CMP 70" Hellcat

[Vintauri]

Well I'm changing gears. I had planned to put a G-23 in this beast but I can't bear to pay that much for a clunky greasy engine. So I opted to do some looking into A-123 packs and I'm moving ahead with this plan. I am also stripping the covering and glassing the wings to do my own paint scheme and detailing. I just ordered some scale parts including a dummy radial, gear doors, drop tank and canopy.

I'm leaning towards an E-flite power 160 and 10 A-123cell packs. I still need to figure out my projected weight but with the G-23 it would have been about 13-14 lbs. So we'll see. I welcome any input on the power system setup.

I have a set of modified Century Jet retracts for the mains and a custom robart tailwheel. I'll post some pics of it all when I get organized again.

I hope to have this one done early on so I can fly it all summer.

Steve

[Vyceroy]

Sounds Sweet .. i have been looking at a slightly smaller HellCat to convert to electric .. I am really liking the Larger birds ..

[Jason Maxamps.com]

Steve any progress on it yet?

Jason

[Vintauri]

Yep I put down the glass on the wings and am working on a weave filling coat. Then primer and retract install. I hope to have some good progress on it throught the week. I have a few pics to post in a just a bit.

Steve

[Vintauri]

Here are some pics of the gear I'm putting in. I snagged them from a guy who took them out of a crashed Hellcat about the same size. They are detailed with fake brakes and lines. Pretty nice!

Steve

[Vyceroy]

nice retracts ..alot of detail.

[Jason Maxamps.com]

Hey Ron, I got your message the other day but I'm sick and talking is real hard to do. Steve those look sweet compared to my H9 wire rotators in my P-40. MARCEE should be a blast with these monsters roaming the air. What's the WS on it and length?

Jason

[Vintauri]

It has a larger then scale wing at 70". I'll have to check the fuse length again. I hope to have it flyable by MARCEE and hopefully the field will work for it. Didn't get any work done on it last night as I had extra stuff to do at church for the youth group. Hopefully laying down a filling coat on the other sides of the wings tonight. Then it's on to a more permanent retract install.

Steve

[Jason Maxamps.com]

It sounds like they should both be about the same size. I hope you get it finished for MARCEE. I think with the Flaps on my P-40 it should help on those shorter runways for sure.

Jason

[Vintauri]

Well here are a few pics. The wing is ready for a filling primer coat. I still need to sand down a few rough spots but a little fill ernad primer and it will be good to go. Next I need to run retract lines and aileron extension lines and I'll be ready to do some final fitting of the wing. I'll also start glassing the horizontal stab and I'll need to recover the control surfaces.

The fuse is going to get some serious work too. I have a full cockpit coming and I need to get that tail wheel mounted in there. Plus it needs to be sanded down and primed.

Lots to do but I keep pluggin away at it. Hopefully as the weather warms I'll have good reason to take it outside for more pics.

The small hellcat is the Molt Models Hellcat powered by a Custom CDR single and a 700 mah 3s pack. The bigger one will need a bit more power then that.


Steve

[Jason Maxamps.com]

I like it! looks to be the same blue as your 25? What's your projected watts per pound ratio?

Jason

[Vintauri]

Actually the blue that is on there is what came on it. I'll be sanding a priming the Fuse too.

Projected Watts per pound is not set in stone just yet. It's supposed to weigh 10-12 lbs as a glow plane however I'm using heavier retracts. I still need to settle on my batt config and what motor I'll use. I'm looking at hopefully getting by with a 10s2p A-123 setup and an E-flite Power 160. I'd also like to find a good 3 bladed prop to go with that setup. I'll run some numbers on the power system options soon but right now I'm focusing on airframe work.

Steve

[Jason Maxamps.com]

I like the A123 idea I just hope they get thier act togehter with Horizon so we can actually get the cells again. We've had an order in for about a month and nothing yet. I thought about the three blade but finding a cheap 4 1/2" Plastic spinner w/Aluminum back plate was hard enough to do. Be sides with the H9 Landing gear it won't matter cause they don't look scale at all. These should both be two really nice looking birds.

