Official FMS 1700mm F4U Corsair V2 Thread

[Aros]

After we get over the fancy paint job, the nifty hatch release, the new retracts/struts, the zippity do dah quick attach tail, the thing has to be flown. Unless you hang it up from the ceiling as an ornament, what we'll do most with it is fly it.

I would only add that they finally dumped the hard-edged leading edge to the flaps and finally rounded them for a more scale look, but otherwise I agree with everything being said about the V3. Had it had that 8S power out of the box I would have bought it by now for sure.

[xviper]

I haven't owned the V2, but I would say getting a V3 isn't worth the money really. The FlightLine 1600mm Corsair from MotionRC is probably the much better purchase! The FMS V3 while it looks good is extremely under powered! For 500$ you'll have to invest additional money to switch it over to an 8S setup or purchase different motor and prop to get it up to where it should of been out of the box. So 500$ plus another 1-200$ depending on what you want to do for power. Makes this plane way to expensive for what it should of been out of the box ready to go!!!

I tend to agree with this, but I guess it depends on whose criteria it is when it comes to value. The FW/FL Corsair is 60 bucks less and really needs nothing to fly in a satisfying manner, although I did spend a bit more money to get the prop assembly from the FMS V2 Corsair. I just feel a Corsair doesn't look right unless it's spinning a 4-blade prop.
It just sounds to me that FMS missed the mark on this V3. After we get over the fancy paint job, the nifty hatch release, the new retracts/struts, the zippity do dah quick attach tail, the thing has to be flown. Unless you hang it up from the ceiling as an ornament, what we'll do most with it is fly it.
If you didn't know already, the V2 was also 500 bucks. I only ever bought the V1. The V2 came to me by way of a plane swap with a friend. In this sense, FMS thinks it's a great deal, giving us all those new and improved bits and pieces and keeping the price the same, BUT, towards the end of the V2 run, FMS was selling it with the 360 motor. They took a huge step backwards shoving that 300 motor back in and giving us the bigger prop - diameter and pitch, thinking that's all it's gonna take to make it go the same as the outgoing V2's. I guess they thought WRONG! We can buy a lot of planes for 500 bucks. This V3 is not a lot of plane.

[406PIlot]

I haven't owned the V2, but I would say getting a V3 isn't worth the money really. The FlightLine 1600mm Corsair from MotionRC is probably the much better purchase! The FMS V3 while it looks good is extremely under powered! For 500$ you'll have to invest additional money to switch it over to an 8S setup or purchase different motor and prop to get it up to where it should of been out of the box. So 500$ plus another 1-200$ depending on what you want to do for power. Makes this plane way to expensive for what it should of been out of the box ready to go!!!

[Aros]

Excellent!

[406PIlot]

I'll start a new thread when mine comes in. I'll post up some unboxing pictures to kick it off.

[Aros]

Once I saw that it had the scale rounded leading edge flaps and closer to scale size prop I was sold. Gonna be a while, maybe next Summer. I hope whomever gets one creates a new V3 thread and I will be keeping any eye out for the usual vids, pics, tips and tricks and mods.

[406PIlot]

I've got my V3 on order... I'm going to do a conversion to make it a F2G - Super Corsair. With that being said I'd like to get a little more power under the cowl. Does anyone have thoughts on a motor besides the fms 360kv? I was wondering about a RimFire 1.20 maybe. If anyone has thoughts let me know.

