1/4.5 scale Corsair

[Trevor Wood]

Hello fellow warbirders,following a few years building and flying turbine powered US fighters I will be returning to the propellor driven variety in 2009,via the recently released 1/4.5 scale Corsair kit available from Composite ARF.
This was the first kit to arrive in Europe back in July supplied via Dave Wilshire of Motors and Rotors,with the kit being thoroughly inspected for the over 20 kg scheme before the build began, the model is now nearing completion and is currently being painted,power is a Moki 250cc radial,fitted with a scale 3 blade Corsair propellor supplied by Solo,final fit out should be early in the new year.
Servos are JR 8911 and 8711's throughout operating through the excellent Powerbox RRS and backer system set-up,I am somewhat sitting on the fence with regard to 2.4 G however,since having been flying on 35 Meg for ever and only ever suffering 'thumb induced' interference on said system, other than the immediate 'availabilty to fly' benefit I am struggling to be convinced 100% to go the route of the tiny aerial,may be someone can pose a convincing argument.

Photo's will be posted in the near future,in the meantime I cannot but wholeheartedly reccomend this latest offering from Composite ARF, along with the matching scale retract set,wheels etc,the only slight downside in all of this is the asking price,which when matched with the mandatory Moki radial,3 blade prop and all the radio gear required,comes out at slightly less than what I paid for my house 25 years ago.

Still it beats buying coordinated sofa's,wall coverings and drapes from Laura bl--dy Ashley.

Regards Trevor Wood LMA 687

[Mike Booth]

Trev, I bought my first house 25 years ago which was £23,500.
Thats some model mate .
I know though you will of been chewing on compressed cardboard for months to finish it.

I have been flying on 2.4 for some time , peace of mind reigns over 35meg.
Tell me whats the difference between a Webber carburetter on a Mk 2 Cortina and a chipped management system on a XK8.
Get the idea.
Pics then ?

Booth.

[Trevor Wood]

Mickey,
A joy as ever to read your expert pearls of wisdom and analogy of 2.4 G versus 35 meg,your advise has left me favouring the Cortina however, since the only decent Jag to come out of Brown's lane was built in 1969 was BRG in colour, has 3 SU carbs and is currently sitting in my garage.
Seriously,if there is an unbiased analysis out there with respect to 2.4 G, like which system is the most prefered and why,is it JR or Futaba,it would I am sure be appreciated my many of the members not just myself.

Will post some pictures of the Corsair when I have had the plate negatives developed and scanned.

Trevor Wood LMA 687

[DAVE JOHNSON]

Good afternoon Trevor----firstly,you cant have the best Jag in your garage,because i have had many over the years but for me,the best one is sat in my garage !!! and its a chipped computer management system one. On a more serious note,i too have been looking at changing some of my aircraft onto 2.4,and like you,cant make my mind up which one----i will watch with interest what the experts tell us-----DAVE LMA 309

[BRIAN RAWCLIFFE]

Hi Trever and Dave,i have been flying 2.4 for 18 months,and this year i have been using the Futaba 12G.
Wonderfull outfit,it's flown in my big Chilton at all the shows this year, and as Mike says it's peace of mind.Another 12G. user that i know of is Colin Auton who has it in all is warbirds.Can't praise it too highly.
Brian Rawcliffe 1669. Merry Cristmas..

[Roy Hill 1855]

aer doo Trev,may i suggest you do what you usually do,visit the club field(after all you are a member!)fly everybody,s models on 2.4 and make your own mind up!! merry xmas Trev,---Roy. ps, never mind jags, remember FFD930D? 850cc,s of pure fun!!!

[Simon Willey]

The Futaba Verses JR /Spectrum is just a personal thing.They are both fantastic bits of kit. Everyone has there favourite. I was a Futaba flyer for 18 or so years and then went to JR on 2.4. I liked the JR set up better overall and the TX felt right in my hands . Most importantly it had the all the features I wanted .
Waiting to see some pics of this great model. Its the stuff I dream about.

[Trevor Wood]

Attached are a few pictures of the Corsair taken on Sunday at Tim Simmond's who has expertly assembled and painted the model to this stage,you may remember Tim's fantastic Sea Fury static displayed at Cosford this year,the Corsair is now back home with me for radio installation and final fitting out,together with the cockpit interior,detail painting,placard application,oil staining and weathering etc and then its time for final inspection and the test flying program - can't wait.

A few vital statistics for those interested,the model is 110inch span with a 3 piece wing,the tailplane halves are removeable for transport,the propellor is 32 inch dia which apparently the Moki 250 will turn at 3750 rpm, the wheels are 7 inch.

All for now and thanks to those who have commented on 2.4 G,I have still to make up my mind but am fitting out the Corsair with the Powerbox RRS unit which will suit either radio link.

