Official FlightLine RC 1200mm F8F-1 Bearcat Thread

[WrightBrosRC]

I'm in.....especially when the weather improves. I'm guessing the field is the one in Beaverton? http://www.flyaways.org/

Do you have a guest membership fee for a weekend? It would be awesome to see several Corsairs flying at once! :):Cool:

Yes, that's the field. No charge for invited guests flying with a club member. I'm mostly a jet guy in the foam aircraft hangar. I have a few foam prop planes but no Corsair. (we have some radial gasser Corsairs and Bearcats though!)

[Grover54]

Yes sir, When are you gonna grab Todd and come down here for a day of flying with us? :Thinking:

I'm in.....especially when the weather improves. I'm guessing the field is the one in Beaverton? http://www.flyaways.org/

Do you have a guest membership fee for a weekend? It would be awesome to see several Corsairs flying at once! :):Cool:

[WrightBrosRC]

Nice Video but I love your runway!!!! Where are you on this flight! Hillsboro, OR?

Yes sir, When are you gonna grab Todd and come down here for a day of flying with us? :Thinking:

[Grover54]

I took advantage of a break in the weather to fly the Bearcat today. It was so dark the video quality is poor and mostly shadow. I am really enjoying this model even though I secretly wish it was the same scale as the Flightline Corsair every time I fly it.;)

Nice Video but I love your runway!!!! Where are you on this flight! Hillsboro, OR?

[WrightBrosRC]

I took advantage of a break in the weather to fly the Bearcat today. It was so dark the video quality is poor and mostly shadow. I am really enjoying this model even though I secretly wish it was the same scale as the Flightline Corsair every time I fly it.;)

[Grossman56]

I've had an aileron come loose during a preflight, so I keep an eye on all control surfaces on mine. A line of Foam-Tack secures any control surface, but so much easier to catch it before it falls off or comes off mid flight.

Grossman56

[Hardway]

:Cool::Cool::Cool::Cool::Cool: It is a keeper! Congrats!

[WrightBrosRC]

Very successful maiden flights for both Bearcats today! Both flew with Admiral 6/7 channel Rec/Gyro and HRB 4s 6000mah batts.Managed throttle control approaches 15 minute flight times. (yes, fifteen) Heavy? Nope. Quite agile and a delight to fly. If anything I would have assumed the added weight would stress the gear upon landing. Our landings were on a GeoTek surface. One landing with flaps and one landing without, all good. I did require some down elevator mix with flaps to counteract some ballooning.

The other pilot, Chris, found his experience thoroughly as enjoyable as mine.

Two important considerations for me regarding this model have been the unestablished rudder issue and the information regarding balancing the model and realistic battery choices. Updating the manual/specs/marketing with more reliable and finite information on those two items would ensure an increasing popularity and even higher rate of success with this model.I would have to guess that crashes or bad experiences have been a result of being mistakenly tail heavy. Some at the field mentioned they were detered at the thought of 6 or 7 oz of added weight to operate with the recommended battery.

Having flown multiple flights with identical weight/setup, two pilots and two of the same models, the evidence suggests the larger battery weight is not a problem in the short term for a smooth runway surface. The gear seem solid after the first day on both aircraft. I can't make any speculation about operating from grass. For my application I have confidence in them.

I'll get some video eventually, but weather is not on my side this week.

The main points:

Is the rudder okay? not enough info

Does it fly okay heavier? Yes, absolutely.

Is the gear suitably strong? Yes, absolutely. (untested on grass)

I would recommend this model for anyone wanting a war bird in this scale/size. I like it so much I'm considering a second Bearcat to fly as a 60's reno racer.

-Den

[WrightBrosRC]

Thanks for the details! I find it all very interesting.

My AUW before battery is 1550 grams. 4s 6kmah batt is 554 grams. Flight ready AUW is 2104 grams. Close enough for my considerations.

[Hardway]

I added 170 grams to the inside of the cowl on the firewall, around the dummy radial. It is out of sight and painted black for good measure. That is 6 ounces, but doesn't account for the other differences in weight...:Thinking::Confused:
It balances just 1 to 2 degrees nose down....

[Hardway]

Motion's specifications state: 1550 grams as "Flying Weight".... My Bearcat weighs 1940 grams, without battery... So 54oz vs 68oz. However, it flies just fine and is very tame... I do use full throws, but expo on all surfaces... ;) Hope this info is useful!! Good night all! :Sleeping:

[Hardway]

I will weigh it this evening and report back

[Hardway]

:Cool:I really dont know the AUW. I would much rather have the weight in the battery! It files fine with the added weight and just a touch nose heavy. It is very smooth and lands at a reasonable speed, right on the mains with full flaps. I really like it! For a Bearcat, it is very tame....

