Official FlightLine RC 1200mm F8F-1 Bearcat Thread

[Grossman56]

HAR!!, it worked for the Bearcat, maybe a Stutz Bearcat is in the works for you!!

Grossman56

[Alpha]

Keep dropping your hints and maybe one day you'll get one of them to actually hit. I'm dropping myself a hint for a 1500mm Bugatti 100HP. Or heck why not a 2000mm. :)

[Grossman56]

And, I understand about the price point. Unfortunately, but I get it. Its the artist in me (right hemisphere) that looks for every detail.
What amazes me to no end is that F4F with folding wings and authentic retractable gear.
I'll bet that there's no one here that wasn't impressed with that, that was really something. But again, I looked at it and thought it was cool, but those panel lines are hideous, so, that's just me.
Beside, I've racked my brain trying to figure out how the heck that gear retracts on a Bearcat in the first place, let alone trying to scale it down!!

Beside, you guys are in the process of building that F7F in 1600 mm........... Aren't you??? (Another hint LOL)

Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas!!!

Grossman56

[Grossman56]

Don't forget the folding wings!!

Grossman56

[F106DeltaDart]

The 1400mm version would also get the scale double jointed retracts right? :cool:

[Alpha]

If we ever did a 1400mm or larger warbird that depicted an aircraft that in real life used a retracting tail wheel, we'd include that functionality in our model. For the 1200mm class, it's just not in the cards to mass produce at that price point. Horizon, FMS, Durafly and all the others don't do it on sub 1400mm warbirds for a reason. Besides, I think we were all just sitting back and waiting to watch F106Dd do it. HA

Nice hint, Grossman :p

[Grossman56]

Man, I wish I had the talent to do this, looks great in the air without the tail wheel hanging down. Maybe when the 1400 mm version comes out, it'll have a retractable tail wheel.... (hint hint)

Grossman56

[Ron1950]

man I am getting old....ordered a new horizontal tail and installed today...found that the old tail hold down screws were not screwed into the plastic recepticals but just into the foam lol new one looks great and will not come apart ... at least the new one does not have torn hinges,,

[F106DeltaDart]

Bravo Zulu, F106DD! The grass crowd would have a tough time with that scale tailwheel but as an asphalt flyer your mod has got my wheels spinning and my finger is on the Buy button at Banana right now! This looks really nice. Paired with your big prop, I really love your setup. It's always gratifying seeing modelers take a mass produced item and really make it their own.

Thanks Alpha and Pat! I fly off a less-than-ideal geotex runway, so things arent as bad as flying from grass, but its held up to our potholes so far. On a side note, there was 7 tailwheels left at Banana when I posted. There are now 3 left so if anyone is on the fence, get them while you can!

[crxmanpat]

I have a tail wheel on order. Thanks for pioneering this mod!

[Alpha]

Bravo Zulu, F106DD! The grass crowd would have a tough time with that scale tailwheel but as an asphalt flyer your mod has got my wheels spinning and my finger is on the Buy button at Banana right now! This looks really nice. Paired with your big prop, I really love your setup. It's always gratifying seeing modelers take a mass produced item and really make it their own.

[F106DeltaDart]

Thanks Westsider! Here are a few more shots of the assembly. Installation is pretty simple, just cut the proper sized hole, remove the stock assembly, and epoxy in the FMS unit. I mounted a tray inside to hold the servo for the retract as well. The unit has a steering servo built in, so no need to worry about running more pushrods. Unfortunately, that servo is reversed from the rudder channel, so you will either have to run a reversed Y harness, or use a separate channel. I have both steering and tail retract on separate channels for the moment.

The biggest headache is the rudder pushrod. As I said earlier, the stock setup runs a pushrod to the tail steering horn, and another, shorter pushrod links that to the rudder. You can either replace this with a longer single pushrod, or bind a smaller pushrod to the original one. I did this by overlapping a spare shorter pushrod with the one that went to the steering arm and tightly would thread around that joint. Thin CA was applied to harden and secure the joint, and it is quite solid so far.