[xviper]

OV10 It was a 3hr+ video - can't blame you for hopping through it. I skipped and jumped through it myself but I just happened to stop at the point where he showed the motor. I wish he spent more time talking about the retracts, with close ups. I'm looking at the parts again and I see that the V3 retracts have different hole locations. Width-wise, they are the same but the holes at the tail end are further from the other holes. IE, the holes are about inline with the rotation pin, while on the old one, those holes are in front of the pin. The flange that the holes are in are longer but curiously enough, while checking out the retracts on my old V2, I noticed that the retract mounting base has pre-drilled holes where the new retracts would need to be screwed in, making them more or less a drop in. This makes me think that FMS had planned something like the new V3 retracts but didn't go through with it for some reason.
I got a set of brand new replacement retracts for my V2 a couple months ago. One I put into the plane and it was very weak. When flying, the weight of the strut/wheel was enough to make the retract stall when pulling them back in. The other one I tested on the table and applying just a little bit of pressure on the trunion pin, the retract stalled in both directions. They are simply not strong enough to move the weight of the mechanism. It seems they are limited by resistance and not by open and close limits like most other retracts. I may get the V3 retracts to see if they are any stronger. They are quite a bit cheaper than the V2 ones.
I also took a look at my ESC. I put in a bit larger one (85A vs 80A) when I installed the 360kv motor. With that, the plane flies very similarly to the Flightline Corsair (with the FMS V2 4-blade prop) in spite of it being somewhat bigger and much heavier. I may give the V3 prop a try on the FMS V2 once they come into stock.
The improvements on the V3 is not enough for me to abandon my V2.

[OV10]

Looking at the parts, the retracts are plastic bodied, so I'm thinking they are the same as the "old" ones. He did actually remove the cowl and showed that the motor was indeed a 300kv.

Thanx for being a bit more patient than I was with skimming thru the vid and missing that point.
Being that the motor is verified as the 300kV, I expect that the performance with the 18inch 4 blade is most likely gonna be okay but not where it should be like the FL version is with closer to scaleable prop as well as better speed performance.
This is just my humble opine which falls in support of Aros on the power system.

[Aros]

I have had 3 of those 1.7M FMS Corsairs, and they all had a special place in my heart for a myriad of reasons but outside of the obvious (retracts), the only thing that would really get my attention is a reasonable power system and prop upgrade (closer to scale like the FlightLine 1.6M) to match the airframe and size, coupled with SCALE flaps (rounded leading edges not sharp edges, YUCK).

Those two factors would get my attention.

[xviper]

xviper
I skimmed thru the unbox vid that you linked of Riches …………….. not much info to glean.
The retracts were black frame in color which would indicate not metal framed but plastic that is unless of course they did some sort of a black oxidized aluminum which from a cost perspective I think not.
For the 3 hours 24 min he at least could have removed those 3 cowl screws and verified the motor kV's that he was questioning of at the beginning of the live feed.

Looking at the parts, the retracts are plastic bodied, so I'm thinking they are the same as the "old" ones. He did actually remove the cowl and showed that the motor was indeed a 300kv.

[OV10]

xviper
I skimmed thru the unbox vid that you linked of Riches …………….. not much info to glean.
The retracts were black frame in color which would indicate not metal framed but plastic that is unless of course they did some sort of a black oxidized aluminum which from a cost perspective I think not.
For the 3 hours 24 min he at least could have removed those 3 cowl screws and verified the motor kV's that he was questioning of at the beginning of the live feed.

[xviper]

OV10 I was really hoping that they would have retracts that are completely metal, like the optional ones they used to sell for a small fortune.

Here's RCInformer with an unboxing video on this V3 Corsair. Perhaps we can glean some information from it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0PYhy7v8hQ

[OV10]

xviper I believe your perception of the purported power system for the V3 is spot on. The drop back to the 300kV for a 18 diameter prop seems very logical and falls very much in line with acceptable power factors.

Based on the pics listed by FMS I am really skeptical of the claims of a metal retract when what is shown is a plastic case.
ALL retracts have a metal trunnion and worm drive, trunnion material composition is the unknown factor whether it is pot metal or a good aluminum part

[xviper]

What I find interesting about the new V3 is the motor. The later V2's were supposed to come with 360kv motors (can't confirm). The new V3 is coming with the old 300kv motor. I upgraded mine to the 360kv and it made a very noticeable and improved difference. I think what they did was to go back to the slower motor but went from the old 17x10x4 to 18x11x4 prop. Will see what new owners have to say about the performance.

