Paul Williams

Thanks top shop

Any ideas where I can get 5 inch scale P40 wheels Thanks

In November of that year the company signed a contract for two prototypes (the XP-47 and the XP-47 A) to be powered by liquid-cooled Allison engines. The choice of this powerplant turned out to be a mistake, however. Early combat experience from Europe had made it clear that fighters had to be heavily armed and armoured, as well as offering higher performance. The Allison engine was not powerful enough, nor could it provide satisfactory performance at high altitude.

The last step is to fill the gaps between stab fin and fuse with carefully shaped balsa sheet, you will notice the rubberised filler which takes up the small gap. This is an important step taken to allow the tail section to flex whilst the powerful 65cc engine pulls the plane upwards vertically. Ok I’m telling porkies I left my glasses at work! Clear the board and on with the fuse bottom section but before we do here are some stats on this plane.  

  Ok pushing on the only difficult bit here was folding the sheeting round the fuse but with the help of some glass cleaner here is the end result.    

I got fed up with balsa so to pass some time I went to play with the new engine.   Here we go, will it live  

  I was not happy with the fin support it’s a butt joint onto the TE of stab I reinforce such joints with cocktail sticks simply drill 2mm hole and standard sticks are a nice tight fit a drop of cyano helps. Cut off and sand smooth. The rest was plain sailing but time consuming and at the end of today here we are  

  Before I carry on I have skipped forward a bit in the instructions and it is evident I will be needing the tail wheel stuff shortly. I phoned Steve Webs and asked for a quote. The main gear £340 and the tail wheel £156 I fell over! No way am I paying that so out with the laptop and start surfing. I ended up on Robart’s site and the prices where much better £199 main gear £99 for retracting tail wheel. Its still hideous but better. I spoke to Webs and asked why I can get them cheaper they reckon its because they purchase through Ripmax or is that Ripoff ! I am tempted to buy a Miller and Lathe but the Mrs went for the rolling pin when I suggested they would fit in the conservatory ha ha. It’s a pain to purchase from America but that’s the way I have gone. The good news is Robard supply a detailed drawing to download so if they have not arrived I can make a template and carry on. I fitted the Stab onto its saddles this morning, I would have preferred to check the incidence before gluing but there is no ref to the angle either on plan or in the book. I should have an incidence gauge its on my shopping list however I have gambled on the incidence being 0 this being the case a few pins on the centre lines both TE and LE then measure to building board. As it worked out there was less than 1mm difference in the measurement so hopefully 0 deg is where it should be, This subject of incidence and washout baffled me for ages until I test flew some guys bi-plane he had built. The plane flew awful and I helped sort it for him, the problem was incidence. Have a look at this http://www.robart.com/sites/default/files/How_To_Meter.pdf Right stab fitted on with the fin, and once again our profile template comes into play Best thing I ever bought lol    

Once completed we can start the sheeting, This is the first model I have built that will be 100% sheeted, So I am nervous at this stage and plan to take my time please bear with me. The first taxing piece I came to was having to shape the sheet around the LE of the stab. After numerous attempts to make a card template I gave up and went for a walk round B&Q for inspiration and presto in the tiling section I found a shaping template tool. Its got to be worth a tenner if it saves the frustration. Simply push it over the profile then transfer to sheet Not bad happy days  

  thanks for the tip Richard I did try all directions, I am convinced its the wood maybe its from the centre of the tree or some thing daft, anyway onwards. Ok clear of the board and on with more taxing aspects. It was not untill I laid out the main stringers I started to get an idea just how big this was going to be. I placed a six inch rule on the plan here to help you see.   The stringers are quite beefy so to help make the curves they mill a 1/4 slot part way through and you fill this with balsa strip after its pinned. Simples add a few formers, tank support and cockpit deck and very quickly it starts to take shape At this stage you need to make your mind up as to bubble canopy or razor back version I love the look of the razor back and for the extra work involved its my choice so order canopy and press on. Being careful to add the correct formers butt join and add stringers

However thinning down the tips was another story, I tried a razor plane but it just ripped and refused to cut the balsa. It was like cutting cross grain. In the end I just used a sanding block and swore a lot. I will take  advice gratefully. The fin and rudder are more of the same

  So say hi to Bradley who will not be allowed into the conservatory because he loves balsa wood. On with it then. To be honest when I opened the box I thought christ what have I done, I spent the first morning going through all the die cut parts and marking them up It may seem a waste of time but it really helped me get a mental picture of what goes where. The first section to build was the stab I have to say I love the method Topflite employ having tabs on the under side of the ribs, It saves having to protect the plan from glue damage as the build is done over the plan rarther than on it. After the top side is complete and sheeted they supply die cut jigs to lay the stab on whilst the other side is sheeted. The balsa blocks supplied for the tips are already cut to the correct radius