Experimental build - 1.7m wingspan F8F Bearcat

[Eric Robson]

4 hours ago, RICHARD WILLS said:

First time Ive seen Badgers and Bearcats in the same shot 😁

Do they get on all right?

Look like mules to me

[GrumpyGnome]

Just gotta have style..

[Lipo Man]

57 minutes ago, Eric Robson said:

Look like mules to me

Definitely badgers. Accept no substitutes!

[Eric Robson]

2 hours ago, Lipo Man said:

Definitely badgers. Accept no substitutes!

Badger mules

[RICHARD WILLS]

I think Ive seen them by the side of the road . 😕

[Lipo Man]

1 hour ago, Eric Robson said:

Badger mules

Santa was very generous!

[GrumpyGnome]

Generous?  Hmmmmmm........ 🙂

[Lipo Man]

Got a few photos of the Bearcat in the air this afternoon after the thunderstorms cleared and it turned into a perfect flying day. Some modifications to the take off trolley have solved the problem I was having where it would actually be carried up by the plane after takeoff. Became a significant problem if it got stuck on one wing - had a nasty crash that way that forced the modifications. It’s now working reliably and the big Bearcat is an absolute pussycat to fly. It’s true - big does fly better!

[Lipo Man]

I've finally cracked and decided to build a much better take-off trolley.  Adapting the one I built for the (much smaller) Warbird Replicas FW190 has not really been successful - 50% of launches don't work. Luckily the plane is so light a hand-launch works fine, apart from my dodgy piloting!

 

 

[RICHARD WILLS]

I tell you what David , 

The decoration in your living room is shocking . 

My Missus would have had none of that . There's really no excuse . 

Get yourself down to Ikea lad, before she comes down hard !😬

 

[Lipo Man]

15 minutes ago, RICHARD WILLS said:

I tell you what David , 

The decoration in your living room is shocking . 

My Missus would have had none of that . There's really no excuse . 

Get yourself down to Ikea lad, before she comes down hard !😬

 

I was going for a New York loft sort of a look! Hose down floors are the way forward, I think…

[Lipo Man]

One of the implications of spending hours building our flimsy contraptions before chucking them optimistically into the air is that we have to be resigned to the fact that ,sooner or later ,our contraptions will return to terra firma with more speed than we would like. 
 

I like to think about this when designing a model, and I try to make it crash as well as possible (I crash a lot, so it’s a significant advantage). 
 

With my foamboard models, the attachment of the firewall to the front of the fuselage is a weak point. I tend to design to allow this break to absorb any impact, and I can just hotglue the firewall back on and be back in the air in minutes. 
 

That wasn’t going to work with something as big as this Bearcat, so I tried something new. The firewall is designed to be very firmly fixed such that with enough force it would rip the front off the plane. Clearly this is a bad thing. The work-around was to fix the motor to the firewall with nylon screws. The idea is if I do something stupid the screws will break, and in doing so absorb enough of the impact to minimise damage elsewhere. 
 

So - I am very pleased to say that after a real-world practical test (“hey guys, look what I can do”) the front of the plane survived with only cosmetic damage after three of the four screws snapped as intended. And next time someone is filming chase footage from a quadcopter, I will remember not to try to fly a slow inverted pass down the strip. 
 

 

[Lipo Man]

I flew my Warbird Replicas FW190 a few weeks ago at Buckminster, and as my landing gear was temporarily kaput Ron Gray kindly offered the loan of his very impressive dolly - 3d printed parts and carbon (?) tubes.  It was so much better than my sketchy dolly - which with the increased size of the Bearcat versus the FW190 definitely wasn't up to the jop. I got only about one successful takeoff from every three attempts, and the plane was picking up some damage from the failures.  

 

So - a couple of hours got me version two. A stiffer wooden structure, bigger wheels, 3d printed wheel carriers and foam board wing supports. The good news is that this worked perfectly! I was able to have several great flights in the light winds - problem solved!  Now I can just  enjoy flying the Bearcat without worrying about how I'm going to get airborne.

 

 

 

[Daren Cogdon]

Works much better, and that Bearcat is an impressive beast! 

[Lipo Man]

Just now, Daren Cogdon said:

Works much better, and that Bearcat is an impressive beast! 

It's got some presence in the air, that's for sure. It's a hoot to fly, and seems to be inspiring a few of my fellow club members to practice their chase skills following it around with their quads which is great fun!

[RICHARD WILLS]

David , I have really enjoyed this thread as it demonstrates how easy and "freestyle" it can be to produce a big model that flies really well for very little money . 

I would really like to see more people having a go at this sort of thing , especially if it means that they can create their dream subject . 

Lets face it , we know that lots of scale modellers and flyers are always wishing that some one would produce a kit of some obscure subject like say , a Brewster Buffallo or Fairey Firefly . It may never happen , so why not just follow this technique and make your own . 

I do think that deleting the undercarriage is also an essential . The dolly launch as demonstrated , is so simple and reliable . It also means that no beefing up is required and you dont have to worry about the spar being in the way . There can always be a "Mk2 " version with more features . 

An obvious starting point might be to have a look at an ARTF that has had a crash or is just too old . All of the hardware could be salvaged re installed in a similar sized model of your dreams . There are plenty of traditional plans out there ,sometimes with cowls and canopies available . As you can see from this thread , you only really need the outline and fuselage sections . 

 

[leccyflyer]

Nice work sir - the dolly works great and the Bearcat looks superb in the air. Brilliant stuff. 😎

[Lipo Man]

Some more proof of flight - it's taking off reliably now with the new dolly. Chase footage from my club mate Helal - my top tip for chase footage is make sure the drone is being flown by a much better pilot than the plane! 🙂

 

 

[Simon Chaddock]

Lipo Man

Well done. There is a lot to be said for "big and light".

At an "easy" slower flying speed it looks so much more realistic.

[Lipo Man]

2 hours ago, Simon Chaddock said:

Lipo Man

Well done. There is a lot to be said for "big and light".

At an "easy" slower flying speed it looks so much more realistic.

Thank you. Really pleased with how it turned out - as you say looks more realistic, though those slowwww rolls are a bit nerve wracking when you’re inverted! I’ll get used to it, I’m sure.