Jason

[Vintauri]

Well I'm just stealing cells from Dewalt packs for now. I like the idea of not having to buy multiple packs and have longer charge times with the regular lipos. Besides at this size it would be dang expensive. I'd like to be able to afford some of my other projects too.

For me I don't need a spinner as the Hellcat had a hub instead :)

I'm hoping to do some glassing on the horizontal stab today. I might start digging into the fuse too. Hopefully the weather warms up so I can do some painting and not have to evacuate the house afterwards.

Steve

[Vintauri]

Oh I also recieved my scale parts from Zollner models. It includes a fake radial, scale canopy, drop tank, gear doors and a full cockpit. These items alone will take plenty of time to get done. Time is ticking awy on me now.

Steve

[Vintauri]

Nothing too new to report. I was struck down with an awful cold last week. But I did get started on running the retract lines and sanding the paint off the fuse. I need to figure out how I want the servo leads run and then I can join the wing and do some final sanding before priming. I'll need to get it painted and then the gear put in so I can figure out where I'm looking for weight needed to balance the thing.

Steve

[Jason Maxamps.com]

Ah you got the bug to eh'. I just got over one of the worst colds I have ever had. Two weeks of coughing and runny nose was not fun. I can't wait to see this beast in person this summer. I ordered the 4 1/2" spinner for mine last week from Cali. And would have thought it would be here by now. I also found a 15 dollar Colman air brush at Fleet Farm so I think I'll be on track with the water based paint they use for pottery. I'll just give that a satin coat of WBPU after it dries all good to seal it up.

Jason

[Vintauri]

I've been making slow progress and I realized there is just over 3 months to Marcee. I hope I get it done.

The retract rails are installed and I'm working on putting some glass down on the inner wheel wells. Once that is done I can run air lines and servo extensions so the wing can be joined. Then I'll just need to finish up sanding and the control surfaces and the wing will be ready for paint.

I'm also working on the tailwheel retract. This one will be a pain. I might nbeed to cut a big hole to work on it and then patch it back in. Good thing I'm repainting.

I'm looking at using a Scorpion 4025-12 and 8s2p A-123 packs. A Castle 85HV should be enough esc for this setup as my max amps should be around 80 depending on the prop I use.

Hopefully more pics to come once I have something to show for my work.

Steve

[Vintauri]

Okay so I'm still making progress but still on the little stuff. I have the fibergalss parts sanded but I'm now cutting into the fuse to shore up some things and to add the tail wheel retract. It's a mess now but I hope to get back to finishing the prep for paint soon as it's warming up. I'll try to post some pics of where I am at but it's none too pretty.

Steve

[Vintauri]

I have the motor and the batts (still need to put leads on the the packs though) but I'm waiting for the ESC yet. I did get the internal elevator connection hooked up and hopefully tonight I can work on the rudder. Once that is done I can work on the retractable tail wheel. After that the fuse will need priming and final sanding.

I need to get back to the wings too. They need the airlines run so I can join the wing. Then I can attach the belly pan and then prime that to find any spots that need touching up. Perhaps if this week is good to me I can be ready to paint when the weather warms back up.

Steve

[Jason Maxamps.com]

What motor you using in it? And Pic's of the tail wheel.

To cold............you whimp:eek:

Jason

[Vintauri]

Tailwheel is up in post #5. It's a robart mech retact modified to look the part.

Motor is a Scorpion 4025-12. Up to 2000 watt motor. I'll be swinging a 16x10 APC 2 blade at first. Here are the numbers I'm looking at with that setup on 8s A-123 cells.

Amps - 80
Watts - 1760
RPM - 8150
Thrust - 228 ounces (14 pounds 4 ounces)
Pitch Speed - 77 MPH

I'm hoping for about 12-13 lbs. So this should be plenty of power :)

I'd paint in the cold but I want it to have half a chance of looking decent :p

Steve

[Jason Maxamps.com]

That should pull it pretty good. And I wanted to see the tail wheel installed in the fuse.

