Official Black Horse 2280mm F4U Corsair thread

[TwistedGrin]

1. It "Might" require Flap to Elevator compensation - this is usually resultant of CG and Elevator trim setting at normal flight - your results will vary
2. I do NOT employ flaps at take off
3. The piece that you have referred to earlier in this thread is meant as a removable battery tray.....I found the motor boxes supplied did NOT work for my motors to cowling fitment. I "think" this piece was intended to be a tray for these.....I use this piece as a battery tray support...just laid it on top of the existing tray for added support.

TwistedGrin

[TwistedGrin]

06-19-23 11:00am CDT to 2:00pm CDT Heat index 112degrees, furnace winds at or near 8-12mph choppy gusting conditions but on the nose down the runway......fitting today for 4 flights on Fireball 8. Confirmed performance is excellent with the reduced prop size down to the XOAR 22x12PJN. Still has plenty of power and bite....flying at my transmitter setting high rates with the Aura8 stabilizer gains at the dial 1'Oclock position. Robart retracts and new controller board worked perfectly. This is a top tier performing R/C aircraft.....hands down excellent flyer. I would have liked to fly it all day but it's just too hot for me....I can do 101degrees but once 110 is breached I'ma outta that.

No video of today's flights but did take a photo of the field today while another pilot and I had the field to ourselves before locking the gate and leaving the surface of the sun

TwistedGrin

[TwistedGrin]

The Admiral GP60 180KV motor; Castle 160amp ESC, 12s dual 6s 100c 8000mAh Lipo, 2s 3200mAh LiFe reciever battery, 2s 2600mAh LiPo Robart retract Battery, flying via 12x22 XOAR PJN prop performs excellent. I am now comfortable performing Loops, Aileron rolls, Hammer Head turns, Immelmans, Cuban Eights, 1000ft horizontal figure eights, touch-n-go, near knife edge display passes......flight times at or near 5min30sec landing at or near 3.79v per cell. I am hoping to extend the flight time by reducing throttle more and more. Currently I think I am flying at or near 75% throttle......I need at least 6min to complete my Scale Masters routine which includes touch-n-go to get two manouvers covered in the same pass to cut down on flight time....considering 9000mAh LiPo depending on the weight and expense of the LiPo's.....hate buying new LiPo's for one specific aircraft.

TwistedGrin

[predman]

Another issue surfaced with the build, the tail retract u it does not sit flush in the mount in the fuse. The tail retract has angles where it seats, amd the mount on the fuse is not designed for this so it will not seat flush. Has someone else experienced this?

[predman]

Really starting to think my kit was a refurb, installed the tail retract and the retract wire barely reaches to under the canopy area, way too short to reach to plug into the controller in the correct location. See pic!

[predman]

Of course another issue, tail retract failed! This bird is still on the bench amd not even fully assembled! I have the BH P-40 and have zero issues with the mains or the tail retract. The p40 mains have the “duck foot” instead of the pins to rotate the main struts. Also the tail retract on the p40 has the “bell crank”. The Corsair I have received just recently I believe has the old gear, which has already failed before even completing the plane. I do know how to build and fabricate but for this price I shouldn’t have to! Pictured is a topflite corsair I’ve built from wood, fiberglassed, panel lines, rivits, painted insignias etc. I’m not a pro, nor newbie but this bh Corsair is making me second guess my purchase. I am relying on motionrc now so o can get this bird flying.

[TwistedGrin]

The BH Retracts struts and twist-turn housing are fine....the motor actuators are the weak link one of mine broke. The motor actuators received from Motion did not have a means to attach to the retract. I replaced the mains with Robart electric retracts - even one of their motor actuators failed. After replacing the failed Robart electric retract motors - the mains seem to be holding up just fine. The tail wheel retract was failing to run its secondary screw output....several occasions I had to deburr and grease it up...run it several times to make it run both stages....working fine now.

https://youtu.be/pBFcNgcRz70

TwistedGrin

[TwistedGrin]

I believe the Blackhorse retracts are Phoenix hardware and electronics (as with the retract controller board)......I have the 80inch Phoenix P-40E so far the main gear is holding up just fine but the tail wheel failed. The trunion itself stripped out...whereas the motor and two stage screw works just fine. I overcame this by fastening a nut onto the trunion.....very tedious. I tried to solder the nut onto the trunion but could not get the metals hot enough for the solder to hold. I overcame this by cutting a slot on both side of the nut to hold a wire on each side and twisting it onto the trunion then running up the retract assembly to get everything in sync.

P-40 tailwheel repair:
TwistedGrin

[predman]

This Corsair I have must have come with the older retract system, It doesn’t have the bell crank or that type of actuator. The motor just has a worm gear, I believe that’s where the flaw is. Everything should work correctly out of the box as with anything we purchase. If I had known I would have to order Robarts for this I would’ve just bought the TopRc Corsair. I pulled the trigger reading it’s a new design etc. the tail retracts are different than the spares I’ve purchased after 2-shipments of this plane at motion. So I am starting to believe this is an old stock. Now since I had to remove the retract I have to replace the pull pull too! All I wanted was a nice plane to fly without worrying about stressing too much as with flying my more $ planes. I don’t want to take a chance in the air and belly landing or cartwheeling because of gear failure and possibly ruining my radial engine as well. The plane isn’t even off the bench and having issues!

[TwistedGrin]

Correct....this airframes retract are "Electric Worm Gear" both mains and tail.

