Re: new & need advise

Ted shuffled out of his cave and grunted these great (and sometimes not so great) words of knowledge:

Unless you are an experienced flier I would hold off on building/flying this plane. Corsairs are far from being the easiest plane to fly.

Unless you have a lot of low wing experience with VERY aerobatic planes (Cap 232, Staudacher, etc) I sincerely doubt you will be able to handle the plane.

This is not a put down or anything like that - it is just some advice. I would hate to see someone put a lot of time, effort, and money into a plane that they were not ready for yet, just to have them crash it on the first flight.

You may also want to check out RC Universe

have some excellent forums where you can get some very good advice.

Hello Ted, NP, I've been on the phone with a local R/C shop and was told the same. I figured this wasn't the best plane to start flying with that's why I'm considering getting a NexStar Trainer to fly as I build the Corsair. Besides all I want to put on the Corsair it will be a while till it's even close to flyable. Some other advice I've been given is to use a PCM type 7 channel radio setup and a OS brand .91 4 stroke engine. Comments on the recommendations? Thanks D

P.S. I avoid online "forums" as they all to often tend to be or become single minded think tanks for selfish people who provide feedback that comes from a point that they think you should already know the answer or not bother them by asking. Granted this also has grown rampantly on the newsgroups but at lest here I have the plonk and filter ability. This is what the newsgroups were intended for anyway.

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Ted shuffled out of his cave and grunted these great (and sometimes not so great) words of knowledge:

I realize I am going to sound like one of "those newsgroup people" with what I am going to say next. I suggest the following:

1. Go out to your local flying field and talk to the people out there. Find out what BRAND of radio is used by the majority of the people at the field and find out which are THE LEAST USED CHANNELS. When you purchase the radio, get the brand used by the majority of the people at the field on ONE OF THE LESSER USED CHANNELS. The reasons for this are that different brands of radios are more popular in different parts of the country than other brands. Now manuals are nice, but when a question/problem comes up (and it will) a live person with knowledge of your radio is better than a manual. By getting the radio on one of the lesser used channels it will minimize your waiting time for the channel to clear so you can fly. I strongly suggest a COMPUTER radio with 6 channels (or more) of which ever brand you decide to buy. While you are at the field also talk to some of the instructors and find out if they or the club provide "buddy box" cables or is it the student's responsibility to provide the cable. If it is your responsibility, find out if there is anything "unusual" about the cable you will need. (For instance, Futaba recently changed the port in the buddy box from round to rectangular and a specialized cable is needed).
2. My PERSONAL OPINION of the NexStar is not very good. I feel it is way overpriced. The majority of people who have bought it have disconnected and/or removed the AFS because it was causing a lot of grief and teaching bad habits. My opinion of the Nexstar is backed up by personal experience with the plane. I know you said you didn't like newgroups, however, a search on NexStar on RC Universe will show that there are about 8 people who have experiences and feel the way I do to every person who likes the plane. At least you could find out if any of the "problems" encountered with the plane would be a problem for you.

My suggestion would be an ARF trainer with a USER FRIENDLY 46 engine. There are many good ARF trainers out there. The SIG PT-40, Hobbico SuperStar and Avistar are among the many to choose from. For a USER FRIENDLY 46 engine for your trainer (and later planes also) I can highly recommend OS 46AX, Thunder Tiger Pro and Evolution engines. By user friendly, I mean that 99%+ of the engines are going to run PROPERLY right out of the box with little, if any, "fiddeling". There are a lot of good engines out there, however, many of them require a fair amount of fiddeling with to get to run properly and in some cases to stay running properly. Buy doing some careful shopping one can frequently equal or beat the RTF price of a NexStar and have a better radio and plane to boot.

This is the same advice I give to people who approach me about learning how to fly.

Besides

A 91 4 stroke engine MAY be adequate for the plane PROVIDED you build it light. I feel a better choice would be a 91 2 stroke OR a 1.20 4 stroke (depending on your wallet). TopFlite kits are nice kits, but they do tend to build on the heavy side unless you are very careful in the building process. Add to this you indicated you wanted to add retracts and flaps. This is going to add additional weight. I would go with the larger engine. The cost difference between a 91 4 stroke and a 120 4 stroke is not that great, and if you find out the engine has too much power, well, that is why there is a throttle control, just throttle back some.

I'm with Ted. Even before you fly, unless you're an experienced builder, shelve the Corsair until a later date. It tends to build heavy so you need to know how and where to cut the fat. And because of that bent wing, this is not the plane to cut your teeth on for flaps and retracts installation. And especially not the plane to learn how to fly flaps and retracts.

Scratch build a nice Pattern plane (no foam). Complete with retracts. Then tune it until you can: do a hands off inverted pass two feet off the deck. float by as slow as a trainer with all the drag hanging out. grease it on the landing, with or without the engine from any spot in the pattern each and every time!

Then build a nice, stand off scale P-51 and learn how to handle that beast with those flaps.

Then you can try the Corsair!

The Corsair is indeed a nice plane. And it can be a lot of fun to build and fly. But realize this! No matter how well you think you're progressing, you'll be a novice for several years. And you should no more try to go from a trainer or even a sport plane into a full house Corsair than a real pilot should go from a Citabria into an F-16.

I built one of the early TF kits back around 1980. Nice model which flew nice. But I had been building scale for several years and had several experienced friends to call on as well. It's a heavy, complicated kit of one of the heaviest, most complicated, difficult to fly fighters of WWII.

The real Corsair was not an easy bird to handle and neither are most models of it. And especially not the early TF kit when loaded down with all the extras. And because of all the different possibilities with it, a lot was left up to the builder to figure out on their own.

Work up to it. Sneak up on it slowly for like, three years or more. Then start by replacing all the sheet wood with brand new, hand selected and match contest grade. You'll thank us for it later!

