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

[davegee]

Oh trust me I am well aware of your prowess when it comes to detailing and weathering the Corsair. I can only imagine how fantastic she looks in person. And for the record I still thought she looked pretty damn amazing in those shots!

Bob Hanson, like other aces in WWII were just cut from a different cloth. I think about the current young generation and I don't think they could even find their way to ground school because that would involve having to take a breath and look up from their smart phones.

Sigh.

One of my pet peeves is Overdoing weathering or exhaust, that sort of thing. My classic case in point years ago at a Scale Masters event down in Florida, was where we were parked next to a guy who had a P-51 warbird. It was a big one, 85 inch wingspan or more, and he did a good job building it. But the thing that killed it for me, at least, was that he totally Overdid the weathering. It looked to me like it had just come through an Earth reentry from space! I didn't say anything to him, of course, but have since used that event to tell others about taking it easy on weathering, or you'll lose the effect you are looking for.

Having said that, the marine and some navy Corsairs that spent time on those godforsaken islands in the Solomons had their planes looking pretty ratty after time, with the intense sun, salt water, and wind to sandblast the beach sand against the airplane skin and other parts. I'll eventually take some pics with a decent camera that I own and try to show the plane as it looks when you are standing next to it, in natural light. Although a work in progress, I'm fairly satisfied with the way it looks at the moment under those conditions. But I appreciate your nice words, Aros!

davegee

[davegee]

Got several flights this morning on the Corsair. The Robart wheels are great, I was able to get the takeoffs near where I want them, still need a little work. Landings are about where I want them. The airplane "sticks" the landing when in a two-point, tail low attitude with full flaps. Rollout is straight and predictable with light winds.

The only problem I had, and it IS a problem, is that I have something going on with the right wing outer flap servo. When flying, when I went to the takeoff flap position, the airplane made a sudden roll to the right, I went back to flaps up and it went away. So, here's what I'm seeing after several flights: the flaps go up and down normally on the ground, no problems. But in the air, the right outboard flap servo is not moving much at all, and because it is mechanically linked with a little plastic rod to the inboard flap set, it causes them not to deploy as they should. When I reboot on the ground, all work perfectly again. I'm thinking a faulty outboard flap servo on the right wing. Any other guesses? I'm going to contact Motion for assistance.

I'll attach a few pics I took with a better camera this morning. Still a great plane, just gotta figure out what the deal is with these flaps.

davegee

[nuts-n-volts]

Are you running the flaps at slow speed? Sometimes this will hang a servo as the slower speeds can produce more current draw.

[davegee]

I do have them run at a slower speed. Hadn't thought of that as I run all my planes with flap settings at slower speeds and it hasn't been an issue. But that is worth taking a look at just to be sure that isn't the culprit. Appreciate your input!
Thanks

[paladin]

Been there, done that, my son's fl A-10 and My fl spit have had this problem. son's A-10 had a flap servo (there are 4 just like the f4u) we found a servo that moved less than the others all the time prior to maiden. at maiden when setting up for landing it started to roll about half way through the down wind turn. he flew by and we pulled the flap back till it was in trim and started to set up again it did not take long and it was out of trim again.

i had seen this before on my fl spitfire i set the flaps up to do ~ 74 degrees of flap and the flap servos would stall, those servos are built to shut down when over stressed so from the point they shut down they would slowly retract till i got on the ground and cycled them. i fixed the problem buy replacing the servos (30in oz) with 60's.

my son just cycled the flaps then landed with out flap then replaced the servo with another stock servo.

Joe

[Hugh Wiedman]

The only problem I had, and it IS a problem, is that I have something going on with the right wing outer flap servo. When flying, when I went to the takeoff flap position, the airplane made a sudden roll to the right, I went back to flaps up and it went away. So, here's what I'm seeing after several flights: the flaps go up and down normally on the ground, no problems. But in the air, the right outboard flap servo is not moving much at all, and because it is mechanically linked with a little plastic rod to the inboard flap set, it causes them not to deploy as they should. When I reboot on the ground, all work perfectly again. I'm thinking a faulty outboard flap servo on the right wing. Any other guesses? I'm going to contact Motion for assistance.

just gotta figure out what the deal is with these flaps.