FYI, the retract is available here: http://www.bananahobby.com/rear-land...4483-prd1.html. I scoured the internet for some time looking for other sources, but they seem to be the only source. They are a discontinued part so I would get them quickly while they are still available.

[Westsider]

Looks great Delta! That totally makes it. Retract wizard. :cool: Man, haven't taken it out of the box yet. Need to get on it...let us know what you did Ace.

[F106DeltaDart]

Last night I finally decided that it was time to get rid of the tailwheel on my Bearcat. I found that the tail retract from the FMS 1400mm Hellcat was almost a perfect fit for this model, and actually looks more scale than the stock tailwheel. Only issue with the mod was redoing the rudder pushrod, since the stock one is a small pushrod coming off of the tailwheel steering horn. Got a few shots in flight this morning, and I am glad I put in the work! I'll post a few more photos of the retract itself if anyone wants them.

[Grossman56]

I hear you, guess we're all so used to the 5-6 minute flight envelope that we don't know what to do with ourselves with the extra time. As Mike once said,"The longer I fly the stupider I get!"
I tell you what, when we all get together at Nefi next year, what with that huge field, all that extra flight time will be a benefit.

Grossman56

[Alpha]

My timer is now set conservatively for 8 minutes on the Admiral 4s 4000mAh with my mixed throttle flight pattern. I don't have problem stretching it out to ten if need be. It's just that my legs get tired after 7 or so, ha.

[Grossman56]

Hey Pat, sounds right in line with what I'm getting for flight time. So, here we are with a plane that can get a 12 minute flight? The 6200 will have to be something I look into.
I found that when I tried the 4000 after flying the initial flights with the 3600 batteries. She seems to like a little bit more weight with no noticeable effect on the CG.

Grossman56

[crxmanpat]

Got the maiden and three subsequent flights done with the Bearcat today. First flight was using a Zippy Compact 4S 6200. Had the timer set for 6 minutes. Takeoff with no flaps was non-eventful (had a steady 5-6mph headwind). I must have gotten lucky, because this is the first plane I've ever flown that needed no trim whatsoever. I was completely comfortable with the plane 30 seconds into the flight.

After 6 minutes I came in for a perfect 3-point landing with no flaps due to the headwind. Brought it over to check out the battery, and still had 66% left. So I turned right around and flew another 6-minute flight. After landing, I still had 31% left, which is right where I like it.

Overall a fantastic flyer. Loops and rolls were very easy, inverted required just a hint of down elevator, and she handled the winds just fine. I actually managed to get several touch and go's in, just hitting the mains and going back up. No hint of wanting to nose over.

The final flight was done with an Admiral 4S 4000 (black label, not the Pro). No noticeable difference from the 6200 as far as flying characteristics. And based on what others have said, she may have a pretty wide CG range. But I preferred the flights with the 6200s. I think she really likes the extra weight, especially on a somewhat windy day. After 6 minutes on the 4000, I still had 65% left.

One guy at the field got some pics, and I'm waiting for him to email them to me.

This plane gets a big thumbs up from me!

[Grossman56]

I checked mine and she was fine.
Some Foam-Tac will work from what I've seen and also the Varathane adds another layer of 'grip'.
I made mention of the clear tree of parts that came with mine and was told that they were hinges, so if all else fails, use those.

Grossman56

[flyingiceberg]

Since it has been mentioned on another forum, I figure I would post this here. Let me start off by saying all foam hinges will eventually fail. (Just not this fast) Ther is an issue with the hinges on the ailerons. Mine came with a set of hinges on one and cracks on the other side. I contacted motion even one of those guys has a wing that shows cracks. He said they would stand behind the wing but pointed out that even his has one like that. They did not offer to replace it. I have not even maidened mine yet. Here are a few pictures