Historical facts:
The Grumman F-9F Cougar was an evolution of the straight wing Panther. The swept wing design was pushed by the superiority of the swept wing Mig 15 during the Korean War.
The F9F-8 featured many aerodynamic improvements over the F-9F6 and was capable of breaking the sound barrier in dive.
The twin seater Cougar ( TF-9J ) saw combat during the Vietnam war and was extensively used as a trainer by the Navy for nearly two decades.
The Blue Angels flew the Cougar from 1952 to 1957.
This project was mandated by Joe Castellao for Accurate Scale Jets, which is the ditributors of the plane for the Americas.
The plane was CAD designed by Guido Ising from Grumman blueprints and pictures and is completely true to scale.
It is an ideal subject for scale competitions with its wavy skin replicating the pattern of the original plane.
All the rivets are faithfully reproduced and a complete set of scale accessories make for an amazing model.
Technology:
The airframe is built from our new ultra light weight MILtech material. This consists of several layers of MIL spec 0.6 oz uni directional IM carbon fiber, MIL spec ultra light weight 40 kg/ m3 PEI core material and aero spec epoxy resin vacuum sandwich. Post curing to 100c allows extremely high temperature resistance.
The core material is a specific ultra light weight MIL spec PEI foam that is certified to sustain 120 c continuous without de-gassing. This foam is 2 times lighter than the Airex grade used on the best models being currently sold to the hobby market and features the much higher resistance to compression.
The skin created using these materials is infused in one step with a very specific resin gel sheet technique. A super high modulus epoxy resin is used and post cured for 48 hours at high temperature, offering a resistance of 120 c continuous.
The result is a super lightweight skin that is 3 to 4 times more resistant to compression and dents than regular market products.
Architecture:
The plane internal structure was designed and specced using finite analysis simulation to offer 10 g resistance with 300 N/ 400 N total thrust for Cloudtech HD. The internal structure is CNC cut and 100% made of PEI foam/ carbon fiber laminate with the same gel sheet epoxy resin as the skin and post cured in one step with the remaining of the structure. The wing and fin tubes are also aero grade carbon fiber made and post cured in the same step with the structure to fuse the glue joints with the spar/ ribs. This is a unique process allowing both the skin and the internal structure to cure together and fuse with the epoxy joints, creating a virtually monocoque shell.
The landing gear struts were CAD designed by Guido Ising and adapted to our hybrid CNC/ laser 3D printing technology.
The strut covers are 3D printed to 25 micron accuracy, thus retaining the highest scale appearance, while being user replaceable in case of damage. The internal strut is CNC machined on our Siemens machines from Alcoa Al 2024 T351 and Al 7075 T651. The retracts and billet machined from an aluminum-titanium alloy made by Alcoa at their Lafayette plant. The retract is our UAV unit, that can pull 8 lbs of weight per strut.
Untitled from Oli Ni on Vimeo.
The brakes are real disc brakes, using the disc shape of the real Cougar and are servo operated. The discs are made of high carbon steel and machine surfaced. The pads are organic compound. This is also an industry first.
Powerplant:
The plane is designed to be powered by engines ranging from 160 N (JWM ) to 400 N.
The engine placement is the same as the real plane. The integral bypass system is full high temperature pregreg carbon fiber, post cured at 200 c. The bypass system is very efficient and runs completely cold. The rear thrust tube is hard mounted to the engine/ center fuselage section like the real plane and is made of titanium/ carbon fiber.
Version:
MILtech carbon fiber, IM UD carbon fiber from Toho--Tenax
Flight controls:
The F9F-8 Cougar is very specific.
Roll control is achieved with the flaps ( down deflection only ) and upper wing spoilers ( up deflection only ) like the real plane. A small functional roll trim tab is available on the left outer wing only.
Flaps are comprising of 2 inboard under fuselage panels and 2 wing surfaces.
Two elevators are hinged on an optional rotating stabilizer. This stabilizer is used for pitch trimming only. A scale stabilizer-to-fin joiner plate is included with the airframe. The front part is fixed to the stabilizer whereas the rear and bulb is fixed to the fuselage. The scale overlap friction area is shown on the picture below.
The rudders are split and separately actuated.
An optional under-belly speed brake is available.
All the flight controls are scale hinged with aero grade aluminum piano hinges and use internal linkages with aero grade stainless rod ends.
A total of 13 servos are required for the flight controls only, including 4 x 600 oz.in units for the flaps. 4 more servos are required for the gear doors, 2 for the rear flaps airbrake, 2 for the front airbrakes and 2 for the disc brakes.
The full remote setup might need up to 23 servo outputs and 28 channels including gyro gains and canopy opening.
Giant Cougar walkaround from Oli Ni on Vimeo.
Flight characteristics and videos.
The 1/3.7 Cougar uses the original airfoil with its very specific leading edge droop. The plane is very stable and smooth, it has a lot of presence in the air and flies extremely realistically.
2019-11-21-Cougar aerobatics from Oli Ni on Vimeo.
Options:
The list of option can be seen from our accessories page.
MILthech carbon construction
Electric landing gear with disc brakes
250-300N titanium/ carbon thrust pipe
Light kit: controller, lenses and LED set.
Paint schemes:
Our team of certified aircraft painters are available to offer you the best possible paint schemes. We use FS matched Imrom Aero paint exclusively for all our finishes to achieve perfectly realistic and ultra strong finishes.
VT-22 trainer scheme.
Jolly Rogers grey/ yellow scheme
Jolly Rogers blue/ yellow scheme
VC-8 flying target
Blue Angels
We can make custom paint schemes on request, provided the customer forwards accurate painting data ( 3 views, FS numbers ).
Specifications:
Span: 2.84 m/ 112"
Length: 3.44 m/ 135"
Dry weights:
. 38 kgs ( Cloudtech LD with Frank FT-250 engine )
For USA and Americas sales, please contact Joe Castellao/ Accurate Scale Jets.