Official FlightLine RC 1200mm F8F-1 Bearcat Thread

[crxmanpat]

There is no way to change the timing on the retracts as they work off a worm gear drive. When signal is given to the retracts, it triggers operation of the drive motor, which runs until the slider hits the opposite limit switch which then turns the drive motor off.

[purduephigam]

Gotcha, kinda what I figured. Thanks very much!

[Tony617]

I build a Flightline F8F Bearcat and it turn out very nice. I have left everything stock. I did make a mistake an put the wrong size decals on. I need to pull to large ones off of the fuselage and so I needed to buy some touch up paint. The wing decals are also too small but I have not had time to peel those off. Maybe I won't do anything.

[Grossman56]

Looks good Tony, welcome to the Squawk.
I love this bird !! I started out stock and then went with the a 650 kv with a 85A ESC and the 1400 mm Corsair prop. Great upgrade when your ready for it. Had an incident at Nefi as I'm sure you've read and had some repair work when I got home. She's back in the air and flying like her old self!!

Grossman56

[Tony617]

Looks good Tony, welcome to the Squawk.
I love this bird !! I started out stock and then went with the a 650 kv with a 85A ESC and the 1400 mm Corsair prop. Great upgrade when your ready for it. Had an incident at Nefi as I'm sure you've read and had some repair work when I got home. She's back in the air and flying like her old self!!

Grossman56

Very nice Bearcat. I like the Blue Angels scheme as well.

Tony

[Beeg]

I had a mishap with my Bearcat yesterday great flight and on landing it the landing gear folded out the wing and it skidded to a stop. Anyone else have a issue with the gear? They weren't glued in very well at the factory I bought some foam tac and will try that to reattach the gear. Tried to upload a pic but it didn't work.

Yep, had to re-glue one of mine that was a little thin on glue from the factory

[Grossman56]

Just reglued one of mine in on Sunday as well, no big deal, but the glues isn't the greatest.

Grossman56

[Ron1950]

a 4s 4000 admiral battery balanced my f8 just right but a friends had to have 4 oz in nose to balance...and that was with the sporty set up.... ill never figure out these foamies for balance...but alls good with mine

as for the gear glue issue, mine had too much good glue...cross wind so let it land on the grass ,,,hit a weed clump and tore the right gear out and it took the leading edge of the wing with it lol...new wing fixed that issue

[Beeg]

I put mine back together with epoxy. That was last year and no problems since.

[Grossman56]

What kind of adhesive did you use?

I had some of the glue that comes with the kits handy in my tool box, it seems to work well, otherwise Gorilla Glue and just don't overdo it and watch for the oozing, trim it off with an exacto knife if you have to.
Grossman56

[Grossman56]

a 4s 4000 admiral battery balanced my f8 just right but a friends had to have 4 oz in nose to balance...and that was with the sporty set up.... ill never figure out these foamies for balance...but alls good with mine

as for the gear glue issue, mine had too much good glue...cross wind so let it land on the grass ,,,hit a weed clump and tore the right gear out and it took the leading edge of the wing with it lol...new wing fixed that issue

Had the same, Foam Tac'd it back together and used some of the foam filler and some paint, good as new. Also, as mentioned above, a couple of other options if you don't have Foam-Tac

Grossman56

[purduephigam]

Just thought I'd try to get some feedback here. Took the Bearcat out for a maiden about a month ago (balanced per the instruction manual). As soon as it left the ground it was squirly and uncontrollable. I was lucky to get away with a few broken prop blades and dislodged wings when it crashed. I inquired with motionrc on this, and they think it might've been extremely nose heavy based on flight characteristics (lots of up and down movement, seemingly impossible to control). I was able fix everything without issue and balanced with my 3600 all the way forward. Seemed perfect despite my concerns of repeating the maiden. Needless to say, I brought it out again today and things were very similar to the maiden; unable to control immediately after takeoff and ended up pile driving it into earth. I'm just not sure what went wrong here. Any input would be appreciated here. Thanks everyone.

[radfordc]

they think it might've been extremely nose heavy based on flight characteristics (lots of up and down movement, seemingly impossible to control). .

That sounds like tail heavy....not nose heavy.

[purduephigam]

That's what I had initially suggested when I contacted motion. Just not sure why or how with the battery moved to the forward position, and no other modifcations I figured it to be right on the mark for CG. Either way, it's trashed. I'm sure it's pilot error, just unsure how to learn from this.

[RRHandy]

But sometimes too much elevator will act like tail heavy also, did it seem like it was porpoising? R.

[purduephigam]

I didn't think it was porpoising per say, just mainly a lot of up and down, uncontrollable movement. Went over everything with motion and even they haven't come across anything quite like this with the Bearcat. Either I am the worst newb pilot out there, or my CG was off and I "thought" it was balanced. Again, everything set up per the manual, and I had balanced it to 85mm upside down prior to the maiden and right side up prior to the 2nd maiden. Still at a loss here, but I'll just need to get back to beginner mode with another plane in addition to the Hawksky and get my bearings.

[Tsmith]

I didn't think it was porpoising per say, just mainly a lot of up and down, uncontrollable movement. Went over everything with motion and even they haven't come across anything quite like this with the Bearcat. Either I am the worst newb pilot out there, or my CG was off and I "thought" it was balanced. Again, everything set up per the manual, and I had balanced it to 85mm upside down prior to the maiden and right side up prior to the 2nd maiden. Still at a loss here, but I'll just need to get back to beginner mode with another plane in addition to the Hawksky and get my bearings.

What kind of expo did you have dialed in on the elevator? I usually don't use expo but found the bear cat elevator to be way to touchy without it. Dialing in a lot of expo made a huge difference on my bird. I'm using the same 3600 all the way forward and she flies great. I had a very similiar maiden experience with no expo.

[purduephigam]

I didn't have any expo programmed. I felt I was really only using elevator to compensate for the ballooning, or compensating the compensation when it would dip. Maybe something to consider; however, I'd at least like to think I'd be able to manage the plane in the meantime at least a little. The last two flights it was literally unable to be controlled from liftoff until crash. Motion did mention that sometimes a little expo (like 15% or so) is necessary.

[Tsmith]

I didn't have any expo programmed. I felt I was really only using elevator to compensate for the ballooning, or compensating the compensation when it would dip. Maybe something to consider; however, I'd at least like to think I'd be able to manage the plane in the meantime at least a little. The last two flights it was literally unable to be controlled from liftoff until crash. Motion did mention that sometimes a little expo (like 15% or so) is necessary.

I just checked my radio, I have 30% dialed in for the elevator. Not sure if that is your issue but I remember having a similiar experience last year when maidening...it was all I could do get her back on the ground.

[RRHandy]

I had a Corsair that was a handful when taking off but once in the air it would fly fine, then I looked at how much the elevator throw there was and it hit me like a ton of asphalt, so I dialed it down and put 20% expo in and the plane took off like all the others, now when I get a plane that acts like that on maiden I go right to the elevator. R. :Cool: