First Warbird

[Maverick1981]

i would like your guys opinion on which plane offers the best control, ruggedness, and overall ease of flight. I am looking at the EPO Hellcat or FW190 any input would be appreciated. If I can find a dauntless that would be an option too.

[TiredIronGRB]

i would like your guys opinion on which plane offers the best control, ruggedness, and overall ease of flight. I am looking at the EPO Hellcat or FW190 any input would be appreciated. If I can find a dauntless that would be an option too.

Welcome to Hobby Squawk! The Dynam FW190 is a good first warbird, it will give you good experience for other taildraggers.

[wrongroad]

G'day Maverick,
This is a question that is asked a lot and the answer is largely depending on what you have been flying size wise.
My experience is all with models between 1400mm and 1800mm. So I can not and will not advise outside this envelope.
I fly FMS models for no other reason than I could buy these close by.
The FW190 is a good model and has a nice wide landing gear stance so it handles on the ground very nicely and it flies nicely as well. It has the most down and right motor offset of any of the machines that I fly and it is very pronounced when viewing from any angle.
The only thing I find as a negative for the 190 is it can dig in on landing and find itself on its back. But that can be cured by learning to land the thing properly. Trust me on that one.
On the FMS unit, it is wise to trim about 12mm off the bottom of the gear door and this helps to clear the toe of the door from the ground.
The landing gear is sprung in the FW and this does tend to put the toe of the door closer to the ground then needed.
One model, that you have not mentioned, is the FMS P-51 D Mustang 1400 series.
Much over looked as a first warbird and I was guilty of this but this aircraft has very benign flight habits.
The wide track landing gear gives great ground handling and the overall flight is great. Landing is a matter of practice and not letting the speed drop too low.
The Mustang will give very little notice of the stall and usually a flick of the wings and a rapid reversing of flight direction is the result. This being said, I have never put a Mustang into that position. Nor any other of my warbirds by keeping the speed up in all phases of flight.
These are my thoughts and no doubt you will receive more advice in the future. Filter through it and go with your gut feeling. You will find that your gut feelings will often serve you well.
If you are a member of a club, ask around and look at what is being flown at your local field. if you are not a member of a club, find one and wander around and ask a few questions.
I do advise to fly models that others are flying as there is a source of information right there.
Good luck and have fun, oh, and welcome to HS.
Regards and respect
Daryl

[BRGT350]

Welcome! My first parkflyer warbird was the Corsair S, which I found to be a wonderful plane to fly. It has SAFE, but I found that after a few flights, it was so stable and easy to fly that I could turn the system off. The Corsair S has a pretty substantial wing that produces a good deal of lift, so it doesn't stall as easily as some of the other warbirds with a more scale wing. I don't have any feedback on grass operation as I removed the landing gear and hand launch and belly land only. The plane is also small enough to fit in a small car without taking the wings off, which is great for me since I drive a Fiesta.

[rifleman_btx]

Either the Dynam 190 or Hellcat.

[OV10]

Hello Mav and welcome to the Squawk.
Not knowing what your pocket book size is nor what size trainers you've been using I do concur with Daryl's(Wrongroad) comment about the Mustang and it's benign flight characteristics.
It has the wide stance mains like the 190 but not as high as the 190 which gets that one into trouble.
It also has a very wide and forgiving CG range.
I have had the opportunity to fly all three of these brands(FMS, E-flite, Dynam) of Stangs for other club members and they pretty much all behave the same.
The Dynam is actually a good economical way to go and fly the pants off of it for building your skill set while learning of warbirds.
My FMS 1400 P-51 is the easiest of all my warbirds to fly to put it in perspective for ya.;)

Good Luck,

[Maverick1981]

Thanks for the great responses. I guess If I can't decide I could always buy both of them.......Im sure this is like any other hobby, and the collecting never stops. I guess thats why I have a whole room dedicated to my historical miniatures.

[rifleman_btx]

There ya go!

[Maverick1981]

Hello Mav and welcome to the Squawk.
Not knowing what your pocket book size is nor what size trainers you've been using I do concur with Daryl's(Wrongroad) comment about the Mustang and it's benign flight characteristics.
It has the wide stance mains like the 190 but not as high as the 190 which gets that one into trouble.
It also has a very wide and forgiving CG range.
I have had the opportunity to fly all three of these brands(FMS, E-flite, Dynam) of Stangs for other club members and they pretty much all behave the same.
The Dynam is actually a good economical way to go and fly the pants off of it for building your skill set while learning of warbirds.
My FMS 1400 P-51 is the easiest of all my warbirds to fly to put it in perspective for ya.;)

Good Luck,

As long as I'm having fun, i don't mind spending a few bucks.

[Maverick1981]

Btw. I've been training with the Beaver model

[rifleman_btx]

That's why I like the Hellcat it will fly almost trainer like and it has a very nice feel in the air

[AZFlyer]

My personal opinion.....would stay away from anything Dynam. Poor quality. They ones I've seen have had tons of problems. May not be all, but that's been my experience.

The eFlite planes with AS3X (1200mm Mustang, for example) are the best flying warbirds and very good quality, but they're not that scale. FMS and Flightline are much more scale makes, but they'll need a lot more set up and tweaking. They fly outstanding, but might not be the best firs warbird.

eFlite also is usually only 3S, so they're not going to be speed demons.

I recommend getting the 1200mm eFlite Mustang first. Get used to the tail dragger and handling of a warbird, then go for a bigger Flightline or FMS plane.

Good luck, and let us know how it goes.

[Maverick1981]

I'm really leaning towards the Hellcat now. It just looks more rugged and sturdy. I have a feeling I may need that extra girth at first. Even when I do buy one it will be a bit before I take it out. Being that I am a professional fine scale modeller/miniature artist, it will require a complete new paint job and extensive weathering and details, panel shading, line highlights........