[davegee]

Reviving an old thread. I know that Motion no longer carry this product but .................................................
FMS has announced the re-release of this 1700mm Corsair in a VERSION 3. It's supposed to be available this month sometime from Horizon (and thus, most local hobby shops). It has a few improvements but nothing really dramatic except maybe the main retracts. Price is still the same at $499.00US. I love my old version 1700mm Corsair except that the retracts have always been an issue. They either break easily or they aren't strong enough to suck up those heavy struts after take off and they can get hung up. The new retracts on the V3 are supposed be with all metal innards but from the pictures, it's hard to tell much difference. It hard to determine if they are any stronger. FMS will also release some parts along with the plane this month. I'm curious what people think about the new retracts. Can the old struts be installed on them? Do you have any information about whether or not they are any stronger in terms off moving the struts up and down? Apparently, the retracts can be purchased in pairs and they are quite reasonably priced.

PS. I also have the Flightline 1600mm Corsair and the retracts on it works flawlessly. However, I don't think they will work on the bigger, heavier FMS model.

I agree with the new V3 version of the Corsair and the new, improved?? landing gear. I loved flying my V2 version for a long time, but it was frustrating when even a reasonable landing caused some of the thin plastic parts of the gear to break. And I really had to buy a whole new set of the gear to replace those crappy plastic parts!!

I don't know how much better the metal struts will be; I'll be looking forward to reading pilot reports on how much better they might be than the older plastic/metal ones. If so, I'm sure I'll buy a new V3 version to fly. I only tried flying scale speeds, maneuvers, etc., and even if it was a bit slow, it still looked great in the air.

[xviper]

Reviving an old thread. I know that Motion no longer carry this product but .................................................
FMS has announced the re-release of this 1700mm Corsair in a VERSION 3. It's supposed to be available this month sometime from Horizon (and thus, most local hobby shops). It has a few improvements but nothing really dramatic except maybe the main retracts. Price is still the same at $499.00US. I love my old version 1700mm Corsair except that the retracts have always been an issue. They either break easily or they aren't strong enough to suck up those heavy struts after take off and they can get hung up. The new retracts on the V3 are supposed be with all metal innards but from the pictures, it's hard to tell much difference. It hard to determine if they are any stronger. FMS will also release some parts along with the plane this month. I'm curious what people think about the new retracts. Can the old struts be installed on them? Do you have any information about whether or not they are any stronger in terms off moving the struts up and down? Apparently, the retracts can be purchased in pairs and they are quite reasonably priced.

PS. I also have the Flightline 1600mm Corsair and the retracts on it works flawlessly. However, I don't think they will work on the bigger, heavier FMS model.

[Jomar]

Hi all, great info. I am new to the site and searched for information about the FMS 4 blade prop system for the 1700mm P-51. I converted a Topflight Gold edition P39 to electric and choose the FMS powerplant/prop/esc/battery etc as it was the closest match to my weight and I really wanted a scale 4 blade look. I have performed some ground tests and there seems to be no vibration throughout the rpm range. I have read about the Corsair props having issues but is anyone aware of any issues with the Mustang setup or if you can direct me to another forum that would be great. Keep them flying!

[PikeStaff]

And for that kind of money, a plane that flies very well on the power it has. No rocket ship but will do nice big loops from level flight no trouble. And honestly, the speed is likely far more to scale than the grumblers would ever admit. Take Aros’ word to the bank, it is worth it.

[Aros]

The V2 addressed some issues, primarily an upgraded prop/hub assembly. She's a sweet flyer but could use some extra horses under the hood. But if you are more of a scale flyer with warbirds, it's not an issue. Only those who like to leave smoke and flames behind a low WOT pass would want to upgrade the power system/prop. If I recall the V2 gear is much better than V1 as well. Overall for 3 bills you get a nice size Corsair with great presence in the sky.