Jason

[Vintauri]

Well the tail wheel is not in the fuse yet..... So no pics of it there. I need to get the rudder hooked up first so I know where the pushrod is going to end up. Then I can mount a former for the tailwheel to mount to.

Hopefully tonight the rudder goes on and then I can work on the retract. If I were to do it again I think I'd leave the retract off on this one as it's a pain working in there being an ARF. Oh well, hopefully it looks good and works well when I'm done.

Steve

[Jason Maxamps.com]

I thought about doing a retract tail wheel in my P-40, but the more I looked at it I figured it would be to much of a pain to work it into the fuse since it was already completed. Adding in a wood brace for the current tail wheel I have was tuff enough.

Jason

[Vintauri]

Well I have been making some progress. I have the elevator and rudder hooked up so that means I have been able to start working on a former for the tail wheel to mount to. I have a rough piece in place to help me figure out where everything is running. I hope to get the real piece in today so I can button up that part and get closer to the final paint. I also found a nice spot to put the battery packs. I still need to wire them up but it looks like I found a spot to house them. All I'll need to do is build up the area around it to box them in. I am also working on the wings. I put down a layer of primer to see where my rough spots are. I have one section to really clean up but the rest are looking pretty good already. When I'm happy with the rough finish I'll run the airlines and servos extensions so I can join the wings and put the belly pan on. Then I'll be able to finish off the filling and sanding on the joint for the bellypan. After that it should be ready for final paint and assembly.

Here are some pics to show my progress.

Steve

[Vintauri]

No new pics yet but I have made some more progress. The wing bolts are in and the belly pan is glued on. I need to do some filling to smooth out the joint but all that's left on the wings is to cover the flaps and ailerons and get them hinged up. Then it'll be ready for paint. I'm hoping that I can be painting by the weekend. I have some other things that will pull me away from work on the Hellcat but my goal has been to get at least one thing done each day so I keep moving.

I'll try to snap some pics tonight.

Steve

[Jason Maxamps.com]

I'm ready for paint also just don't have time in the schedule for it though. Man what a bust spring.

Jason

[Vintauri]

Yeah, I have to paint out in my unheated garage. Can't do that with the cold weather we have been having. I'm hoping the temps stay above 60 enough to get it done.

I think California needs to share a bit of this "Global Warming" they keep telling us about. :)

[Vintauri]

So the painting has begun. I got a tip that Duplicolor paint was really good for painting planes so I figured I'd give it a try. I picked some up from AutoZone and it's not cheap at $5 a can but it's working pretty well. It dries fast too. Takes about 30 min to set and you can handle it in an hour depending on the air conditions. It's about 70 and low humidity today so it's pretty ideal. I also have my big halogen lights going so I can see and they tend to back the paint some too.

First pic is the paint and primer I'm painting. Second pic is the plane in primer and the third pic is the white for the bottom of the wing and fuse.

I hope to make good progress this weekend and will post more as I have it.

Steve

[Vintauri]

Just a quick update to show some progress. I have the main painting done. Now on to detailing and markings then continue installing the rest of the gear.

I hope to have it done in the next couple weeks. Still lots to do but at least it's starting to look the part.

Steve

[Jason Maxamps.com]

Wow it looks really good. I still can't get a break in the weather up here for painting. The wife won't let me shoot in the basement anymore until I get an exhaust fan going. So i'm stuck wating for the warmer weather to hit. But this week is a bust. I leave for a guys only fishing trip to Canada with the uncles, dad, brother-in law, and the rest of the family men on Thursday and won't be back until next Tuesday late. Hopefully it does warm up cause it could be a cold weekend in Canuck country.

Steve I can't wait to see it next month.

Jason

[Vintauri]

Sorry no new pics. I'm getting things punched off the list of things to do. I made up a RX pack from 1100mah A-123 cells. So I should be good on the RX pack for a few flights :)

I just need to balance the plane check controls and set throws. Then I could techincally maiden it. I do still have a lot of detail work I'd like to get done on it. I have a dummy radial to paint and get mounted and some other scale things like wheel covers, and even a drop tank if I felt so inclined.

