Official Black Horse 2280mm F4U Corsair thread

[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]

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

[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]

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

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]

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]

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]

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

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]

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

[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

[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]

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

[davegee]

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

Good work getting it down in one piece with an inflight fire(s) going on!! Hopefully you can get it all sorted out and fly it again.

I've had a couple of battery fires, one was at home on the charger when I was away on an errand and my wife was home. I think the smoke alarm in my shop downstairs came on and she put it out with a ABC rated fire extinguisher that was nearby. No damage, other than to the battery, which was destroyed. After that, I usually hang around nearby while I'm charging batteries.

Another time I think I had some plane, maybe a 1400mm P-51 or something, and just as I plugged it in as I had 100 times before, a fire broke out and a jet of flame went right through the side of the fuselage but somehow I was able to get the fire out. I don't think I flew the plane again, although it was probably fixable, with a lot of work. These batteries can and do misbehave sometimes!

Best of luck getting your Corsair flying again.

Cheers

davegee

[HangarQueen]

Quite the story, and pretty impressive handling!
I'm amazed about the fire extinguisher, though. AFAIK, Lipo fires are chemical fires, meaning they don't need oxygen to continue burning. I'm trying to understand how you were able to extinguish them.
Anyway, I'm really glad and happy for you that the plane wasn't destroyed with such a serious mishap!

[TwistedGrin]

The fire extinguishers did NOT put the fires out...but did snuff them out repeadly instead of just cooking all the way down at once.....think of multiple times for flame out instead of one long burn. We did fling the batteries out but by the time we could see where to grab a power lead they were already falling apart. The fire extinguisher did help....convinced it kept the flames and heat down. Short repeated burst of the fire extinguisher each time the flames roared up worked.....

Make no bones about it though....the airframe stinks and the powder from the fire extinguisher is a real mess. I spent a good hour at the barn blowing out the powder then wiping down the exterior with Windex and paper towel....I have yet to unscrew the canopy and get the cockpit cleaned up...

Both sides of the upper deck lattice work of the interior shelving close to the motor firewall will need plenty of new support bracing

The servos are all good - but the wires are melted....so of course everything needs replaced except the servo arms and cables and rods

I have inspected the wing saddle looking very closely at the wing tubes....it looks good with no damages...the wing saddle looks good as well. So far the damages are just where the flames were licking the battery hatch and either side of the battery tray......

NOTE: Due to the long motor box not working with my set up......I used the short box with motor stand offs which placed the batteries resting just aft of the motor firewall....the rest of the batteries were open laying flat on the lower deck just under the battery hatch......this also probably saved the airframe as the flames would have melted the nose off if the LiPo's would have been underneath the firewall.

I do like my planes in clean shape tidy and pretty inside and out....so I am torn not to get a new bird......will see how the repair efforts go....and I still have not removed the cowling yet for final inspection....although I am confident it will be good to go

Wish I could report what started the fire.....I check all batteries after and before each flight.....all voltages were in good nick and the batteries were well balanced none had a sleeper cell. The motor is grindy but I am thinking it is full of Fire suppressent powder

Interesting I had motor power and all surface control including the retracts as I pulled an immeleman to circle back for the landing....greased the landing on power and control to final stop....flames were already licking out from the battery hatch gaps

I'll be sure to make a photo journey of the repairs

TwistedGrin

[HangarQueen]

Yeah, fire extinguisher powder is a mess. I remember from my youth, when a friend of mine was frustrated that we didn't have a white Christmas, and he decided to empty a fire extinguisher on some trees in the garden. It didn't end well....he had a white Christmas for the next ten years or so 😆

[Aros]

Again, the silver lining is the mess sure makes for some realistic weathering. 😉

[TwistedGrin]

Just for information and observance....the inner covering of the fuselage is some sort of printed vinyl perhaps the same material as the outer covering. I really think this makes the fuselage really strong but still very light. The battery flames melted the inner cover and it peeled back in some places while the outside covering is undamaged.

The inner lattice and bracing decking is a fiber glass sandwhich to plywood....in some places the plywood burnt away but the strands of fiberglass weave is still present.

While the inner latice and bracing looks nasty (and it is) the most damage is to the left side....this can easily be rebuilt/re-inforced with balsa stock.

The bottom tray where I had switches for the reciever on one side and the retract on the other...is still strong and servicable with no repais needed.

The bottom tray where both 6s 8000mAh Lipo for the motor is servicable with no repairs needed.

I am amazed the materials suffered minimal damages...a testimate to the manufacture and design structure.

Most likely as I continue to use a brush next to break away and remove more Fire Retardent Powder....the interior front fuselage will look much better of course. I plan on spray painting the affected area in Gloss Black once I have everything fortified and ready for flight.

This is an amazing flying airframe and much sturdier than it appears thanks to the dual skinned fuselage

I am including photos for now just for archive purposes.

TwistedGrin

[Katniss]

Hello, new to Squawk.
I should be receiving my BH Corsair tomorrow.
Lots of great info in this thread.
Kinda bummed to read that even now, after several versions, the retracts are less then reliable.
for a $1400 plane to be equppied with junk gear is a problem.
Anyway....will probably invest in the robart 148s.
I do, however, have a set of Sierra gear, but will have to determine if it's worth trying to retrofit.

There is another option....
Jp Hobby has a set of gear for what's listed as an Aviation Jet F4U 2.7m corsair.

https://www.jphobby.eu/en/struts-sets-and-full-sets/2580-jp-hobby-er-150-bicycle-rotating-full-set-aviation-jet-f4u-corsair-27m-ou-p40-controller.html

Thoughts?