F4U-1 Corsair Scale ARF Electric

This plane is a screamer! It has unlimited vertical climbing, crazy acrobatics, and it looks great. The waterslide decals give you several nice looking options. I sprayed future floor polish (using my airbrush) over my decals to seal them. It's a great plane.

It's just foam, right? Well, the combination of foam, plastic and a bit of wood have been transformed into one of WW2's most recognizable aircraft, the Corsair. This plane is a bit smaller than some of Alfa or Flying Styro's offerings meaning it can fly on the least expensive brushless motor. I used the SK400XT and a Jeti 18A ESC on mine along with an ancient 3S1500 battery. (It's so old it doesn't even have a balancing plug on it!) To move the motor back enough to fit properly I mounted the motor to the back of the firewall and put the screws through the back of the firewall into blind nuts on the front. It takes less time to mount this way than the way HL shows to mount the current eRC motor and mount. I also cut the motor shaft down a bit. I usually match a motor and ESC and leave them together for life so cutting the shaft is no biggie for me. Now for the coups de grâce, I installed the scale 9.5 3-blade scale prop! It looks awesome! After some checking with HL I decided to change the pitch on the prop as a 9.5x10 is a bit much for the 400XT. I sanded the locking feature off and set the prop at it's minimum pitch and put a drop of CA on each blade so it wouldn't move.

First flights were made on one of the few days in OK with no wind. 1/2 throttle showed the plane had plenty of thrust so I gave it an easy hand toss and away she went. After some minor trimming she flew straight and level hands off. That distinctive bent wing looks awesome in the air and makes orientation easy to see. I found the CG to be pretty far forward if balanced where the marks are on the wing. In fact, it's much less than 25% MAC. I'll be playing with it the next time I go out. THe plane flies on 1/2 throttle or less 90% of the time even with the cheap motor. My battery was a tiny bit warm after a 10 minute flight but everything else was still cool. I did open up the cowl after that and haven't flown it since but it'll have plenty of cooling now. I added an additional piece of wood in the fuse to allow me to move the battery back so it's over the wing mount bolt. The battery hangs on last inch of the front battery tray and now the back of the battery rests on the new battery tray.

I read in another review that stated it didn't climb with throttle but thats not what I experienced. My plane had a definite desire to climb with power. This is a function of CG and elevator trim and airfoil so both of us can be right. Most of us have mixing radios these days, (I used a JR9503) so mixing elevator w/throttle isn't an issue any more.

You can fly this plane on the cheapest of equipment. I used an old JR 241 for aileron and a D47 for the elevator and both prove accurate. The only mod I do on each Alfa or FS kit ts make sure the elevator PR is as straight as possible and I use lube on the system. Baby powder works well or you can use silicone spray on the wire. Spray some on a rag and pull the wire through the rag and reinstall. This keeps the system moving smoothly preventing double neutral. If you wanted, you could use 2 sub micro servos on the ailerons as the aileron PR system needs lube too but it's more difficult to do.

I really wonder if adding a rudder would add another flying dimension to the model. The plane weighs so little that the extra weight wouldn't really be an issue unless you use a standard servo or something stupid like that.

I recommend these planes for those who can handle a medium fast aerobatic plane. Of course they get dent's and dings pretty easy so if your'e obsessive with your planes condition you might want to pass up these great flying little planes. To stiffen things up a bit you can use some epoxy and wipe it around the edges of the model to stiffen the edges a bit or do what I do, just ignore it.

I've got 5 or 6 of these planes so I guess I'd be considered an expert on how they build and fly and I can highly recommend them all in general and the Corsair, Me-109, FW-190 Dora, Bf-110, Spitfire in particular. They all needed the elevator PR system straightened out but other than that, they go together quickly and fly great. They can use the cheapest of equipment and fly excellent. What more can you ask? I'd highly recommend the Corsair and do add the scale prop as it just looks stupid w/o it! George

My hangar sports several Alfas: P-51 Marie, Corsair, P-47, Wildcat and a Sabre. For whatever reason, this Corsair is the fastest of them all. It flies beautifully and doesn't climb with power or "balloon." If you're looking for an economical motor, the SK400 with a 9x6 prop will give excellent performance and make hand launches a breeze.

As with all Alfas, this plane is a beaut right out of the box and since it only requires 2 servos is relatively fast and inexpensive to get in the air. As with all Alfas, keep it light. A 1300mah battery is all you need and will easily give you 10-12 minutes of flight time. I really enjoy all my Alfas but this plane and the P-47 Jug are the best fliers and this one is the fastest.

F4U-1 Corsair Scale ARF Electric

If you are a fan of the F-4U Corsair, then seriously consider this airplane!

I bought the Alfa Corsair wanting more from a park flier than the typical slow stick. I wanted performance but park maneuverability.
When I got the Corsair out of the box, I was impressed at the build quality. The decals were excellent, and the detail on the aircraft is impressive.

I chose to run a brushless motor with a 3 cell 1200 mAh battery. Flight times are an outstanding 15 minutes plus, and the performance is unlimited vertical. The plane simply flies like it is on a rail. Every pass down the field seems like a strafing run as this warbird is clearly on the attack.

This is a quality Alfa product, and its ease of assembly (not construction!) is pure joy. The plane is always a show stopper at the field, everyone comments on its flight performance.

If you are a Corsair fan as I am, then this plane is a must own.