I am nearly certain they are Phoenix hardware:
Tail Retract: http://phoenixmodel.com/AccessoryDetail.aspx?id=689

MotionRC Main Retract: Replacement motor actuator is different from original; does not ship with the trunion barrel; can't get the set screw out of the original trunion barrel
Photo attached
Top:Original Retract assembly
Middle: Original Motor Actuator shaft to the worm screw failed
Bottom: New Replacement Motor Actuator....needs the worm screw trunion barrel

I then purchased the Robart electric retracts for the Main gear

TwistedGrin

[predman]

My retracts are the older ones, they included in this Corsair i bought, they have to be. The spare ones on the spare parts list are different including the tail retract. Frustrating as since it came with these, spare parts for them aren’t even listed for sale. The tail retract gave out, goes half way and shuts off or just gets stuck skipping. This arf was not cheap and I thought I was getting, the latest improved as advertised, but not the case. I’ve been buying from motion for a long time now and have always been pleased with their products and customer service. The actuator on these stock old ones have just a worm gear with no “coupling “ or sleeve. Of that worm gear get the slightest bend anywhere it will fail. Very frustrating!

[TwistedGrin]

I flew my bird often with Landing gear "Fixed Deployed" while contemplating my next step. After a couple of flights I easily made the decision to upgrade with Robart retracts.

Once you get the retracts sorted out.....I am confident you will immediately not remember that effort once you begin to fly it

TwistedGrin

[predman]

Like I’ve mentioned I’m not a pro, not a newbie. A warbird must have retracts in my book! With the price point of this arf the retracts should be working and up to date, as with all motionrc products. Why they would continue to sell this with the older retracts with issues, then offer for sale newer ones is unacceptable. If I knew the retracts with this arf I bought were the “older” ones and not the new and improved I wouldn’t have purchased this. The solution just buy “Robarts”? Spend another $500? Getting close to toprc at that price.

[TwistedGrin]

I am not sure what is old or new......I ordered my airframe in 2022 which shipped with the two stage motor actuator worm gears. Motion RC replacement motor actuators I ordered and received are also "two stage" worm gear.

The tailwheel assembly is exactly the new Phoenix Corsair hardware...however it shows the "single stage" worm gear: http://phoenixmodel.com/AccessoryDetail.aspx?id=689

The new Phoenix Corsair looks to be a "single stage" worm gear:

http://phoenixmodel.com/AccessoryDetail.aspx?id=688

It looks like we can order Phoenix parts as noted above but not the airframe.....I think Tower Hobbies owns the retailer vendorship for Phoenix...the Phoenix Corsair is NOT available.

If I could have found a way to remove the set screw from the original retract Motor Actuator Wormgear Trunion....I would have kept going with the stock retracts. In fact only one side broke....the other side was just fine. I did have to monkey with my tailwheel a couple of times removing it from the airframe and running the assembly in and out to clear some burrs then applying some grease .....it too is now functioning just fine.

Agree to the angst and frustration of purchase price for failed components......I felt the same. Then ordering spare parts that I could not use. Then purchasing Robarts to get the aircraft in flying condition. Then catching fire in mid flight. Then rebuilding the airframe with new prop, new motor, new ESC, new connectors, new Switches, New Servos, new batteries, new receiver and rebuilding the lattice work behind the motor bulkhead.

It still stinks like fire-extinguisher powder and burnt plastic and high temp black spray paint.

I fully intend to fly the ever livin' hell out of this aircraft.....so far it seems to understands the premis.

Hoping you can get your bird sorted out and flying.

TwistedGrin

[predman]

Yes the gear you posted are the newest and offered on the spare parts list on motionrc website. The older “problematic “ gear that came with my arf that I just recently recieved. The gear that came w my arf are the twist and turn with the pin and single worm gear. Now when I ordered my arf this was supposed to be the latest shipment. If I knew I was going to receive this Corsair with the old gear I would not have purchased it. I do have a few sets of the newest gear I purchased from motionrc on the corsairs “spare parts” list for other projects and they work fine. I should not have to take a chance on belly landing, prop strikes or cartwheeling this plane because the gear supplied is the older set with issues.

[Aros]

Yes the gear you posted are the newest and offered on the spare parts list on motionrc website. The older “problematic “ gear that came with my arf that I just recently recieved. The gear that came w my arf are the twist and turn with the pin and single worm gear. Now when I ordered my arf this was supposed to be the latest shipment. If I knew I was going to receive this Corsair with the old gear I would not have purchased it. I do have a few sets of the newest gear I purchased from motionrc on the corsairs “spare parts” list for other projects and they work fine. I should not have to take a chance on belly landing, prop strikes or cartwheeling this plane because the gear supplied is the older set with issues.

If you purchased it within the last 30 days definitely give our support a call. We are more than happy to work with customers within the warranty.

[predman]

I am being helped which I really appreciate, motionrc has always been Home in my book! Just very frustrated with the retracts included.

[TwistedGrin]

Excellent news....this airframe is such a great flyer.......can't wait to see your maiden and subsequent flight reports.

TwistedGrin

[predman]

Ended up taking all the stock retracts out since they would skip up and down, stop in the middle, etc. Something is wrong w them. I’ve even changed the controller, plugs, batteries everything I could think of, these retracts have issues so I will not be using them for this plane. I do expect them to be fixed or replaced since I paid for them. I put the ones they offer for this plane under the “spare parts” on their website and they work just fine. Got to add 2.75 lbs up front to cg with the Saito radial upfront then I will maiden the ship most likely on the 4th of July at our celebration at the club.

[alsummer]

I think everyone who loves and has warbirds shares your frustration with the quality of retracts. Sometimes think if the would improve the quality just say another 10 to 20 percent most of the frustration would probably go away. This is really not brand specific either, you see it on most of the ARF's available today. You mention being almost at the price of TopRC, but if you look on the forum for the TopRC Corsair, all they talk about is how bad the retracts are and even the center wing section cracks and fails. People are cutting into the center section and adding extra support. That would really be bad to pay $2K and then have to rebuild it. TopRC may have improved on the on latest models, not sure.