Official Black Horse 2280mm F4U Corsair thread

[TwistedGrin]

All four batteries were on fire....no way to tell what started the fire....will have some covering distortion on top in front of the battery hatch and a couple spots on the wing where floating embers of the battery skins "Weld Melted" onto the wings....while the inside is pretty charred the exterior is untouched.....hopefully I can reconstruct the frame work of the forward upper decking shelves where I had the receiver battery and retract battery fastened.....interestingly the main floor I had used for the main batteries looks good no damages. The firewall is good...but any wiring is :Weld Melted" to the interior....hopefully I will be able to remove it without further damaging anything

The bird simply has to fly if nothing else for the novelty of surviving a mid-flight fire

TwistedGrin

[Aros]

Well I am sure glad to hear it wasn't a total loss! Good on you for bringing her down successfully and for the club to have the appropriate safety tools necessary to extinguish the fire!

Love your ideas for her new name, lol. And I gotta say, looks like you have some new very convincing weathering!

[TwistedGrin]

Folks - I have to say this bird is one of the best flying giants I have ever seen or flown......I put it up there with the Hanger 9 88inch Ki-43 Oscar......although I deployed the same exact set up in the BH Corsair as I did with the Hanger 9 Oscar....the BH Corsair has more drag so the flight times are shorter - although it is much more nimble and lands so softly. Love it. It is simply a monster in flight and super smooth...silky smooth.

My beloved BH Corsair suffered a LiPo fire while in flight.....as I noticed a smoke trail I was able to shout to my fellow pilots to get ready for a ground fire, put it into an immelman and come around for a perfect soft landing.....as I was able to rush out and remove the battery hatch as flames instantly roared out.....we used up an entire fire extinguisher in short blast each time the (4) batteries flamed up. The battery hatch is pretty well cooked and all of the electronics (wiring) of the surrounding area where the batteries were fastened down are melted...but the fuselage itself is unharmed....stinky and messy but with clean up...totally repairable. I have ordered all new electronics for the refurb...this bird is flyable with repairs.

While the cause of the fire will never be known....the Lipo and LIFE batteries all caught on fire....had our club not had fire extinguishers and easily accessible from multiple locations my Corsair would have certainly been incinerated for a total loss

This airframe will fly again peraps under a appropriate Callie Grahics name such as: Stinky; Smokey; Fire Ball, Char Broiled, Blazing 8, Smoking 8 - etc etc

I plan on stepping down the prop from an XOAR 24x14 to an APC 24x12 ...this will reduce the Amp load and speed by maybe 5mph according to eCalc....but I have real time observance the APC prop can increase speed without increasing the Amp loads....

Here is a photo of the plane on the runway maments after we had deployed the fire extinguisher to the batteries and flung them out of the battery tray....by the time we were able to snag them out of the airframe they were already cooked off though

Here is a video of the plane two flights earlier...https://youtu.be/aOHy4-RE-pY

TwistedGrin

[TwistedGrin]

Note to self: When Robart website "online" parts selector shows "Add to Wish List" it means the part is currently not available.......don't look each day for a shipping notice

TwistedGrin

[davegee]

Bear in mind...the "Honycomb" is printed (ink)....it looks nice but should be purely cosmetic on the resin

TwistedGrin

Interesting! It looked real in the photos. Good to know.

davegee

[TwistedGrin]

Bear in mind...the "Honycomb" is printed (ink)....it looks nice but should be purely cosmetic on the resin

TwistedGrin

[davegee]

It looks like the covering is actually adhered to a fiberglass or resin type sheeting material on the fuselage....balsa sheeting on the wing surfaces .......the covering is not adheared to a skeleton framwork on any part of the airframe.

The fiberglass/resin sheeting is printed "Honeycomb" on the underside.....covered by the pre-printed vinyl type material on the outside.

I guess this new airframe is truely a "Composit" build.

Hopfully these photo's might illustrate

TwistedGrin

Very interesting, TwistedGrin. It looks to be well made, and I like those honeycomb parts that really keep the weight down, and are probably very structurally sound, too. Just ask the bees!

Thanks for posting the pics and commentary.

Happy Flying!

davegee

[TwistedGrin]

It looks like the covering is actually adhered to a fiberglass or resin type sheeting material on the fuselage....balsa sheeting on the wing surfaces .......the covering is not adheared to a skeleton framwork on any part of the airframe.

The fiberglass/resin sheeting is printed "Honeycomb" on the underside.....covered by the pre-printed vinyl type material on the outside.

I guess this new airframe is truely a "Composit" build.

Hopfully these photo's might illustrate

TwistedGrin

[davegee]

Agree - I think the covering will accept primer and of course final paint. Blank slate ready for detail at nauseum.

