Official FlightLine RC 1200mm F8F-1 Bearcat Thread

[Starck Mad]

Alpha...I will be pre ordering the Bearcat tonight, and I also want to order the FLRC Spitfire and an FMS 650kv motor...blew another hub up (and the front end) on Starck Mad running 5s. Just going to go with the 650kv on 4s and let it ride. I'm tired of buying new Fuse's... Should I do the pre order separately or can I order all of it at once and get my Spitfire and the motor now?

Thanks,

SM

[xplaneguy]

Evelyn with her all-time favorite RC model. She is so comfortable flying it too! :)

[Starck Mad]

Grossman, only the model itself can be pre-ordered; this way they can ship the plane boxes out to pre-order customers the same day the container arrives.

Starck, Callie provided the pre-production sample's decals for Project Evelyn. So Callie is already familiar with this actual bird and knows the scale. Fire away, I'm excited to see what schemes everyone comes up with. This bird can do big maneuvers, and tight ones. It is a nice balance. Xplaneguy and a mutual friend of ours, Scott, who isn't a forum guy, flew the Bearcat yesterday. I know Pilot Ryan and Captain Mike's video coming soon will be a treat for people to see. The F8F-1 is the most "floaty" of the FlightLineRC single engine warbirds so far, especially on 4s 2500. Rolling to a stop in les than ten feet on landing is a good indicator you landed softly. Ha! The 4s 4000 builds nice speed in dives and holds its energy well, and lasts quite a while.

Thanks for that Alpha...and its good to know my stockpile of 4000 4s packs for my 1400mm stuff will work for this baby...

[Alpha]

Hi OV10, yes this pilot will get his own SKU, now that we'll have regular inventory.

[crxmanpat]

I initially did not want this as it's only 1200mm, and I prefer my warbirds 1400mm or bigger, but I just really love the looks. That and a little arm twisting, and I pre-ordered one on the first day. ;)

This will make a nice addition to the fleet. I'll do the Blue Angels anniversary decals apply a few coats of Minwax WBPC (Gloss) to give it a shiny finish and help protect the finish and decals.

[Alpha]

Grossman, only the model itself can be pre-ordered; this way they can ship the plane boxes out to pre-order customers the same day the container arrives.

Starck, Callie provided the pre-production sample's decals for Project Evelyn. So Callie is already familiar with this actual bird and knows the scale. Fire away, I'm excited to see what schemes everyone comes up with. This bird can do big maneuvers, and tight ones. It is a nice balance. Xplaneguy and a mutual friend of ours, Scott, who isn't a forum guy, flew the Bearcat yesterday. I know Pilot Ryan and Captain Mike's video coming soon will be a treat for people to see. The F8F-1 is the most "floaty" of the FlightLineRC single engine warbirds so far, especially on 4s 2500. Rolling to a stop in les than ten feet on landing is a good indicator you landed softly. Ha! The 4s 4000 builds nice speed in dives and holds its energy well, and lasts quite a while.

[Starck Mad]

Alpha...I have been requesting a Bearcat for some time...THANKS a million for doing one!! I will be pre ordering very soon! Like many...I'd love a 1400mm one.:shy: I must say though...1200mm is the next best thing in my opinion. They have more presence than the tiny 1100mm stuff, they usually fly better, they are easier to see, and of course...they are easier to transport and maintain than a more complicated 1400mm plane. I love the fact that you guys are powering them with more of a 1400mm power system...so many 1400 and 1100 planes are grossly underpowered out of the box, but you guys are putting a bigger plane motor/esc in a lighter plane...awesome! I can't stand an underpowered warbird that can't do big smooth maneuvers that eat up lots of sky like they should...not a problem with your 1200's.

Will you be getting one to Callie so she can bust out some decals? I don't think the Bearcat is on her list...yet.

Thanks again...you're costing me a lot of money dammit, but I like it...

SM

[Grossman56]

I'm all set to preorder, but they haven't got the receiver in that I want, just waiting to see if I can preorder both, also, spare prop blades would be nice. I'm planning to go the usual route, using a Spektrum 7 channel AR7610 and an A3L gyro. I considered going the AR636, but, I'm just hesitant on it because of the extra cable and the programming, not being an owner of a smart phone, it would mean that if I wanted to adjust anything, I'd have to drag it home and hook it up to the PC. So much easier to use an A3L.