[WrightBrosRC]

Rained out today! Trying again tomorrow...

About your awesome F4U landing, I would like to think I would handle it the same way. My thought was more about not wanting to take off knowing there is an unclarified risk per the mfg.

I'm curious what your Bearcat AUW is? I opted to skip the added nose weight and instead upped the batt to 6kmah. I too needed at least 6oz to attain the mfg CG. The diff between my 4k and 6k batts is 7.3oz and I slide the batt back a bit to place the CG right on the money.

I am likely in the minority in that I prefer my scale aircraft these days to have a wing loading that is toward the heavier side. (not unflyable obviously) From reading your previous comments I gather the added weight is not really a problem?

-Den

[Hardway]

It was a Tower Hobbies F4U, not the Flightline.... Sorry to leave out that little detail!

[Hardway]

The Bearcat has held up fine so far... Just a side note.... I was flying my corsair inverted and touched the rudder to the ground. It promptly left the vertical fin. With a corsair, there is not much fin there!! :Scared: I pushed out and rolled over and kept flying to evaluate. I made my turn and set up for landing. To my surprise, it flew just fine!!! I was scared that when I slowed down, it would loose stability. It started a slight wobble in the yaw axis, but landed fine!! :Cool: So in that case, it was not catastrophic... FWIW.... ;) Jerry

[WrightBrosRC]

Hello Gents,

For any RC war bird, how would you rate the potential of a crash/fatality if the rudder control surface were to suddenly separate mid flight?

I honestly don't know the answer for myself. I would like to think I am prepared for everything reasonable and then some. Regardless, keeping the rudder attached to the aircraft during flight is an amazingly high priority for me. The safety implications alone and the damage I could cause from taking that risk is by itself reason for thought.

Let's put that thought on hold though for a bit.

This aircraft is visually attractive and mirrors my experience with other Flightline products. It does have the newer version metal retracts and without disassembling them for inspection, they appear to be attached very well within the socket. The misc. assembly hardware had some minor quality issues that my other Flightline products did not seem to have. It was packaged very well too.

On page 11 of the assembly manual the manufacturer presents the suggestion the rudder will fail. They indicate the extra hardware (not shown in the parts identification on page 2) is included because they are aware of this undetermined potential. The injection molded hinges included for convenience are not thoroughly molded and would be at the very least as unreliable as foam if not more so.

The problem is ambiguously identified, yet ink was spent to print the advisory in the manual. An effort was made and a suggested solution was provided which however is inexplicably less reliable than the original configuration. Is there a risk or no?

Adding to the ambiguity, except for the flaps, all of the remaining control surfaces and hinges are foam exactly as the rudder. If the rudder is unsafe, are the other foam hinges unsafe?

I'm not sure what to think about this but my own searches for information regarding rudder failures for this model come up empty. Nothing in the forum. Seems logical that problems would have shown up here in some way if they existed.

It should fly very safely for an unspecified time, long enough obviously to get more info on the foam hinge questions before a failure is ever a worry.

That said, I'm excited to maiden it with no concerns at all in the short term. I'll finish up my thoughts after a few flights tomorrow and share them afterward.There will be two Bearcats for maiden flight at the field actually and hopefully some nice video of them too. It should be an awesome day!


-Den

[Grossman56]

Let us all know what you think about it, WrightBrosRC! Our Bearcat turns three years old this month, but it's still a crowd pleaser and we plan to keep it in the lineup for a very long time.

Yep, the Bearcat rocks! If it just had an optional strut upgrade.....:Straight-Face::Confused:

Grossman56

[Grover54]

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[WrightBrosRC]

Let us all know what you think about it, WrightBrosRC! Our Bearcat turns three years old this month, but it's still a crowd pleaser and we plan to keep it in the lineup for a very long time.

Will do, I'm excited about it. The club flight team "The Wind Breakers" is evaluating it as the next aircraft to replace or add to the Dynam Metors we have been flying for about 4 years now.

Seperately, I wanted to thank you for introducing yourself to Fred Johnsen. I met him while helping to restore his B-24 Privateer cockpit. The B-24 is his fave and it was a tremendous coincidence and great success/joy that he came to visit me on the day the Flightline B-24 was ready for maiden. You can tell from his video of my flight how much love he has for aviation. (and he knows literally everything about every aircraft. he's like an encyclopedia.) We went through the construction and scale comparisons while chatting about the concessions we make for cost, flyability, etc.in our models and the process of bringing this B-24 RC concept to fruition. As an aviation historian you can imagine he has high standards.He obviously appreciates your efforts. ;)