first warbird

[RCace]

Hi guys
Im looking for a good warbird that's ARF. I can fly a trainer type airplane pretty well, and i'd like to know what maked these airplanes so hard to fly. Also, how many planes do you need to have before you buy one? Warbirds are my goal as an R/C pilot. Maybe I'll have one in my hangar soon. thanks!

[flipnidaho]

for an easy intro to warbirds (and ailerons), try the Flying Styro Rare Bear (I think Hobby Lobby sells these). It's a Bearcat in Reno livery. I painted my first Rare Bear dark blue up top and light sky blue on the bottom, put on some insignias and bingo! Instant warbird. It also flies nice and low (it doesn't like inverted though). For biplanes, I recommend the Tigermoth. If you're comfortable with ailerons, you can also go with the GWS P51 (which I haven't had luck with) or the GWS Zero. If you want something fast and relatively indestructible, you can also try S&B EPP foamie warbirds.

[leccyflyer]

RCace

Welcome to RC Groups.

You ask what makes warbirds different from other flying models and I guess the main thing that springs to mind is the higher wing loading and general set-up of the model. If the warbird you are hankering after is a fighter then you would want your model to have fighter like performance- that means she is going to be fast and responsive to the controls. The addition of scale details, like a kitted out cockpit, pilot figure, scale paint job etc all adds weight and many warbirds are relatively heavy compared to sports models of the same size. That means she will have to fly fairly fast or not at all and with some types (Spitfire, 109) the tapered wings can result in a bird that it prone to tip stalling if slowed down too much on landing. The power and authority of a classical scale warbird means that these are the territory of relatively experienced pilots- just like in the real world.

If she's a WWII warbird and you don't want to see wheels dangling down then you have to choose between a handlaunch, catapult launch, dolly or retactable undercarriage. The latter is what many warbird pilots aspire to- the sight of your warbird clearing the ground and then smoothly putting her gear up :). Retracts add weight and they add complication and they are a bit less forgiving on landing than a normal fixed gear- that all adds to the hassle factor, so you'll need to be able to land consistently well for those retracts to work.

However some of the small electric foamie warbirds aren't really that different to any other small sports model and if you are competent with a small ow wing aileron-equipped model then something like the GWS P-51 mentioned above shouldn't be a real problem. If however you are looking for something bigger then a 55-60" span sports-scale warbird- like many of the ARTF Spitfires, Bf109s, P-51s and Zeros that are around at the moment in the .46-.60 engine size- is probably a fourth model after you have mastered fairly heavily loaded aileron-equipped low wing sports aerobatic tail draggers.

One thing that catches out some people making the transition to warbirds is that the heavier loading means that you need to be more "professional" in your flying than in the greatly overpowered and forgiving sports model that you may have flown before. You can't just point a 1/4 scale P-51 straight across the field and hit full throttle like you can with a Wot Four. It's a take off straight into wind, meeting the swing with a good bootful of rudder at the right time and letting the model fly off the ground, rather than dragging her off early and directly across wind. You'll get away with that with the average sports model, but not with a scale warbird.

The small fun-fighter sized warbirds- like those recommended by flipnidaho are another option. These are usually handlaunched and demand pretty quick reflexes and good eyesight so you tend to fly them fairly close in. The small size does away with the complications of retracts and I'd say they would be a third or forth model. You should be at the stage of being able to recover a low wing aileron-equipped model from unusual attitudes before attempting one of these, and watch out for the camoflage working too well so that you may lose orientation in the air (ask me how I know that).

Something like a big trainer-ish warbird might be a good tip - maybe follow the path the real life pilots followed in the 1940s with a PT-19 or similar. I have the electric conversion of the Jamara PT-19 and it isn't difficult to fly, within it's limitations, which are to keep the speed up on landing and go-arounds. Here she is on finals - That's about 6.75lbs at 65" span, so not too big and heavy and is fairly docile. There are a number of nicely finished PT-19 ARTFs from Hanger 9, Jamara, Kyosho and other firms, many of which look like the same basic model. These are not too heavy and would make a good third model after mastering an aerobatic low wing trainer.

Good luck with your warbirds- make sure you return to tell us all about it.

cheers

Brian

PT19 on finals (http://rcgallery.net/showphoto.php?photo=4&papass=&sort=1&thecat=500)

[Scratchbuilder]

This is new territory for me...need to ask an odd question...I hear you have a Balsacraft Blenheim kit that you'd sell...if so, lets talk please. Thanks, sorry to butt in gents.

[Scratchbuilder]

Well hey, while I'm here I might as well try and do some good.
Have you looked into Sureflite's warbirds...they have a decent sellection and can be built very fast seeing they're made of foam. Price isn't too bad either and one can choose short or long w/s on some models.

Just a thought....here's the link if your curious{I have the Tony and want to convert it to a Ki-100...just to be different}

www.sureflite.com

[leccyflyer]

Scratchbuilder

Sorry, you must have been misinformed, I don't have a Blenheim- I did mention in the chat the other evening that there is one for sale at a bargain price locally hereabouts. Here's a link to the ad on the BMFA website

http://www.bmfa.co.uk/ads/detail.php?siteid=3788

Hope that helps

Brian

[Chas]

Hi Scratchbuilder
It was me, I mentioned that Brian had seen a cheap Blenheim kit locally. Sorry Brian I certainly did not say you had one, I apologise if my syntax has inconvenienced anyone. There's quite a gap between Cheshire and Wayne's World:o !
Brian, if Scratchbuilder doesn't want the kit, I do. I followed the link above but it seems to have been cleared - could you see if there is any other means of contact?
FW190 + Stol Mk 1 + Blenheim = Divorce Lawyer.
Cheers
Chas

[Scratchbuilder]

Day late/dollar short for both of us Onan...the kit had already been sold when I had inquired brian{thanks again brian!} afew days ago. :( ....but I think we're getting off subject here on RCace's thread.
RCace-have you looked into AceRC's ARF planes? Foam wings and quick build fuses make these birds easy to build. I have the Ultimate bipe{as well as an old discontinued kit by them, the AllStar bipe kit} that I made out of all foam for electric power{not everybodys cup of tea-but I like it}.
Another source is JKaerotech.com for combat foamies{gas powered} that can be made into electric powered.
You didn't state what size plane you were looking for..so I'm just tossing out random ideas....
"Trainers" have "high wing" set ups, while advanced planes have mid or low wings. The handling characteristics change when you move the wings down...they get more twitchy or responsive when the wing is lower. It just takes being used to controlling a trainer well enough on your own{taking off/flying/landing} to start on a intermediate model.
Has to be an ARF?....

[jwz357]

rcrace,
i went from my trainer to a global hobbies fw190 and i love it.i set it up with a norvel .074 and she flies great.the landing gear is set wide apart and i added a stearable tail wheel and an extra servo in the wing for flaps so she really lands slow and easy.touch and goes are a whole lot more fun!!i think this plane is an easy to complete arf.if your trainer was an arf then this should be no problem to complete.hope this helps.