TwistedGrin

Does that covering go over a balsa sheeted frame, or is it a printed covering that goes over a "skeleton" framework for the airplane? Just curious.

Thanks,

davegee

[TwistedGrin]

Agree - I think the covering will accept primer and of course final paint. Blank slate ready for detail at nauseum.

TwistedGrin

[davegee]

Wow those weather jobs are super cool....but I guess it can't be done on this model.........

I can't wait to fly mine and enjoy it to the max........

TwistedGrin

It (realistic weathering) could be done, but it would be a lot of work, probably more than you feel is worth doing for your model. If I had the plane, I would start by disassembling the major parts, and repainting it (rattle cans or large airbrush with compressor) and then I'd have a "clean palatte" to start from. I'd look at period photos of the real airplanes and get an idea as to how they really weathered, versus the stock model. But that would be a lot of work, as I said. You have a very nice flying model that you are enjoying, and that's worth a lot just flying it, as is! Enjoy it "to the max!"

Cheers

davegee

[TwistedGrin]

Wow those weather jobs are super cool....but I guess it can't be done on this model.........

I can't wait to fly mine and enjoy it to the max........

TwistedGrin

[Joehockey]

I am not anti weathering just the way it was executed.
I am hack, I am not saying that I am good at it but I follow the plastic guys and you can see from that hobby heavy weathering done in a very realistic manner.
This is my Phoneix Corsair ( 70” Version ) and my CMP Giant Zero, the Zero was on the edge of over weathering so it had to be toned down.

[TwistedGrin]

I agree with Joehocky .....I can identify with scale fidelity. If you can't enjoy the model for sale....don't buy it. However I still state with a little bit of work the weathering can be applied to present a reasonalbe scale presentation.

Most likely the Phoenix Models F4U Corsair is a better out of the box color scheme pre-covered scale ARF livery. I was actively tracking purchase of that model for over a year.....when the BH F4U became available I opted to move foward on it. Would be interesting to see both models side by side ....begining to think this will not ever happen though.

I will say in some theaters where the F4U were operationally based...they were quite nasty most of the time...Weathering as an example of this aircraft presents upon returning a downed pilot from the drink.

TwistedGrin

[Joehockey]

I think its great that it fly well and the guys that have purchased it are happy with the end results.
I like Warbirds as my primary flying RC choice and outside of performance, appearance is #2 . I am not one to fret over scale airfoils, or a longer cowl, but I just cant get over the over-weathering especially on the tail flying surfaces.

For me and my own bashes /builds , I would have said to myself “ I have wrecked a good model frame”. If I wanted a model that just flys well, I will buy a pattern plane or 3D, but I fly warbirds because of the cool factor .

Again please remember this is not a reflection on any of the rc members who chose and purchased this model. I would never criticize a fellow RC flyer if they built a model and weathered it to the extent released on this ARF. However I will criticize a hobby business that releases a high end ARF. In this day and age when the internet, designers, cad, lend a wealth of opportunity to get it right vs getting it fast when the same effort and cost are expended, just get it right.

[TwistedGrin]

Now that I have 6flights on this airframe with my Electric set up.......can honestly report it is a supurb flying aircraft. Probably due to the power to weight ratio (270Watts per Pound) and acceptible wing load factor. This power package puts the wing fully loaded for flight in just a few feet... withouth penalty. In fact you have to concentrate to take off slowly and looong for scale appearence - otherwise it's fully on the wing like a smaller high wing airframe. Once in the air.....the covering does not matter....in fact it looks excellent. The bottom weathering along with the color contrast is spot on. My BH F4U is flying true and straight as an arrow....the only trim I needed was a couple clicks of up trim with the elevators assembled and set absolute zero deflection. There is no tendency to roll or pitch or dive. The flaps slow this aircraft down to a crawl and landings are effortlessly smooth and consistant. However.....the motors of the stock (Phoenix) retracts are weak, the actual struts and carrier metal is just fine. I replaced the stock retracts with the $525.00 Robart Electric 14E-108 full retract assembies which took minimal effort to retrofit into the wings and work very nice.....however even with perfect level smooth greased in slow speed landings one of the Robart Electric Motor actuators stripped....the motor spins just fine but an interal gear is stripped. Robart has this as a replacement part available in stock so this will be an easy repair swap.

I was and perhaps still am a little skeptical about the fiberglass sandwhich plywood webbed support frame as it looks and feels ....crispy.....fragile. I think the only balsa could be the wing sheeting. Wheras other WarBird giants I fly are much heavier using standard plywood balsa construction which looks and feels like they could suffer much more abuse. However the BH airframe is light and stiff with the gull wing dual wing tube designed to handle normal stress loads.....so far. The wing saddle cross support structure just appears to be fragile - but then again the dual wing tubes may be preventing force loads from translating to that cross section.