Hello "Ted Campanelli"

I have contacted the local club, and now been invited by the clubs president to the next meeting. It's the 19th so I should be able to arrange transportation for it. A Futuba 7 Channel kit -w- receiver & 4 servos was suggested, no specific model but that brand and the computer point was mentioned. I'll have to look into the "buddy box" subject.

NO, I am fine with newsgroups, my issue is the forums on most websites.

What problems with the plane?

I'll add these to my list of ones to check out. I wont purchase the trainer till after my AMA and club membership issue's are addressed.

Well, if my health would allow I would be doing that but I hear they wont let a guy on O2 in a power chair fly a Cessna.

The kit info say's it's to have a .60 in it. That 1.20 4 stroke is a large jump. But your right better to have more and not use it. I may be able to budget the 1.20 if I save for two months. D.

Hello "Chuck Jones"

That sounds nuts!

I'd love to see a this....Saw a lot of planes at the last Thunder over Louisville like this.

Well, what do you mean by grease it?

My brother say's he's still working on his and to avoid it. no, don't know what kit he's got or the trouble but he does have a real experimental so that might have something to do with it. Also my two nieces are starting college.

Well, there is a matter of my health not being that good and I may not have that much time to wait before I "get to fly" it.

Don't know about the three year's. My O2 levels are (normal breathing) is down to 72% and I have central Sleep apnea. Doc say's it will kill me even on a ventilator. Damage is already done. I know I have a bit of learning to do but the curve is a bit short if I really want to do this. D.

Hello "greg"

balsa

I'll take a look later, it's late for me, Brother in law's birthday. Sadly disappointed in myself cause I kept thinking, boy this would be a great day to fly. D.

What about one from this list?

I also found some info on the buddy box so I will add it to the trainer notes I'm making. Thanks D.

D. --

Concur with Ted advice 100%. While you are getting more experience, you can built the TF model and take your time. You will find TF has an outstanding construction manual -- follow it and you will be please with the outcome. One thing though -- a four blade prop is fine for display but not for flying.

Cheers -- \_________Lyman Slack________/ \_______Flying Gators R/C___/ \_____AMA 6430 LM____ / \___Gainesville FL_____/ Visit my Web Site at

"Ted Campanelli" > Unless you are an experienced flier I would hold off on building/flying

Ted shuffled out of his cave and grunted these great (and sometimes not so great) words of knowledge:

That seems to be a very informative web site. They have a lot of VERY GOOD information there.

Another link you may want check out is Alan's Hobby RC page.

's page also has a wealth of information on a large variety of subjects.

Snip

Ted shuffled out of his cave and grunted these great (and sometimes not so great) words of knowledge:

Excellent. This will give you an opportunity to meet some of the club members and talk to them. Unfortunately, not all clubs (or members in a club) are that friendly initially to new members.

If you feel uncomfortable with the club (or its members) don't be insulted or offended, just find another club. If you are not comfortable with the people/organization, you will not learn as fast and the hobby will not be as enjoyable as it should/can be.

The plane, with the AFS activated, "fights" the pilot constantly.

A prime example is making an aileron turn. You activate the ailerons to start the turn, then once the plane has banked (angled) into the turn you bring the ailerons back to a neutral position. When you are ready to come out of the turn, you apply opposite aileron to bring the plane back level. The AFS "forces you to keep an input (the stick) in order for the plane to stay in the turn. If you have learned to fly this way, you will have a VERY BAD habit to unlearn when you go to a plane without the AFS. The majority of your stick movements need to become an automatic response - like blinking your eyes if something gets to close to your eyes. Automatic responses are difficult to unlearn.

The drag type wing tips are not needed on a trainer, and again, cause the student pilot to learn bad habits when they transition to a plane without them.

There are many reported problems with the landing gear staying attached to the plane, although the few times I have flown a NexStar I had no problems with them.

These are some of the problems. The plane itself, without the AFS, drag tips, etc. is a pretty decent flying plane. The problem is, if you remove all this stuff in order to learn to fly without (or a minimum) of bad habits, why are you paying the "big bucks" ?

There is no reason you need to wait on the AMA and club membership. I would talk to the person who will be instructing you to see if they have a particular plane they suggest.

The club knows if you have paid the dues and the AMA number can easily be accessed by the club so the club knows you are OK there. The AMA membership card can take several weeks to arrive. Most clubs have no problem with you flying while waiting for the AMA card to arrive.

If you price a 2 stroke engine, you will find it is a lot less than a comparable 4 stroke engine. As with most things, there are pros and cons. Personally, I really like the sound of 4 stroke compared to a 2 stroke, on the other hand, I don't like the price difference between the two.

Ted shuffled out of his cave and grunted these great (and sometimes not so great) words of knowledge:

I know it sounds "NUTS", however it is a good indication of YOUR skills and the plane's flying/stability ability. {:-)

"Greasing it" refers to making a VERY smooth landing - no/minimal corrections needed on approach and a no bounce landing.

FWIW - learning how to do a "dead stick" (no motor) landing should be learned. There WILL come a time when the engine will die on you. Learning how to do dead sticks will reduce the panic and adrenaline levels. This is something your instructor should teach you, but it will be near the end of your teaching, probably just before you are ready to solo. I would also make sure the instructor teaches you how to fly "with the rudder". Many fliers really do not know how to use the rudder properly.

At the club I belong to, in order to "solo" you have to demonstrate the following:

Do a CORRECT pre-flight check of your plane and equipment. Fly the pattern, both left and right. Do a horizontal figure eight with the rudder only. Do a loop Do a roll Do a "hammerhead" stall Do a dead stick landing. (engine is just at idle for this) Three "NO BOUNCE" landings.

From what I have been told, our requirements for solo are not that stringent.