Hellcat ordered!

[astroflyer]

Only another week to get it to here from mississauga Murray.

I got an eagerly awaited parcel this morning. cleared customs last Tuesday about midnight. didn't make halifax in time for friday's Milford run.

Not much more than 24 hours from hong kong to customs and then the wait for canada post to do their thing.

It was actually only in customs for eight minutes!

[Enforcer]

I usually get items, once they have been processed in Mississauga, within 3-4 days. I guess I have had good luck so far. The problem I seem to have is with the day of delivery from Dartmouth. Instead of taking the item to the closest Postal Station, when they don't catch me at home (why would I be at home?), they hang on to it for an extra day sometimes.

So, what did you receive this morning?

[astroflyer]

two 5s 5000 lipos and a new charger to handle them.

[Enforcer]

Oh! Lots-o-power in those packs!

[yorcram]

Al, sounds like your flying a full size model...

[astroflyer]

Just my trusty old schneider sport 60E that I built from a kit about 1990. has always been a great airplane, even in the days of a geared astro 40 and 20 cell nicad pack. Now almost three pounds lighter and with much more power. I flew it this morning for the first time with the 5 cell packs.

27 dollar turnigy 4250-650 motor, 60 amp esc. the motor is rated at 720 watts but with the 5 cell it's seeing over 1000 watts and handles that just fine, so far at least. battery 80 degrees C this morning, speed controller the same, and motor at 92 degrees after six minutes of very strong flight. 40 percent left in the lipo packs.

I have the same motor/esc in one of my 1990 designs with 4s 5000 lipos. 4.5 pounds on this one for some pretty aggressive flying as well. just converted this one from a saito .56 to the turnigy. It's actually a bit lighter full up, even with the 17 ounce battery and with the 13/8 prop over the previous 11/8 it gets up and goes rather nicely. the turnigy turns the 13/8 at more rpm than the saito did on the 11/8.

so murray, never throw away any planes. ten/fifteen years down the road, there'll be new motors and batteries you just have to try.

[Enforcer]

It arrived 1 hour ago!!!! I'm gonna have to add some white stripes to the bottom of the wings... or something?

[Enforcer]

Took her for a quick flight tonight. She took off from the grass (the first time) with ease. The landing gear is cheap and it became loose on one side, making it impossible to perform a second takeoff. There was some included 5 minute epoxy, so I will use what's left to fix the plastic gear slots. The rudder is poorly made and flimsy. I tried using fiber tape to fill in the spaces and to strengthen it.... I will require some other solution. The electronics are accessed through a hatch in the bottom of the plane. The opening is small, making it hard to get at things, and there is nothing included to secure it... except pressure and friction!?! There is a drop tank included (for show) but there is no included means of attaching it!?! I tried Velcro but there is not enough area for that to work. No biggie!

Now the good stuff! It has a lot of torque, even with the included tri-blade. It left the ground smoothly and within 2 seconds, it was climbing like there was no tomorrow!!! It climbed so well and at such a high angle that it took this noob by surprise. I quickly pulled the throttle back to 1/2 (maybe more) and she continued to climb at a "normal" rate. Then suddenly, she started to turn sharply to the left (due to the weak rudder I mentioned earlier - I think?). I was able to turn it back using the ailerons, and quickly made the decision to get her down. I cut the throttle to zero and she happily "floated" to a soft landing in the tall weeds.

So, I will bring it to SP the next good Saturday or Sunday to get some tips for strengthening the rudder, etc.

[Enforcer]

Marc and I were discussing a colour scheme that would be correct, but easier to see... I'm all about the seeing! While I was looking, I found this article. To my great surprise, this $100.00 model is very close to the actual colour scheme and overall look for a Summer 1944 and later F6F US Navy Hellcat.

http://pagesperso-orange.fr/christophe. ... f/f6f.html

So, now I have to decide. Do I want scale looks, or do I want to be able to see it properly. I think this problem has to be considered based on the safety aspect. What's the good of having a good looking plane, if you can't see it as well as you should while it's in flight?

[AndrewS]

Hi Murray,

Get some paint and do her up in the Summer 43- Summer 44, or the Fleet Air Arm schemes. They both have light bottoms and dark tops which should be more visiable orientation wise than the all Blue.
Andrew S