I will state since the model flies so well...any percieved detratction of the printed covering for me is a non-issue. I simply weathered the nose cowling a little and it brought the entire airframe into a different perspective. I used a silver paint pen to rub on some contrasting weathering effect to the fuselage as well and it took without issue. This leads me to beleive a little bit of sanding and the entire airframe could painted over. However after just weathering the cowling I don't see the need. In fact the airframe was well received by my clubs master builders stating the flight performance and the airframe itself is impressive.

I also fly the Hanger 9 86inch wingspan Ki-43 Oscar with the same power plant....this BH F4U Corsair is on par if not more nimble than the Ki-43. Both are truely amazing performing airframes....only one is available for purchase at this time.

You can doll up a poor flying airframe and dread flying it or you can doll up a great flying airframe and love flying it....if you don't like the pre-printed covering on this model it is well worth the effort to doll it up to your satisfaction.

It does not have the gear doors for the mains nor a bomb drop or canopy pull....however for those that obsess with master building....this should be an airframe that could be infinately modified.

I think BH added some washout to the wing tips and maybe added some beef to the vertical stabilizer....I challenge anyone to actually prove it against 100% scale. My point is Black Horse has delivered a true performance flier and not a hanger queen.....this is what I tend to enjoy rather than hesitating to fly a high percentage scale model that is a brick to fly.

My2Cents and observation

This is my power train.... respectible speed and sound, gobbs of power and more to spare.

22lbs flying weight
6134 Watt power
270Watt per pound
Wing Loading 38.3/oz/sqft

RC Juice / HobbyStar dual 6s (12S) 8000mAh 100c LiPo (891grams each)
Agressive throttle with 82mph highspeed passes 5.30min - Landing at Battery at or near 3.77v per cell
Scale cruising throttle with mixed aerobatics 6.30min - Landing at Battery at or near 3.77v per cell

ZYHobby 1.75inch 44.5mm Two Blade Spinner assembly drilled for DLE30/55 (TrueTurn is no longer in business)
https://zyhobby.com/products/175inch...mld35-us-stock

24x12XOAR Prop
Admiral GP60-180Kv Motor
Castle 160amp ESC
Dual 6s 100C 8000mAh LiPo (12S)
3200mAh Life receiver battery
2200mAh LiPo retract battery
Robart Electric 14E series 90 degree rotating rectracts with controller board and wire extensions
Stock Wheels
Auroa 8 Stabilizer
Spektrum DX8 Gen2 Transmitter

TwistedGrin

[davegee]

I feel like the weathering is just too much , less is more desirable to me . Has anyone tried to use slovent to wipe it down ,then repaint or is recovering a better deal? I haven't bought one yet but I'm looking to do so in the near future.

For my 2 cents' worth, I don't care for it (the weathering). To me, it looks like my grandkids got a bucket of black paint and brushes and we told them "Have at it!" The aircraft itself looks to be pretty nice, definitely could be made up to look much better and realistic. I do really like the scale looking functioning tail wheel assembly, very well done. Unfortunately they also put that same gear on their P-47, which looks ridiculous. But this Corsair has potential in the scale world, and for those who don't have a problem with its looks, I say have a great time flying it!

[Darrellmims]

TwistedGrin how do you feel about the weathered covering? I've heard both ends. Cheesy to very cool.

I feel like the weathering is just too much , less is more desirable to me . Has anyone tried to use slovent to wipe it down ,then repaint or is recovering a better deal? I haven't bought one yet but I'm looking to do so in the near future.

[TwistedGrin]

Hi guys, I just joined the group. I have the V1 BH 60cc Corsair and the plane is not with me can someone tell me the inside dia. of the Cowl ? I'm thinking of putting a twin and this afternoon I saw a guy flying a "60cc" Bearcat with a DLE 111cc twin- man it was hauling a$$ ! The engine is 255mm (10 inches ) across. Will it fit ? Thanks

Don't let the photos fool you ....the cowling at the face after the curve is completed is about 9.5inches. The cowling from the base to the lip is about 8.25inches.....but this lenght of the cowling as you know is totally dependent on your motors length from the firewall motor mount to prop clearence

[TwistedGrin]

The plastic Fuax motor is collapsing into the GP60 motor...which has already ground it down during high power speed passes. I was wondering what all the squealing was.....sort of impressive. It could explain why my flight times were shorter than I had calculated. The fix is to either strengthen what is left or simply put a back stop on it. I may employ the most simple solution with some stand off balsa stick.....no additional weight and no loss of cooling....it just might work!

TwistedGrin