Dave,

Some good points by others. I had the same problem on my Avanti and both my B-24's when the delay of flaps was 2-4 seconds. Went to 0 on both and that solved the issue, although I hate having instantaneous flap deployment (but on those aircraft, not as big an issue). I'm currently fighting a flap issue on my Hornet. On the ground, they work fine. In the air, one does not deploy. Tested both servo's and they test fine, even under pressure they push through it. Almost lost the Hornet because of this. It worked fine the first 30 flights, but the last 3 have been a real adventure. Reduced the delay and still no luck. This, unfortunately, is not an uncommon problem in some of these aircraft (especially with the blue box). My current solution is to bypass the blue box on the Hornet for both the aileron and flaps (the only servo's in the wings) and loose the ribbon cables and hook them directly to the receiver (going "old school"). Not sure if this is going to work either, but at least on the Hornet, when one flap fully deploys and the other stays up it's almost impossible to control. I doubt you can do this on the Corsair however, too may servos in each wing and the ribbon cables are a great advantage.

Did this just start happening? Any problems on the first few flights? You can always replace the suspect servo and possibly get a new blue box. My Corsair and Spitfire have yet to exhibit this behavior, but it definitely is a perplexing problem. Also, make sure there is nothing in the flap system connecting each flap that is binding, like any extra paint or the like.

[davegee]

The only problem I had, and it IS a problem, is that I have something going on with the right wing outer flap servo. When flying, when I went to the takeoff flap position, the airplane made a sudden roll to the right, I went back to flaps up and it went away. So, here's what I'm seeing after several flights: the flaps go up and down normally on the ground, no problems. But in the air, the right outboard flap servo is not moving much at all, and because it is mechanically linked with a little plastic rod to the inboard flap set, it causes them not to deploy as they should. When I reboot on the ground, all work perfectly again. I'm thinking a faulty outboard flap servo on the right wing. Any other guesses? I'm going to contact Motion for assistance.

just gotta figure out what the deal is with these flaps.


Dave,

Some good points by others. I had the same problem on my Avanti and both my B-24's when the delay of flaps was 2-4 seconds. Went to 0 on both and that solved the issue, although I hate having instantaneous flap deployment (but on those aircraft, not as big an issue). I'm currently fighting a flap issue on my Hornet. On the ground, they work fine. In the air, one does not deploy. Tested both servo's and they test fine, even under pressure they push through it. Almost lost the Hornet because of this. It worked fine the first 30 flights, but the last 3 have been a real adventure. Reduced the delay and still no luck. This, unfortunately, is not an uncommon problem in some of these aircraft (especially with the blue box). My current solution is to bypass the blue box on the Hornet for both the aileron and flaps (the only servo's in the wings) and loose the ribbon cables and hook them directly to the receiver (going "old school"). Not sure if this is going to work either, but at least on the Hornet, when one flap fully deploys and the other stays up it's almost impossible to control. I doubt you can do this on the Corsair however, too may servos in each wing and the ribbon cables are a great advantage.

Did this just start happening? Any problems on the first few flights? You can always replace the suspect servo and possibly get a new blue box. My Corsair and Spitfire have yet to exhibit this behavior, but it definitely is a perplexing problem. Also, make sure there is nothing in the flap system connecting each flap that is binding, like any extra paint or the like.

Good points, Hugh, and all. I pulled the airplane apart today after talking with the tech at Motion. He was perplexed, too. I switched the ribbon cables from one wing to the other, thoroughly looked at all connections and the blue box to see if anything was awry, but didn't find anything. I ran the outboard flap servo on the right wing for 5 minutes cycling with my servo tester, which put it on a load because it is mechanically connected to the inboard flap set and they all move together. Worked absolutely perfectly through every test I gave it. I just could not duplicate the problem on the ground. If the weather is good tomorrow morning, I'm going to take it out again and see if I run into the same problem. If I do, I will ask Motion to send me a new blue box, ribbon cable, and right outboard flap servo to replace all these units and hopefully not have the problem again.

I'll report back after my next test flight.

Regards,

Davegee

[nuts-n-volts]

Dave, You also might want to check that the linkage is mechanically advantageous. IOW... try to keep the innermost hole on the servo arm and the outermost hole on the flap horn. Set the radio up so you have 100% or more travel. Adjust the total travel needed mechanically keeping the radio as high travel as you can. Only use the radio to fine tune. In this way you get more resolution out of your radio, thus lowering the amps required, (less force on the servo). Forgive me if you already knew this.

[davegee]

I probably do, but haven/t been following my own advice all that well! Thanks for the tip, I'll check it out. Appreciate it!

davegee

[CorsairPilot17]

This is Corsair_Smitty from You Tube. Here is the finished cockpit for my Flightline Corsair. It features a lighted dashboard. The entire cockpit is from the Motion RC 3D printer files that are available on the Flightline Corsair page. The dashboard also features the gun site and reflective glass. The dashboard is lighted up by 3, 5mm white LEDs. I had started with the Red LEDs, however they were not bright enough to light everything up and would have required a total of 5 LEDs. The pilot is the original one that came with the plane, just weathered a little.