[Grossman56]

Hey Mav, and welcome to the Squawk as well!
I have a bunch of warbirds, but the one that really stood out as a user friendly machine is the FlightLine Bearcat, an outstanding flyer right out of the box.for a 1200mm that's what I would definitely recommend.
The FMS P-51 D and B are great planes as well, and pretty low maintenance. FW P-51s are great looker but, to my mind, are trickier to fly.
The FMS P-40 is an outstanding warbird, whether its your first or not.
As for twins, I only have the F8F Tigercat, but she's as gentle as they come.
If you can buddy box with someone who flies warbirds already, I'd recommend that route, if not, one tip that we've all pointed out each time someone makes the transition.
Control your decent with throttle while landing and keep the fuse level, otherwise, they are so much fun, you'll love them.

Grossman56

[Tony617]

You can also look at the E-Flite P47D Razorback as well. Mine includes the AS3X receiver. It flies slower since it uses a 2200mAh 3S battery only.

Tony

[AZFlyer]

Agreed on the e-Flite P-47. That's a great plane right out of the box with the AS3X system.

First warbird? Go with an e-Flite plane. You won't regret it. If you go with a Dynam plane, there a 50%+ chance you'll regret it. Heard it here first.

Good luck

[TiredIronGRB]

Depends on your skill level...do you want to learn on/destroy a $300 plane or a $169 plane, I learned on a couple Dynams and pretty much used them up learning then when I got to be a competent pilot I started buying the better/more expensive planes.

[BRGT350]

Something else to consider is the type of flying field you will be using and if you are ok just hand launching and belly landing. I started with the Corsair S and removed the landing gear since it wasn't capable of flying off any of the grass fields that I use. As I look at different planes, I am starting to really think about how well they will work on the grass runway at the club I fly with. Trying to find a suitable paved runway just isn't an option, so I am stuck with grass. The bigger the plane, the better it should do in grass and the harder it is to hand launch. The bigger planes are also harder to transport, store, and if the wings come off, they take longer to get setup at the field. My 44" Corsair and P-47 are perfect to transport in a small car, but are no good on grass. I don't know how the 1.2m E-Flite warbirds do on grass as I have never tried nor does anyone in my club have one. The smallest foam tail dragger that I have seen at the field, and can handle the grass without issue, is the Parkzone Sport Cub S2.

I am considering adding a P-51 or F7F Tigercat to the fleet for later next summer and what I am finding is that the Tigercat might be one of the best options for rougher grass strips, ease of transport, and ease of flying. While it is one of the more expensive planes when comparing it to the Mustangs, it is the ability to work in grass and the ease of connecting the wings at the field that are holding a high amount of value. Of course, it looks incredible as well. Price, quality, and ease of flying does put the E-Flite P-51 1.2m high on the list, it is the questionable grass operation that has me concerned about buying another warbird that I can only hand launch and belly land. Would the F7F Tigercat be ok for a first warbird? That might be a bit of a stretch, but I haven't flown one to comment. From my experience, things go bad with warbirds on ROG grass take-offs or turning base or final to land. Once in the air with speed and altitude, things go really well. The tricycle landing gear would greatly aid in the ROG on grass and a twin engine gets rid of the torque roll and p-factor when taking off.

[Dewey H Lee]

I have the corsair s and fly regularly off of our grass runway. You just need to use high rates and start off full elevator and relaxing it during run until rotation speed is achieved. Another thing is you had better glue the retracts in place from the start. They will pull out but after glueing(i used gorilla glue) they have stayed put. Both on takeoff and landings.

[chipset35]

I take off and land on a short cropped grass field with the E-Flite P47D Razorback 1.2m using its stock landing gear.
However, it is not easy.
When I apply throttle to take off, it moves about a foot before the nose goes down and puts the propeller into the grass.
I was able to have 3 great flights after a bit of trial and error, by moving the CG "back" a little bit by moving my 2200 3S battery.
Also, used up elevator on take off more than usual which helped and steered with the rudder more even though setting the rudder trim a bit to the right helped for the first 2 flights but not the third.
Might be the grass doing that?
Regardless, I kind of mastered taking off with the moved CG, doing constant rudder adjustments, and up elevator during take off.
Landing is different...I use the landing gear and full flaps, but only lower the flaps once committed to landing approach and over the short grass landing strip.
Nose up helps, but there is a 75% chance the plane will tip its nose into the grass very soon after landing.
Thus, I land with a very slow airspeed to minimize any potential damage if it noses over, and I kill the throttle as soon as I land, to avoid breaking the propeller or burning out the motor due to a late throttle off.
The plane fly's wonderfully, but it is just a little scary on grass.
The flip side of the grass is that it minimizes damage versus a hard surface..but then we would not be having this discussion if I had a non grass runway.
It is a double edge sword.
In the event of damage I find Gorilla Glue and Gorilla tape is your friend.
Just remember the Gorilla Glue "expands" during drying so you must use "less" than needed...otherwise it will "ooze" out and be hard as a rock to remove.
My propeller broke on final approach about 10 feet off the ground, probably due to damage from my previous mentioned nose tipping during take off and landing.
The reason I say this, is I heard what sounded like an unbalanced propeller while the aircraft was over head and visibly saw some vibration.
It was during the emergency landing's final approach that I think the propeller broke and sent the aircraft hard into the ground.
It hit the ground with its right wing tip, which cartwheeled it, and when the nose hit, caused the fuselage to cleanly crack in half just behind the wings.
I was able to glue the fuselage back together with Gorilla Glue and unless I told you in advance the repair is difficult to notice.
We will see if it still fly's well and/or if the repair holds under stress.