other breakdown in the ESC. I had a Castle ESC burst into flames in my 60" Beast Bi-Plane once, but it was cause by the idiot mechanic (wait a minute, that's me) that was prepping it for flight and plugged in the Sound card with the JST connector reversed so it was - to +. Got the fire put out quickly and only "fried' the ESC before the balsa or monocote caught fire. No other damage but it still smells a little "smoky" when I remove the battery hatch to put in a new battery. Kinda gives it the "smell" of realism.

[xviper]

The fire was most likely caused by a short or other breakdown in the ESC.

Sounds familiar. Had a V1 Taft ViperJet. Taxied out to the runway and while doing my control checks, smoke started to emanate from the canopy seam. Ran over and yanked off the canopy, grabbed the battery connector and pulled it apart. It was the ESC smoking. Had I not been that fast, I'm sure it would have caught fire and looked just like that Corsair. Scorched the interior a fair bit but put in a bigger, better ESC and I continued to fly it for another season.

[John Bergsmith]

OMG, now that's a "scale" mishap! Looks like it got caught by a Zero while patrolling in "The Slot".
Seriously though, sorry to see that. The fire was most likely caused by a short or other breakdown in the ESC. I had a Castle ESC burst into flames in my 60" Beast Bi-Plane once, but it was cause by the idiot mechanic (wait a minute, that's me) that was prepping it for flight and plugged in the Sound card with the JST connector reversed so it was - to +. Got the fire put out quickly and only "fried' the ESC before the balsa or monocote caught fire. No other damage but it still smells a little "smoky" when I remove the battery hatch to put in a new battery. Kinda gives it the "smell" of realism.

LOL, it looked very authentic for sure. Nothing left but carbon rods.

[Beeg]

Back in May my Corsair burned up after I compromised the battery casing. I guess I was a little ham fisted strapping the battery in and the metal buckle on the strap was at the corner edge of the battery. Within seconds of strapping in the battery battery it lit off and by the time it took me to run to my truck and back to get my welding gloves to yank everything out this is the damage.


last year on of our Pattern flyers was beginning his routine when his plane started smoking. By the time he got down and stopped his nice Pattern plane was pretty much toast. He had used a new method of securing his LiPos which had compromised the outer casing on both batteries and let the magic out.

[Aros]

Yowza! Sorry to see that! Wow, a pretty spectacular way to go. I suppose it could happen to any one of our models at any given time. Again, sorry to see that happen.

[paladin]

grover54, when my fl spit reached 100 flights the retracts started jumping as they came up and down. did not take long before they were dead. assuming I had bent the screw I checked it and it was still straight, I found nothing mechanical. later when replacing another pair of large t-28 retracts I got the idea to check the brushes. turns out the brushes are pretty whimpy and as they wear the brush bends with landing force (i'm on grass) and they just stop working.

john, sorry for your loss!
when I was first starting to convert my alcohol to electric the first 60 size was a evergreen P-51B, I had converted from a D to a B and added flaps (it was made of wood). at a flyin a buddy and I were doing formation (more of an excuse to do worm burners). I was doing a full power split-s to a low pass and as I started the pull to level off to the runway I saw a faint white streak trailing my plane. by the time I was level with the runway there was no missing the smoke. by the time my bud reached in front of us I was banking out and prepping for a gear up landing. I got it turned around out away from everyone and just as it was about to hit I put the flaps down (a luxury only p-51's have) and there was a race to it. one guy with a extinguisher got there before me and put it out then a second just for good measure. and I carried it back and started the disassembly.

the cowl was fine, charred inside but usable. the motor looked good but wasn't. the esc was completely consumed with only the metal parts still intact. having been a alcohol plane there was a little hole in the middle of the firewall that all the wires went through and the part of the batteries that were behind that hole were destroyed, but not breached. it was pretty obvious the esc had been the cause. with a charred inside of the cowl and the firewall it was refitted and flown for 3 more years code named smokie. cause you just could not escape it's small.

Joe

[John Bergsmith]

I spoke to Motion RC a couple of hours ago. Martin, a very nice gentleman called me after I submitted a ticket. After I explained what happened they resolved the issue. I've only had to contact Motion a couple of times and always found them very helpful. Thank you Motion RC and Martin!!!!!!

[James]

Awesome news John Bergsmith! Happy to hear it and thanks for posting that on FB too.

[beobe13]

Hi Guys,
New to this group. Has anyone tried 8s on the set up or has upgraded this beautiful plane?

Thanks And Happy Holidays

[Hugh Wiedman]

Hi Guys,
New to this group. Has anyone tried 8s on the set up or has upgraded this beautiful plane?

Thanks And Happy Holidays

The 6S version has plenty of power so IMO does not need a power upgrade (unlike the V3 Corsair from FMS ), unless you have a real need for speed. It even takes off without full throttle (even on grass) and gives all the vertical you need, while still flying for at least 8 minutes on a 5000 mAh battery. Cruises well at 50%-60% throttle. On the other hand, there are plenty of "exterior" upgrades and modifications you can do to personalize this aircraft like it's livery, the cockpit, the pilot, engine cowl flaps, adding detail to the "double wasp" engine, upgrading the main landing wheels to larger Robart wheels, adding a sound system and many more. These are a few that I did but there are plenty more detailed in this thread. This will keep you busy for a time and whatever you decide to do (or leave it as it is), you'll end up with one of the best foam Corsairs available (unless of course if you get one of the extremely rare ones that burn to the ground just like the real thing).

[f4u ausie]

John bergsmith. Wow thats a nasty fire lucky it did not start one!!! Glad motion has come to the party and it doesnt happen again. Mine has been a pleasure since i got it. Looovvee corsairs

[John Bergsmith]

John bergsmith. Wow thats a nasty fire lucky it did not start one!!! Glad motion has come to the party and it doesnt happen again. Mine has been a pleasure since i got it. Looovvee corsairs

They do fly great, I know my son is looking forward to getting another one back in the air.

[Look ma, no trim]

You need UP elevator for flap compensation? Usually, it's DOWN elevator since the plane balloons when flaps are deployed. It shouldn't be too hard to do a gear to ELE mix BUT, realize that the more you have to TX do, the more trial and error it will take to get things right. You'll spend just as much time bouncing around while trying to get the mix correct. You're better off to just practice your landings with different flap settings, different approach speeds and different throttle management when landing.

It's a sequence thing, at least of my spektrum. I've been able to add gear as a F-Mode, but it mix will only initialize if i put gear down 1st. When I do, I can see elevator mix as gear drops. Then when I activate flaps, I can see the elevator mix for the flaps. However, if I do flaps 1st, then drop gear, no ele/gear mix happens,,...Hope this helps!