Official FlightLine RC 1200mm F8F-1 Bearcat Thread

[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

[Hardway]

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

[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]

: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....

[Hardway]

I will weigh it this evening and report back

[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 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....

[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.

[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

[Hardway]

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

[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

[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.;)

[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]

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]

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]

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, 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!)

Nice Field. I have a 84" Carbon Z but all my other birds are large scale Warbirds (Electric) but I want to move into jets as my skill sets improve. Here is my hangar. I have a couple more warbirds on the agenda (P-38 and Tigercat) but my budget needs a breather right now. :P:Cool:

1. 78" P-6E Hawk


2. 84" Carbon Z


3. H9 P51d 20cc 69.5" (Ready for Maiden)


4. FlightLine F4U 1600mm 63" Corsair

[Mad Baron]

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.;)

WBRC how were you able to pan the in flight camera around? Super cool video!!

[WrightBrosRC]

WBRC how were you able to pan the in flight camera around? Super cool video!!

Its a 360 degree camera.Thx!

[WrightBrosRC]

I've gotten a few more flights on my Bearcat. Really enjoying it. Today we added another member to the Blue Angels Bearcat squadron. I hope to have some flight vid shortly.