Have a good holiday Trevor Wood LMA 687

[Glenn Masters]

Ayupp Trevor, Thats a good looking corsair ! Now - for goodness sake, dont go staight out and fly it without practicing first ! remember, you've been flyin' those wimpy jets for a while and you may have forgotten how to fly "real" warbirds !! only kiddin' mate . . look forward to seeing that this year Cheers Glenn

[Alan Cantwell 1131]

Trevor, superb looking bit of kit mate!! can i ask how the flaps are linked any pictures of the flap linkages etc? look forward to seeing it at a show perhaps? and how will it get in the JAG? USELESS Bit of kit fior a modellor

GLEN MASTERS, ow do me owd mate, you ok? i still have your corsair drawings safe and sound, you got my GEE BEE book??

[Trevor Wood]

A couple of pictures showing the flap hinge and servo connection arrangement in the outer wing panel and the main centre section,for those interested the 2 flaps on each side of the main centre section are connected by a sliding tongue/slot arrangement and are driven by a JR 8911 servo each side.
The single flap on each of the outer wing panels is also driven by a JR8911,all the flap hinges are external to the wing being very similar to the full size but more importantly ensures adequate moment arms between the hinge point and servo connection,the whole set up has resulted in totally slop free arrangement and with the 4 x 25kg servos connected via a JR matchbox is extremely precise and powerful.

[Chris Strong]

Thanks for the photos of the detailed flap/aileron hinging - what did you make the hinges from? Chris Strong 291

[Trevor Wood]

Chris,all hinges are made from 1/8 inch thick multi layer epoxy plate which has been cnc routed to provide the various hinge shapes,they are slow epoxy bonded into the main structure of the wing and flap,with M4 cap head bolts and nylock nuts used as hinge pins,the resultant hinges being extremely accurate, robust and slop free.

Attached are a couple of shots of the tailwheel/arrestor hook and tail door assembly in the open and closed position,the tailwheel unit is an all aluminium welded item from Seirra Precision in the USA and has a working damper unit,the doors are closed by the unit pressing on a spring loaded lever actuating 2 pushrods,the tailwheel is 3 inch diameter running in ballraces.

Starting to layout the main radio equipment board at the moment and will provide a few details in due course.

[Alan Cantwell 1131]

Trevor, thanks for the piccys, and the expalantion, dont let Glen near it, youl never get it back

[Chris Strong]

Thank you Trevor for details of your control surface hinges - did you multi-layer the epoxy board youself or was that how it came - and, if so, from where? Cheeres Chris Strong 291

[Trevor Wood]

Apologies for the slowness in continuing to post progress with the Corsair,business committments overseas these past few weeks have prevailed to some extent,however I have now gone the 2.4 G route via the Futaba 12 FG,purely since I have been a confirmed Futaba user since starting with the hobby many years ago and have never suffered any malfunction or breakages,the 12FG set appears excellent in the short time I have played with it,so I have purchased an additional RF6014 receiver to go with the one supplied,both will be connected thru the Powerbox RRS unit and then into a Powerbox power/servo supply unit fitted with their excellent sensor switch.

Cable trays and radio mounting boards are being prepared at the moment so I will post a few pictures of the completed installation in the near future,it is always surprising to me that even with fairly large models where you would think there would be plenty of space, keeping aerials oriented correctly and clear of other stuff etc still requires a fair bit of thought and forward planning.

To ''try out'' 2.4 G incidentally I have built and installed it into a small EDF jet Eurofighter by Graupner,what a delightful little model to assemble, but I ended up filling all the joins to smooth things out and repainted it with matt emulsion from Wickes matchpots,then applied panel lines and a few rivets,looks great - we must be daft - more in the near future.

Trevor Wood LMA 687

[Jason Griffiths]

Absolutley fantastic looking

[Trevor Wood]

A few more pictures of the radio installation,the main board is a self contained unit, as well as the 2 receivers,the Powerbox RRS and Evolution backer/servo power supply unit,the 1.5 litre fuel tank and the 3 batteries are also mounted on the underside,the unit has 3 charging sockets and two isolation switches installed within it,these are set up to disconnect the batteries from the electronics when charging,the main on/off sensor switch is mounted on the underside of the board and is accessible thru a scale hatch in the side of the fuselage.
The completed board is screw mounted on to rails glassed onto the side of the fuselage and is positioned at the C of G to minimise changes due to fuel useage,this type of modular installation allows the radio equipment to be set up on the bench which is a lot easier than fiddling around inside the fuselage.

Will post some more pictures of engine installation and main wing centre section in due course. Trevor Wood LMA 687

[Trevor Wood]

A couple of shots of the engine installation which is a pretty tight fit in the cowl,although thankfully all the rockers clear, also one of the 7 inch main wheels retracted into the wing centre section,these are also a tight fit in the wing the rear of the wheel well has had to be relieved slightly to ensure the wheel does not hang up on the door recess lip,the model will be test flown as is without additional inner door surface detailing due to the limited space available and will be added later.

Trevor Wood LMA687

[robert ellis]

simply awsome! im totaly new on here but have been flying for over 25yrs now,,,now getting into the larger side of the hobby,,as for the 2.4 gig questions,,its the way to go now days,,ive used 2.4gig now for 15 odd months & its faultless...anyway my two cents worth as they say... great corsair! wish it was mine,,,!...safe flying..