I'll try to get it maidend before MARCEE. I don't want to do it up there though. So she might make the trip for show and tell only. We'll see how the next 10 days go.

I'll try to get some pics of her in the next couple days.

Steve

[Jason Maxamps.com]

Yeah don't rush it. It ain't worth wrecking it. My new monster should be here in Tuesday morning sometime. I'll have a quick look over and see if I can bang it together for MARCEE. I saw in a photo of it that it has separate flaps on it. Which was a surprise to me. I'll start the new thread as soon as I have it.

Jason

[Vintauri]

Well I still have mroe to do but I got it outside for some update pics and a quick taxi test. The canopy and pilot were just set in place. I'm still thinking I'm pretty tail heavy so I may have to rethink my battery placement and build a box going into the cowl. I should have room for a pack under the motor.

Anyway here are some pics. She still needs some weathering and then a dull coat.

Steve

http://lh3.ggpht.com/vintauri/SE3cKe1U2HI/AAAAAAAAHZQ/VJSIt1u_yig/s400/DSC_0001.JPG

http://lh4.ggpht.com/vintauri/SE3cQ9lvR1I/AAAAAAAAHZo/QwQdah5mMlY/s400/DSC_0004.JPG"

http://lh3.ggpht.com/vintauri/SE3cSgsPI8I/AAAAAAAAHZw/Up4Xk_Ql8Fk/s400/DSC_0005.JPG

http://lh5.ggpht.com/vintauri/SE3cWsLBydI/AAAAAAAAHaA/fWyiy9ZRZy4/s400/DSC_0007.JPG

[Jason Maxamps.com]

Wow that's looking really nice.

Jason

[Vintauri]

I got some pointers on weathering it last night and I'm hoping to get some good progress done on that in the next couple days. I still need to move a little weight forward to get her balanced in the proper range. I'm going to hopefully find a decent prop hub to help with the balance and the looks.

On a side note here is another plane that I hope to put togehter in the near future.

http://www.cmpairplane.com/warbird/BF109F%20140%20Size.html

Steve

[Vintauri]

I'm working on weathering now. I think I can pick up a tru turn hub for it but I'm doing a little research first.

Here is a sneak preview of the weathering I'm working on.

http://lh4.ggpht.com/vintauri/SFH2Ko-kcSI/AAAAAAAAHbE/0QTkXmlNU6E/s800/DSC_0001.JPG

[Willmsy]

:cool: LOOKING GOOD! I can't wait to see it in person.

[Jason Maxamps.com]

Well we all got to see it in person and because of the wind at this years MARCEE steve chose not to try to maiden it. So Steve the big question is has it flown yet? It turned out really nice.

Jason

[Vintauri]

Well at Marcee I had a couple issues. First being my retract servo had burned out. I was running a 2s2p A123 pack for the RX batt and the HS-80 didn't like the extra voltage. So I slapped in a Castle BEC and a new servo so all is well now. Second I was not completely sure of the balance. Turns out I needed more noseweight.

I attempted a maiden this past weekend but the AXI motor mount failed me. Luckily this was on a taxi test and the plane suffered only minor scratching on the cowl. It chewed up the APC prop some and now I'm thinking of getting a couple XOAR props to try out.

A good friend already fixed me up with a new mounting plate that solves the weakness issue and the nose weight issue. It's good to know machineists. It bumped the motor out another 3/8" and added a couple oz of weight so I don't have to worry about the little lead nose weights staying in place.