How it was done:

I had Callie create the gauges (Graphics) on a clear background from the set that she currently makes, specifically for doing this. I built a back plate and sides from balsa for the dashboard. The sides are 1/4 inch between the dashboard and the backing plate. I have 3 hole drilled into the balsa for the LEDs. I also filled the in between space with a "poly fill" like is used when making stuffed animals. By putting the "poly fill" in between the LEDs and and the dashboard it reduces and eliminates the "hot spots" that the LEDs normally produce. The "poly fill" acts like a defuser to spread the light over a broader area. Since the LEDs don't get hot there is no fear of burning. I soldered the LEDs to the wiring and put connectors on the ends that fix right into the connectors on the blue Motion RC Blue colored E1712 controller, which the Corsair comes with.

[Elbee]

This is Corsair_Smitty from You Tube. Here is the finished cockpit for my Flightline Corsair. It features a lighted dashboard. The entire cockpit is from the Motion RC 3D printer files that are available on the Flightline Corsair page. The dashboard also features the gun site and reflective glass..

CP aka CS, Great work. Bravo Zulu, Sir. Best, LB

[Hugh Wiedman]

This is Corsair_Smitty from You Tube. Here is the finished cockpit for my Flightline Corsair. It features a lighted dashboard. .

I was so impressed with the lighted instrument panel and the cockpit, I almost overlooked another one of your outstanding details: The Rivets! Can't wait to see the whole enchilada!

[davegee]

The only problem I had, and it IS a problem, is that I have something going on with the right wing outer flap servo. When flying, when I went to the takeoff flap position, the airplane made a sudden roll to the right, I went back to flaps up and it went away. So, here's what I'm seeing after several flights: the flaps go up and down normally on the ground, no problems. But in the air, the right outboard flap servo is not moving much at all, and because it is mechanically linked with a little plastic rod to the inboard flap set, it causes them not to deploy as they should. When I reboot on the ground, all work perfectly again. I'm thinking a faulty outboard flap servo on the right wing. Any other guesses? I'm going to contact Motion for assistance.

just gotta figure out what the deal is with these flaps.


Dave,

Some good points by others. I had the same problem on my Avanti and both my B-24's when the delay of flaps was 2-4 seconds. Went to 0 on both and that solved the issue, although I hate having instantaneous flap deployment (but on those aircraft, not as big an issue). I'm currently fighting a flap issue on my Hornet. On the ground, they work fine. In the air, one does not deploy. Tested both servo's and they test fine, even under pressure they push through it. Almost lost the Hornet because of this. It worked fine the first 30 flights, but the last 3 have been a real adventure. Reduced the delay and still no luck. This, unfortunately, is not an uncommon problem in some of these aircraft (especially with the blue box). My current solution is to bypass the blue box on the Hornet for both the aileron and flaps (the only servo's in the wings) and loose the ribbon cables and hook them directly to the receiver (going "old school"). Not sure if this is going to work either, but at least on the Hornet, when one flap fully deploys and the other stays up it's almost impossible to control. I doubt you can do this on the Corsair however, too may servos in each wing and the ribbon cables are a great advantage.

Did this just start happening? Any problems on the first few flights? You can always replace the suspect servo and possibly get a new blue box. My Corsair and Spitfire have yet to exhibit this behavior, but it definitely is a perplexing problem. Also, make sure there is nothing in the flap system connecting each flap that is binding, like any extra paint or the like.

I took the Corsair up for one long test flight just now. It is flying beautifully, except for when you start bringing out the flaps. It seemed a bit more controllable on landing today, I was hoping when I taxied it back to me both sets of flaps on both wings would be full down. Wrong! The right wing flaps again were hung up, but the left wing was perfect.

So, I contacted Derek at Motion again just now, and wrote that I would like to start by replacing the outboard right wing flap servo, and the blue box. Hopefully the cause of the fault is within there somewhere. I had a goofy flap problem with my FL 1600mm Spitfire years ago and we worked together and found that the flap servos were defective, making them do strange and dangerous things (for keeping the airplane in one piece!) like uncommanded full flap down (on one side only!) and then just as suddenly uncommanded retraction of that one flap, it could be left or right, who knows?

I do fly with a Spektrum DX18 that has the latest firmware installed, I have several other planes that I use flight modes and have similar flaps, and none of them have ever shown an inkling of the problems I'm having with the Corsair right now.

I'll report back on what Motion warranty does for me, and if the problem is fixed with the new components. I really like this plane, I like the way it looks and flies, and I hope to enjoy it flying properly for years to come.

