Official Black Horse 2350mm Gilmore Red Lion

[Twowingtj]

djmoose Welcome to the club. The Gilmore Red Lion has been done a few times over the years. IMHO this is the nicest. It's worth the wait.


The Black Horse Gilmore sold out pretty quickly, so there must be several pilots out there that have assembled and flown one. For those that have, some shared stories and pics would be great.

The pics on the product page, where the Red Lion is on grass, were taken at my home field, the Chenango Bridge Airport. The airport was founded in 1929 and is still in operation today.
A search of the local newspaper archives revealed a rich history, especially during the Golden Age of Aviation. There was even a picture of Amelia Earhart when she landed there in an autogyro. It was a stop for several smaller cross country air races and travelling airshows. So, flying the Gilmore there feels natural.

[djmoose]

I just joined the wait list. I had the Hobby Lobby Pilot-1 fiberglass fuse Red Lion and I could never get it to fly right. I think I'm ready to try this model.

[Twowingtj]

bbolz After Alpha has gone through it and rebranded to Nexa, with electric retracts included, it's on my "must have" list as well.

[bbolz]

Does a yone know where and when a VQ Rare Bear can be purchased?

[DaleD]

I’ve been waiting patiently to be notified on availability. I’m VERY excited to secure one and install a 4-stroke radial.

My only wish is that we could see more videos here until it’s available.

DaleD

[Twowingtj]

bbolz It's well worth the wait. I can't wait to get settled into the new house so I can get back to flying that gorgeous beast.

[bbolz]

I am so ready to buy this plane! Unfortunately Motion has no idea when it will be back in stock.

[Twowingtj]

Mike I second Alpha's suggestion to use the FG90R3. This classic air racer likes to be powered well and looks great making those scale pylon turns.

[Alpha]

Mike A Saito FG 60R3 will fit and fly, but a Saito FG 90R3 would really wake the model up and make good use of all the space in that giant --air brake-- I mean cowl.

[Mike Schaefer]

Do you think that a Saito 60 gas radial would be adequate for this airplane?

[OV10]

Callie IS the best but I'm sure most everyone already knows that by now

[Twowingtj]

A big shout out to Callie Graphics for producing the Wedell-Williams tail graphics for the Gilmore Red Lion. The vertical stab just looked a bit incomplete without them.

Just tell Callie that you want the same Wedell Williams tail graphics set she made for Tony Jensen, and she can hook you up. They are done in a matt finish so they blend right in.

[Twowingtj]

DaleD Thanks. Our flying field is a full scale private airport, so lots of room.

Once the Gilmore is balanced so it's not tail heavy, there are no bad tendencies. It will fly around at 20-25% throttle pretty nicely. As I mentioned before, it's got a lot of frontal surface area, so it will slow quickly if you back out of the throttle too far.

Most of the stills were taken while just leisurely cruising up and down the runway.

Black Horse did a nice job in both design and execution. Well worth adding to the hangar.

[DaleD]

A clubmate was able to capture a little video footage for me. Its not bad for cell phone video. Thanks Josh. The landing was a lot hotter than it should have been. This was the first time flying the Red Lion without a 15mph+ gusty crosswind. Wasn't sure if I could handle it. Batteries were at 3.93v per cell after the flight.

I have watched this flight video no less that 5 times. She sure is a beauty to watch moving through the skies. All I say each viewing is, "WOW!!!!! When I grow up I would like to have me one of those for myself".

I could not notice what I would consider any bad tendencies and she seems to be quite a floater. The slow flight just before landing was all I need to convince me that I must have one when they become available.

By the way, you have a VERY nice looking flying field.

Tanks for sharing.

DaleD

[Twowingtj]

OV10 Still getting the elevator dialed in. The bird has such a long tail moment, it doesn't take much throw. I've got 15deg high rate, and 12 deg low rates. Even on low it's touchy at high throttle. I'm going to move the pushrod further in on the servo arm for better resolution.

[OV10]

Twowingtj
She barely porpoised and Josh gets the for video turnaround time for publication.
Still waiting for the Bronco vid

[Twowingtj]

A clubmate was able to capture a little video footage for me. Its not bad for cell phone video. Thanks Josh. The landing was a lot hotter than it should have been. This was the first time flying the Red Lion without a 15mph+ gusty crosswind. Wasn't sure if I could handle it. Batteries were at 3.93v per cell after the flight.

[Twowingtj]

The Gilmore Red Lion balanced at between 112-113mm on the vanessa rig. Now I'm looking forward to flying it at events. Unfortunately the Rhinebeck Jamboree has been cancelled for 2020. It will be flown there next year. There are still a few others on the event list.

If you are a fan of classic Golden Age avaiation, this is a bird worth adding to the hangar. There's just something special about an airplane with a big round cowl. Good job Black Horse and Motion RC!

[Twowingtj]

Got a chance to get the Gilmore out for a couple of flights today. It flew like it was on rails. The lastest ballast addition did the trick. Total lead added is now at 30oz.

As soon as I have the chance, I'll get it on the vanessa rig to see where the CG wound up at. It sure feels good to have it flying the way it should now.

[Twowingtj]

That Saito should pull it along fine and sound good doing it.

This bird looks great on the ground and presents well in the air. I've only had four flights in a slightly to quite tail heavy state, in windy conditions. Even so, at cruise and above, it's feeling good on the sticks. Once the CG is dialed in to improve slow flight handleing, it's going to be a stellar flyer.

One thing I have noticed after just four flights. The rubber skin on the tires is starting to wear away. And that's on a grass runway.