Grossman56

[Grossman56]

Yes, you're right, they had the Hellcat for four months before they went to the factory and picked up brand new Bearcats, its all in the video. I believe that their first demonstration aircraft was the Bearcat. I'm not sure if they were called the Blue Angels when they had the Hellcat, I think they were called the Navy Flight Demonstration Team, not sure on that, vets, help us out here.

I agree with you that the inner gear wells and doors are supposed to be blue, I noticed that and thought to myself, "the one time I get a plane with painted gear doors and wheel wells and I'll have to repaint them!"

Grossman56

[Veltro]

Hopefully that isn't the final color because it is too bright for Sea Blue. Also, everything in the cockpit should be black, not green. Wheel wells and inner gear doors should also be Sea Blue. Struts and tail wheel, too. Grumman's unofficial motto at the time was "Paint it blue, pass it through."

Fortunately the markings aren't applied on this one, so it will be easy to repaint. I'd just rather not have to repaint it if I don't have to.

I definitely like the size and price point. Looking forward to having one.

(Oh, and the Blue Angels first plane was the F6F Hellcat, not the Bearcat.)

[F106DeltaDart]

This looks great! Nice to see another unique airplane produced by FlightlineRC. I just might have to pick one up and try fitting one with a 15" prop..

[farmflyer]

By the way I'd probably be the guy that tried to penetrate the earths crust with the only one in existence. 😞

[Bajora]

Wow, another must have model from MotionRC! Noticed several additional alternate graphics listed under the spare parts listings! Nice! You folks sure now how to keep our wallets busy!

[farmflyer]

Thanks Alpha, I can see where after designing a few planes you would have a good idea of what adjustments to make to an airframe in order for it to be flyable for the public. I would also think you run into some of the same problems the original designers had getting or keeping it stable enough to fly. All airframes must react differently to the same changes. Hopefully you can give us more insight in the future.

[AkumaZeto]

I was just thinking how cool it would be to see a video of the epo bits being made etc. Bandai Model company has several vids like showing the dies for injection etc.

[Alpha]

It's a fun question, Farmflyer. I need to make a post one day which covers more of the behind the scenes steps to bring a model aircraft to life. I'll see what pictures I can get approved to be shown publicly, since yes, most of this is guarded as "secret sauce" type stuff among the manufacturers.

To summarize in a few shorter paragraphs, it's a lot of work!

Selecting a model is based on many factors and data. Designing a model involves drawing it in CAD, then optimizing it for RC and its projected scale. Airfoil, wingloading, stance, servo load, assembly steps, parts count, weight distribution, CG, component layout, etc, etc, etc. The all white models like the one Evelyn is holding is a CNC prototype. Prototypes are CNC'd from dry foam, and tested and adjusted and tested again until the model is flying right. Then, the molds are cut for EPO. Once the molds are cut, there's no going back, because they cost tens of thousands of dollars. The short answer to "how many adjustments do you have to make" is "As few as possible!". In all seriousness, this is where the magic happens. A model could get stuck in a cycle of revisions which takes time, money, and development resources away from other projects. Projects like that either take much longer to release to the public, or they're released prematurely and the public suffers with a poorly optimized model. A well tuned development team can preempt those delays by designing smartly and proactively instead of reactively. After years of work we've gotten to the point that after one or two CNC prototypes of a new model, we're ready to cut the mold. Of course, this isn't a race to just make as many planes as one can. Quality, market saturation, demand, production capacity, and many other factors are considered in the distribution strategy as to when exactly a model is actually released.

Throughout a typical plane's development, prototypes are flown at least 100 times each or more, depending on optimization. I'll fly the EPO version at least 200 times before green lighting mass production. The reason why we fly them so much is to identify wear points, failure points, etc. Data collection is huge. That info is fed back to our Technical Support team's knowledgebase, which in turn benefits the customer when the questions start rolling in. The fun part is long term destructive testing, which includes servo failure simulation where I'll remotely shut off different flight surfaces to see how the airplane flies without them (or if). That's how I know the T-45 can fly with the right aileron completely removed, and the left flap stuck at 10 degrees!!