Cheers

Davegee

[davegee]

This is Corsair_Smitty from You Tube. Here is the finished cockpit for my Flightline Corsair. It features a lighted dashboard. The entire cockpit is from the Motion RC 3D printer files that are available on the Flightline Corsair page. The dashboard also features the gun site and reflective glass. The dashboard is lighted up by 3, 5mm white LEDs. I had started with the Red LEDs, however they were not bright enough to light everything up and would have required a total of 5 LEDs. The pilot is the original one that came with the plane, just weathered a little.

How it was done:

I had Callie create the gauges (Graphics) on a clear background from the set that she currently makes, specifically for doing this. I built a back plate and sides from balsa for the dashboard. The sides are 1/4 inch between the dashboard and the backing plate. I have 3 hole drilled into the balsa for the LEDs. I also filled the in between space with a "poly fill" like is used when making stuffed animals. By putting the "poly fill" in between the LEDs and and the dashboard it reduces and eliminates the "hot spots" that the LEDs normally produce. The "poly fill" acts like a defuser to spread the light over a broader area. Since the LEDs don't get hot there is no fear of burning. I soldered the LEDs to the wiring and put connectors on the ends that fix right into the connectors on the blue Motion RC Blue colored E1712 controller, which the Corsair comes with.

Nicely done! I really like the integral back lighting of those instruments. Congrats to Callie too, on making very believable period gauges similar to what planes of that era used. Cockpit really looks nice.

[Aros]

Cool touch with the lighted gauges!

[Hugh Wiedman]

A short recap of my first flights!

[Aros]

[davegee]

A short recap of my first flights!

That's a good standard to strive for: make takeoffs and landings equal each other!! 🤣

[davegee]

I took the Corsair up for one long test flight just now. It is flying beautifully, except for when you start bringing out the flaps. It seemed a bit more controllable on landing today, I was hoping when I taxied it back to me both sets of flaps on both wings would be full down. Wrong! The right wing flaps again were hung up, but the left wing was perfect.

So, I contacted Derek at Motion again just now, and wrote that I would like to start by replacing the outboard right wing flap servo, and the blue box. Hopefully the cause of the fault is within there somewhere. I had a goofy flap problem with my FL 1600mm Spitfire years ago and we worked together and found that the flap servos were defective, making them do strange and dangerous things (for keeping the airplane in one piece!) like uncommanded full flap down (on one side only!) and then just as suddenly uncommanded retraction of that one flap, it could be left or right, who knows?

I do fly with a Spektrum DX18 that has the latest firmware installed, I have several other planes that I use flight modes and have similar flaps, and none of them have ever shown an inkling of the problems I'm having with the Corsair right now.

I'll report back on what Motion warranty does for me, and if the problem is fixed with the new components. I really like this plane, I like the way it looks and flies, and I hope to enjoy it flying properly for years to come.

Cheers

Davegee

Just received an email from Derek at Motion RC that they are sending out a new servo for the problematic right outboard flap, and a new blue box to hopefully get over the flap problems I'm having with the Corsair. I think I"ll start by replacing the flap servo first, and if that doesn't work, I'll replace the blue box and hope that works.

A shot of my Corsair out for another mission the other day!

[davegee]

Are you running the flaps at slow speed? Sometimes this will hang a servo as the slower speeds can produce more current draw.

Hi Nuts and Volts: I am hoping you are on to something there. I got the parts very quickly that I had requested from Motion RC. They were some new cable connectors, the blue box, and replacing the right wing outboard flap servo that seemed to be hanging up somehow, and also affecting the inner flap set on the right wing due to a mechanical linkage.

So, this evening I took the Corsair out and flew it with the new parts, about 8-10 takeoffs and landings. Unfortunately, when I landed the first several times, I still had the same "hangup" where the right outboard flap came down just a bit, and the restricted inboard flap set on the right wing came down, maybe half flaps. The left side has consistently worked perfectly throughout all of this issue.

Somewhat grasping at straws at that point, I remembered what you wrote about decreasing the time from flaps up to flaps down. I had it set at 4 seconds (a usual setting I use on all my warbirds, but with no issues on them that I can remember). I reset the time from flaps up to full flaps to 2 seconds. When I landed, I was happy to see that both sets of flaps were symmetrical, about 38 degrees angle from flaps up. I used the same flap deploy time settings (2 seconds up to down flaps) on several more flights. Most of the time they both came down fine, although I think one time I still had the problem of the right flaps hanging up.

So, today's test flights were encouraging, although not conclusive yet. Hopefully the next flight, possibly tomorrow evening, will be a perfect deployment of Both sets of flaps every time!

Really appreciate your input on that, I hope that is the key for this airplane. Other than that, it is a joy to takeoff, fly, and land in a realistic looking manner like the real plane.

cheers

davegee