Official FlightLine RC 1200mm F8F-1 Bearcat Thread

[Ron1950]

in Abilene Tx now and the wind finally dyed down enough to fly some lol...the dark blue seems to blend into itself as it gets a few 100 feet away but alls good...

[Ron1950]

a friend at the field has this f8f and he was amazed that mine balanced correctly with a 4s 4000 and his needed 4 oz and the 4s 4000 battery anyone figured why this is?

[crxmanpat]

Are they the exact same brand battery and C rating? If not, this may be the reason as different batteries have different weights.

[rifleman_btx]

A 10c difference can cause that easily

[Grossman56]

Interesting, I just put my 4000's all the way forward and flew, it was fine. The CG as Ryan show it, is slightly different.


Grossman56

[Tsmith]

Maiden report. Finally, yesterday maidened my Bearcat. 4 successful flights on 4S 5000mah. I had her ready last November but had to wait for good weather. I'm getting easily 10 minutes on this pack and probably could get more. First flight, wow was she pitch sensitive. I usually don't use expo but found out quickly elevator on expo is a must! Flights 2-4 I was able to get this dialed at about 30%. I got very comfortable with the flying tendencies. She can be slowed way down with no stalling issues. Flies very well with flaps down also. The one problem I couldn't seem to solve is nosing over on taxiing. The 5000 is about a quarter inch back from fire wall for 85mm CG so I don't think its too nose heavy. High rate on elevator helps a little but any small imperfection in the runway would cause it to nose over. I have some 3600 packs that I will experiment with and see if this helps. I also need to go back through this thread and read if any of you guys have had this issue and how you resolved it. Other than that the bird is a very fun plane to fly.

[Tsmith]

Update. I shimmed the retracts with two washers under the rear of the retract. This has solved the nosing over issues for me. The gear still retracts fine into the wheel well with no issues. Just a little bit of added rake makes her taxi fine now. I got a couple of flights with the 3600 packs and I'm getting 8 minutes on those with better performance than the 5000 pack due to the weight savings...CG was no issue as I put the 3600 all the way forward...trim was exactly the same as the 5000 pack about 1/4 inch from front. This plane is no speed demon but so what. I love the slow flying characteristics and how scale like it looks at 3/4 throttle. She'll get up and go at full throttle and seems to have unlimited vertical on the 3600 packs. Lots of fun!

[rifleman_btx]

Excellent!

[Grossman56]

Hey Tsmith, that sound like an interesting mod. I don't have that problem myself, but since I've modified mine with a 650 kv and the 1400 mm Corsair prop, that might be something to think about.
Before the mods, I ran my 4000s in her, all the way forward and it was great, now with the mod, I have to move it back to the foam cross member in the fuse, still an amazing plane, with this power system it goes like a rocket!!

Grossman56

[Grossman56]

Good question Mad Baron, haven't heard anything yet, but it would be a cool mod for this plane. OV-10 should be looking into that at some time I'm sure. They don't seem to be too concerned about upgraded suspension on 1200 mm sized planes.

Grossman56

[Tsmith]

I thought I would share a flight line photo with you guys. I'm finding the 3600mah 4S pack to be the best battery out of my stock for this plane. I'm getting 9 plus minutes on a pack and it performs so much better than my 5000mah pack. Seems to be the right combo of flight time and performance..

[Grossman56]

Hey T, dang that cat looks familiar!
Mine is '2' instead of '1'
Looks like the Spar Varathane or Minwax treatment on her, sure makes a difference doesn't it!
I found the 4000's to be great as well and the flight time is great, even since I swapped out the motor, ESC and prop. If you decide to go that route, the battery has to come back a bit so that it lines up with the front of the wooden hatch floor, other than that she's good. This is an awesome airplane just stock but it will blow your mind with the upgraded motor, 85A ESC and the 1400 mm Corsair prop. Can't wait to clean up the drool from the guys at Nefi!!

Grossman56

[tbnil]

Need a answer please. Cub member said if u use y connectors instead of the blue box that the y connects or must be a reversing y. Is this true?? Please let me know thanks

[TiredIronGRB]

Need a answer please. Cub member said if u use y connectors instead of the blue box that the y connects or must be a reversing y. Is this true?? Please let me know thanks

No....

[crxmanpat]

^^ What TiredIron said. While there is a reversed servo on this for flaps, the servo itself is already reversed, so just normal Y connectors are needed.

[tbnil]

Thanks for the reply. What is the KV on the optional power up grade? Called motion but they weren't really sure (surprised they weren't sure) thanks. Tom

[Grossman56]

3648 880 kv.
Check out the product page, all the info is there.

https://www.motionrc.com/collections/warbirds/products/flightlinerc-f8f-1-bearcat-pnp#description-tab

Welcome, BTW, and hope you like the plane. I used the blue box, pretty straight forward once you realize that the one they show in the manual isn't the one you get with the plane. I rewrote that manual several months ago, don't know why they haven't updated it.
The wires going out (flaps retracts and ailerons) are the only ones you should plug into the box, everything else (elevator, throttle and rudder) goes directly to the receiver.

Grossman56

[Ron1950]

I used Y harnesses on all wing surfaces and they are working fine.....
btw the pic of the f8 upside down for balanceing has the gear out is that standard? I thought it was to balanced with the gear down but either way this plane flys well with almost any battery lol.... I use admiral 4s 4000 all the way forward and a 10 min flight is not unusuall

[Grossman56]

I went by what Ryan said in the flight video until I swapped out the motor and prop, then the battery had to go back to the foam cross support just beyond the battery tray. It took a minor bit of work to get the motor in, new holes to mount it, but once done, this plane acts/looks more like the real thing. I haven't seen one with the 880 kv and two blade prop upgrade yet, but it can't be much faster than this one and I use a more realistic looking prop.
And yes, I did eventually paint the nut and washer yellow.
Winter project, retractable tail wheel.

Grossman56

[2FewDaysAtFlyingField]

Callie Graphics, Aluminum Push Rods and weathering added. My right aileron came off after about 12 flights but nothing that a little Welders couldn't fix and good as new. She runs really fast on 5S if you feel the need for speed.