Here are some pics of the old and new mount.



http://lh3.ggpht.com/vintauri/SHJ4HR_LdPI/AAAAAAAAH5M/XGrhnQCBLzU/s800/IMG_0117.JPG

http://lh6.ggpht.com/vintauri/SHJ4H6BQooI/AAAAAAAAH5c/TIVWqjxmNXE/s800/IMG_0119.JPG

http://lh3.ggpht.com/vintauri/SHJ4IZUDMsI/AAAAAAAAH5s/zpm5PNeTbZA/s800/IMG_0121.JPG

[Jason Maxamps.com]

Wow sorry to hear about the damage. The new motor mount looks way better than the old. I can't wait to see some video of it tearing up the sky. I had ordered the retracts for my Stang a week and a half ago only to have them not show up last week cause there was one to many 0's in the part number I gave my LHS guy. Instead of him calling and telling me the number was wrong or even trying to maybe run it without a zero he just let it go. Anyways as soon as I get them and my Crawler shafts I'm done dealing with him. All he does is complain to me how the internet is killing him anyways. I just felt like saying that with your service I can do better and get stuff faster from the net. Let me know when you have video of it in the air.

Jason

[Vintauri]

Sounds like the same guy that went out of business here. He'd order stuff for you and maybe a month or two later you'd see it at full MSRP price. Then he'd complain about the internet killing him. I've proven it's easy to do better and all people want is some good service and they will pay a little more then doing it themselves. But you have to offer something in either price or service or people will just find it on thier own.

I'll be doing my best to get video. Hopefully Mike can come along but our schedules don't always mix. I'm sure someone will be there to tape the maiden though.

Damage was light and probably not too hard to fix but I'll get her in the air first.

Steve

[Vintauri]

By the way that 1100 pack I picked up from you rocks. I flew it in my Alfa P-47 the other night and Mike was about to send the F-22 back up to shoot me down. I was having too much fun and flying for too long :P

Steve

[Jason Maxamps.com]

Sweet!!! Glad you like it. Hey when you get a chance try that other pack in your 3D hobbyshop Yak you had at MARCEE. Tony and I have been running them in his Extremeflight RC Extra and the Katana that we had at the funfly and they work great.

Jason

[Vintauri]

Yeah I'll get that plane and that pack in the air soon.

I'm toying with converting a VQ P-51C Mustang I bought thinking I'd throw a OS .46 on it. But now I'm thinking of covnerting it also. I need to start researching power setups. It's about a 6 lb plane when done.

I just checked the weather and Sat might be an option to fly otherwise sunday is looking nice! Hopefully the Hellcat can have another chance at flight then.

Steve

[Vintauri]

Well it's been another month and still no maiden. Last time I took it out to try I found out the shaft on my motor was slightly bent and had a nasty wobble in it. So no flight that day. Lucien at Innov8tive designs looked at it and replaced the shaft. I'll have it later this week but I'm not sure I'll have it in time for the military flyin at my club field.

Hopefully I can report on it's first flight in the near future and I'll try to have some video too.

Steve

[Vintauri]

It flies! I got the motor back just in time to mount it up and get it in the van. I flew it on the 8th after the event was offically over for the day. No problems other then needing some down trim. That appears to be from needing more downthrust as it's balanced well and flies great but under power she really wants to climb. I still need to time my flights and see just how much I can get away with.

It really surprised some of the gas guys as to how well it flew but also how quiet it was. It bothered them as when they were flying they could not tell where I was.


To top it off I won "Best Electric" for the event. I have a nice pewter plaque to show for it.

More pics can be seen here: http://picasaweb.google.com/vintauri/HellcatNAMFI


http://lh4.ggpht.com/vintauri/SKB-0AQ_i-I/AAAAAAAAILQ/L8E4lIg7Bdg/s800/DSC_0075.JPG

http://lh3.ggpht.com/vintauri/SKB-4ajFFEI/AAAAAAAAILs/pbnwKZGuVJg/s800/DSC_0081.JPG


http://lh5.ggpht.com/vintauri/SKB_g5RViWI/AAAAAAAAIP8/splN4qWW0TY/s800/DSC_0143.JPG

http://lh5.ggpht.com/vintauri/SKCB44qpPiI/AAAAAAAAIRU/SLdJW9MbqcA/s800/IMG_0456.JPG

[Jason Maxamps.com]

Hey congrats on the maiden and on the award!!!! You deserve it that thing truned out really nice!.

Jason