General Information
New Updates: Now F4U-4 Corsair V2 with thousands of scale details!
That means a totally new scale surface with many new details. With the latest version, this aircraft has way more paint schemes. We also upgraded the old pneumatic landing gear to a new electric landing gear, including the tail gear. The folding wing mechanic can't be changed, so it must still be hydraulic.
The Corsair has been one of the most breathtaking Warbirds ever built . However, the typical gull wing was a nightmare for every modeler to build, so prior to the composite age, not too many Corsairs have been made. What a shame...

Well, things can change in an instance!
Our 1:4.5 Scale F4U-1D Corsair features all our latest molding and manufacturing technologies, which have elevated our ARF Aerobatic Planes and Sport Jets above all competition. The CARF Models Corsair is a true marvel. Absolutely scale in outline and in panel lines, it even features the scale fabric surface on outer wings, elevator and rudder right out of the molds. This scale is not too big for a safe flying weight below the 25 kg (55 lb) limit of many countries.
With the CARF-Models F4U-1D Corsair a dream comes true for us – and maybe for you, too.
Wings
On top of that, we have engineered a wing folding mechanism which can make your CARF Corsair the absolute highlight on every flying field and every airshow. It is your choice if you order the economical plug-in wings or grab a bit deeper into you pocket to go with the folding wings. We at CARF think, it’s worth it. The CNC-milled precision mechanics are engineering masterpieces and manufactured from highest quality materials to tightest tolerances. The down lock works like a retract system, where a cross bar slides into a slot and locks the unit completely load free. Cylinders use only Festo Push-In fittings for safety reason. The Folding Wing version has them readily installed.
Why hydraulic?
Only hydraulics would give you the constant speed of movement during the folding cycle. Pneumatics would have enough power to fold the wings, but they would flap like a bird, looking really funny. The hydraulics have become a very reliable system.
A pump is fed from a flexible reservoir and only tries via sensor to keep the pressure in the system constant. A servo driven valve feeds the fluid to the cylinder in a constant volume stream, and the backflow is collected in a flexible reservoir, ready to be pumped back into the system. No end switches or locking devices are necessary. Simplicity is the key.
Features
The CARF Corsair has quite some impressive features, only noticeable at second glance. For example the hidden linkages. No linkage, no control or servo horn is visible throughout the plane. Elevator and rudder have torsion linkages and the servos are mounted in the rear part of the fuselage. Ailerons and flaps have control horns, which due to the thick wing can be hidden beneath the surface.
Retract
The retracts for our Corsair are made by the renowned scale retract manufacturer Sierra Giant Scale. They are designed exclusively to fit our Corsair. We strongly recommend to use this gear with your CARF Corsair, as both kit and retracts are a perfect match and designed for each other. CNC-machined from aircraft grade aluminum and stainless steel the gear features a precise and strong 90-degree rotating mechanism, oleos exactly matched to the predicted aircraft weight and prepared for scale sized wheels. Painstaking design work and brilliant machining makes the main and tail gear a real master piece of engineering. It also features a pair of scale main wheels with aluminium hubs. The struts lock down with the same mechanism as the full scale. The whole gear is operated electric even the scale tail gear.
Engine
Well, for a Corsair many say there is only one engine: It’s round with an odd cylinder count. Our Corsair was designed around the Moki 250 cc radial engine. It fits perfectly, balances the plane perfectly and has so much power that it drives a 32” diameter 3-blade brop with authority and scale sound.Which doesn’t mean that any other engine wouldn’t work! From any 100 cc twin up to 150 cc twins all is possible. For the climax of scale features we are happy to be able to supply our scale propeller as a set with Moki 215/250 adapter, our own alu-hub and spinner, as well as a set of our own made all carbon 32” prop blades. But be aware that the cowl diameter is just a bit over 300 mm – a tight or impossible fit for the spark plug caps of some 150s.
ARF KIT
The folding wing corsair is a very complex piece of engineering. Why bother doing all the work, risking mistakes or problems, if you can get it all done in the factory? The photo shows you the parts which the factory already installs for you, opposed to the kit version, where you have to do all this yourself. Here is an array of photos which show you how an ARF Corsair comes out of the box. Not much else to say than: Why Bother?
PNP - Service
We do offer an extreme high end assembly service in which we deliver a PNP model including the engine, full servo and wire installation, electric landing gear and fuel tank installation. All the Lighting is done as well as the weathering and the nomenclature. If you're receiving this model in the PNP Version it only takes a couple of hours to complete the build process... Flying a scale warbird like our F4U-4 or F4U-1D Corsair can't get much easier! At the same time those pictures are an example what your plane can look like after you finished the build process.



Flying Performance

A Corsair is a well flying airplane by principle. Most important is that airfoils and incidences are chosen to resemble the original angles of attack and speeds in flight. After flying the plane at TopGun ’08, we have the proof that this one was done right! Even in windy conditions the CARF Corsair tracks like on rails, and the control surface’s efficiency is perfectly smooth. Stall characteristics are uneventful, and due to the huge flaps the landing speed if very slow. In the air, though, with the throttle fully open, and the beast comes alive and shows what she was designed for. At Topgun 2009 there were already 2 more CARF Corsairs flying. Jason Shulman and Marco Benincasa. Beautiful birds where the pilots had only great things to say about the flying characteristics. The CARF Corsair is a dream plane to fly. Smooth and agile, fast and slow, and it performs scale aerobatic maneuvers with authority.
