Winning Wildcat

Winning Wildcat

This 1/4-scale model of a Grumman Wildcat F4F is the handiwork of Nigel I’anson, who built it from a Modell Einer kit. The 50-pound fighter has a wingspan of 114 inches and is powered by a 250cc Moki five-cylinder radial engine spinning a 32×18 three-blade prop. Its unique landing gear is retracted by an air ram that uses cables and pulleys, and it uses gravity to drop down. Thanks to Pete and Dean Coxon for the terrific video footage.

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Updated: March 31, 2016 — 11:36 AM

11 Comments

  1. yes is very nice , but chut be difficulte for landing , Bravo

  2. What’s with all the vulgar hand gestures at 0:16 and at the end? Great aircraft but classless English trash.

  3. Don’t think it is meant as a vulgarity–it’s called a two finger salute (or rabbit ears depending how it’s done). Didn’t help the video IMO! As to the plane–very nice work, love the landing gear. The Wildcat was a much scrappier plane against the Japanese than many think (after we learned to use its strengths). A shame the T-Bolt is not in the same scale though.

  4. Here’s a complaint/observation that I am sure will go nowhere. Scale builders go to great extremes to accurately scale build an accurate model in every detail, except one. That is power. The models can often take off almost straight up ruining any visual “feel” of the real airplane taking off. Maneuvers are the same. They’re performed that the real airplane could never do.
    if you are going to simulate/scale the airplane then power is a valid aspect to include. if you can’t handle it at that power level then it’s a static model and call it such.
    This takes nothing away from the outstanding skill level of scale builders who have produced some fantastic models but seeing them leap off the ground buzz around the sky like a stunt plane isn’t consistent with the scale aspects of the plane.
    As I said this will go nowhere.
    I’m not a scale builder or flyer and have left my RC flying in the past.
    Al Winters

    PS: This is in no way intended to specifically detract from the Wildcat.

  5. Slow down the rolls and you have a winner. The plane looks scale in speed but needs to be flown in a cumbersome manner. I personally don’t think the hand gestures were meant to be vulgar.

  6. Beautiful bird, very well flown. Love the landing gear. I didn’t see any maneuvers a skilled Navy pilot couldn’t perform with this aircraft. The hand gestures are V for victory.

  7. Great plane, let down by the wide boy behaviour of the people filmed and by those filming, thinking this is acceptable to put on YouTube.

  8. Scale model aircraft cannot ignore the laws of physics. If they tried to fly at true scale speeds they could not fly so will always fly faster. These models are amazing they way the make them look real and fly. Well done to all modelers

  9. Sure sucks that gear up quick! I don’t see any arrestor hook.

  10. Martin is right about the problem of flying at scale speed, but it seems to me that this plane’s presentation would look much better if the pilot pulls back on the throttle a little and learns not to yank the sticks as hard in certain situations.

  11. The GM plant that I worked at built them in real life I would love to have one

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