hobbyking focke wulf fw190

[fidi tunka]

last friday the postman brought me a fw190 from hobbyking.
for the price it is a really nice warbird.

1200mm wingspan
retracts (with sequenced doors)
flaps
3s lipo (a plus in my opinion)

the manual it comes with is really horrible
would have been better if they hadn't put one in at all ...

so i decided to make a short video that shows everything the manual does not.

here is the maiden flight ...

unfortunately the landing gear is in no way fit for takeoffs and landings on grass.
-> mod incoming!

and there is no pilot in the cockpit?!
i dont know why, but that really annoys me.

question:
how do i put a pilot figure in there without ruining the good looks of the fw190?
is there a trick how to resolve the glue?
in all my other hobbys i would use heat but i have found out,
that heat is the natural enemy of the foam of this planes ...

 

[HawkMan]

IT's quite common for models not to come with pilots, this might be part a historic thing since in the past everyone bought or made pilots separately, and partly because they probably add a significant percentage to the price even if it's not a huge value in pure numbers.

The canopy is most likely very badly glued on and will easily come off if you grab the glass and pull/twist.

and yeah, for scale, foamies and "small" scale don't ever do very well on grass with proper scale landing gear even significantly upscaled gear is to small.

This is why I haven't really gotten a warbird yet, except a small 800 HK 190 that needs a bigger motor and/or prop to fly, despite their claims. Unless I move anytime soon any warbird I get will probably have to be a belly lander.

 

[fidi tunka]

ah ok. thanks for your explanation!
i will try to wiggle it off then.
i'll report back tomorrow ...

 

[HawkMan]

It does depend a bit on the specific gras ground you're flying off as well. if you're flying of an actual model air field it will of course be better, if it's maintained by someone who also miantains golf courses then it'll be fine for most planes. Any plane could land on a model field maintained like a green

 

[makattack]

Great review! I test flew a small park flyer I had, a discontinued parkzone Archer at a grass field maintained like a golf course green to see if the small wheels with the fixed tricycle wheels work OK. Is able to take off and land well, but on one of my landings, I didn't time my rudder input well, and as the nose gear touched, I had nearly full rudder on as I was landing with a bit of crosswind. That caused the model to do a very odd looking roll and flip that miraculously resulted in it landing back on its wheels with no damage. I even taxied it back to there pit area without having to do the walk of shame.

Next time I fly with landing gears at this field, I will do some taxi tests.

 

[fidi tunka]

i have done the landing gear mod and it worked out great!

next step will be putting a pilot into the cockpit.
but the canopy seems to be glued on very good and strong.

 

[Tench745]

I've seen other foamies where the cockpit was part of the battery hatch. With those it's possible to cut out the foam that makes up the bottom of the cockpit. Then you just glue your pilot on it and glue the foam back in place. I can't see how that might be possible on this model though. No good access from below.
A little denatured alcohol dripped in around the canopy seams might loosen the glue enough that you can pop it out. Be careful though, it may soften your paint.