Solved Corsair Landing Gear

OlliePackman

Active member
I was wandering if there would be any way that I could fit an FT Corsair with a retractable landing gear. I don't really know anything about the different mechanisms like air or mechanical or how they really work.
 

Merv

Site Moderator
Staff member
Retracts look great but they are not nearly as robust as fixed gear. To be successful, you will need a paved runway or one that is extremely smooth.
 

OlliePackman

Active member
Retracts look great but they are not nearly as robust as fixed gear. To be successful, you will need a paved runway or one that is extremely smooth.
My main runway is grass and not the best grass either. Even my Apprentice S with super springy undercarriage looks as though its struggling. I suppose I would rather sacrifice the looks and realistic take off/landing than buying new retracts every flight.
 

Berekiah

Well-known member
Sadly I will have to agree with Merv here. I really love having retracts on my FT Master Series Corsair, but I am now on my second set using Eflite's instead of Dynam's. A rough landing tore up the gears in the first ones so I'm trying hopefully a stronger set. They also add quite a bit of weight to a foam board model. Good luck if you decide to add them.
 

OlliePackman

Active member
Sadly I will have to agree with Merv here. I really love having retracts on my FT Master Series Corsair, but I am now on my second set using Eflite's instead of Dynam's. A rough landing tore up the gears in the first ones so I'm trying hopefully a stronger set. They also add quite a bit of weight to a foam board model. Good luck if you decide to add them.
How do you add them? Just curious.
 

Berekiah

Well-known member
I detailed a bit of my construction and flights on the forum Baa Baa Black Sheep. There are some other approaches as well, but I just cut out hobby plywood to fit around the retract as a mount and then cut into the bottom of the wing to add additional foam support and the mount on top. I glued it in with hot glue, but my new mount I just put in is using foam tac. I screw in the retract to the mount and there we go.

The difficult issue is finding room for the wheel to fit in the wing. There is not a lot of room in the wing of the Master Series Corsair so I have had to mount the retract a bit lower then I would have liked. It just barely fits. I'll include photos and details on the new retracts in the Black Sheep forum when I finish the new install. Hope this helps.
 

OlliePackman

Active member
I detailed a bit of my construction and flights on the forum Baa Baa Black Sheep. There are some other approaches as well, but I just cut out hobby plywood to fit around the retract as a mount and then cut into the bottom of the wing to add additional foam support and the mount on top. I glued it in with hot glue, but my new mount I just put in is using foam tac. I screw in the retract to the mount and there we go.

The difficult issue is finding room for the wheel to fit in the wing. There is not a lot of room in the wing of the Master Series Corsair so I have had to mount the retract a bit lower then I would have liked. It just barely fits. I'll include photos and details on the new retracts in the Black Sheep forum when I finish the new install. Hope this helps.
That's brilliant. Thankyou.