Where possible, we also try to include feedback from trusted pilots before a model is fully rolled out to the public. This depends on the model, the level of secrecy, logistical and physical access to the prototypes, etc. It cannot always be done, but we do our best where possible. Xplaneguy is one of those trusted pilots, my most trusted non-employee pilot in fact. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I value his opinion not just because we're good friends but because he's straightforward and doesn't hold back if he sees an issue. If he doesn't like something, he says it point blank. And I know he knows what he's talking about after decades of flying. Feedback like that is highly valuable as a developer, because it gives third party insight from a knowledgeable vantage point. Evelyn is highly valued as well, because if she likes something, she makes it known. Her sentiments are close to the pulse of the hobby at large. In fact the Bearcat project was termed Project Evelyn internally, which referenced her personal love of the airplane and her belief, which we share, that the Bearcat was a popular model deserving of positive recognition.

At a certain point once an EPO production sample is available, we do our best to have as many non-Motion RC pilots fly a new model. The P-38 was a good example: Over 40 pilots flew her before the pre-order began. Collecting user feedback is much easier once the models are in the hands of pilots worldwide, of course, but where possible we try to collect that type of information beforehand. Xplaneguy, Bajora, Corsair Nut, JetMang, MiGAceKiller, T-Cat, Air Sally, Mark, Borntoolate, and many others who aren't on any forum (Cory, Rob, Gary, Scott, Isaac, Sam, and Harris come to mind) are just some of the RC minds whose opinions I respect and thus have asked to fly pre-production models in the past. If many of you lived closed, I'd extend the same offer! I urged Crxmanpat to fly the MiG-21 months ago but he shut me down. Hahaha :)

[OV10]

Hello Alpha,
The pilot looks a lot better in this Bearcat than the one that was stuffed into the SeaFury by robbing from the A6 parts line.
It looks so good that I would use it on other 9th or 10th scale projects. Can this Bearcat pilot be given a spare parts SKU separate from say a cockpit spare ??
PS....welcome back to the states and the Squawk.
Best regards,

[xplaneguy]

Tony your a lucky guy and I'm sure a very accomplished pilot to be involved in the development process. Is it weird to fly these in the bare white form? It would be great if some of you could give us a little more insight in the whole development process. A kinda how it's made with out giving away to many trade secrets such as first prototype flights or problems with first attempts. I'm intrigued and impressed at the same time at how a new plane comes to be.

Thanks for your kind words!

It's not weird at all to fly these bare white prototypes but I'm very mindful of the fact that it's the only one in the country or on the planet, so Alpha's trust is greatly appreciated.

To be honest, my role is minimal. I'm a pilot who ultimately wants a great product and just provides honest feedback, regardless if I intend to purchase the product or not. I love model aviation and would like others to enjoy it too, especially newcomers, so a quality product is vital to keeping folks involved and happy. My daughter and I enjoy promoting the hobby and helping friends in the business. As a veteran and loyal MRC customers, we've invested a lot of time and energy promoting/supporting Motion RC because they are first, a veteran owned company.....but more importantly, they are focused on customer satisfaction. MRC doesn't just say it, they do it! Each of my purchases have been painless/easy and shipping has been outstanding. The one issue I had was quickly resolved and the continuing Freewing F-86 retract issues, I've just learned to live with it until a more robust set is developed. I'm now on my third set. LOL That aside, witnessing a very small part of MRC's involvement in product development just reaffirms, to me, their commitment to the customer and quality. For that....We salute the MRC Team and their partners!

[Grossman56]

Hey Alpha, that's great news about the prop as its more cost effective to be able to replace one blade than the whole prop itself. When I suggested the Bearcat, the gear articulation was the first obstacle I could see being a problem Grumman seems to have a penchant for strange landing gear, each plane different from the Wildcat right up to the Bearcat. I would imagine, in the case of the Bearcat, it was another solution as to how to overcome the size of the prop, similar to the Corsair.
Not trying to sound negative about this bird at all, in fact, I think its awesome that you heard what I suggested in respect to the Blue Angels and am thrilled that we, as a community are giving a tip of the hat to this wonderful organization and their history and the fellows who flew the Bearcat in regular service. This is such an amazing bird to see fly as it was the zenith of prop driven warplanes, I well remember seeing them fly in the 60's at the Abbotsford International Airshow in BC.
This one, one way or another, will be gracing my hangar!

Grossman56

[farmflyer]

Tony your a lucky guy and I'm sure a very accomplished pilot to be involved in the development process. Is it weird to fly these in the bare white form? It would be great if some of you could give us a little more insight in the whole development process. A kinda how it's made with out giving away to many trade secrets such as first prototype flights or problems with first attempts. I'm intrigued and impressed at the same time at how a new plane comes to be.