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Dark nights wombling -Black Horse P-40 Warhawk


Bob Cotsford
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Womble #1 is a 65" BlackHorse P-40 Warhawk that came second hand, complete with a full set of 3004 servos but less it's nasty glow motor.

The PO had, for reasons known only to himself, decided to fit the motor sidewinder with the cylinder head sticking out of the side. I'm sure his thinking was sound and logical but for myself I'd have fitted the motor inverted inside the cowl chin. Patch and paint needed as a start then:

bh p-40 ex-glow cowl.jpg

It's fitted with the original mechanical retracts which are operated via a bellcrank by a servo in the fuselage. They're so sloppy that they don't lock up or down so they can go as I've found some Eflite 95 degree rotators in my stash.

p-40 mechanical retract.jpg

p-40 wheel well.jpg

The leg covers are pretty dead too.

Then there's a few holes in the top of the wings to fill

p-40 punctures.jpg

Plenty of room for an electric conversion

p-40 tank and radio bays.jpg

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Ron, when I were just a little lad my Dad had a couple of RAF books from '45-46 or so. One covered training and tactics, the other was part of a history of the RAF through the WW2 period. The two airframes that caught my juvenile eye were the ones with the Desperate Dan chin rads, the Typhoon and the P40. Spitfires and Hurricanes? Yes, very pretty but it was Twiggy vs Sam Fox. Put me down for Samantha any day!

The airframe is generally sound, and if BlackHorse had put the wheel well in line with the retract unit it would be a simple job to convert the retracts but they didn't do that. I know it's not a big thing but their design with the leg being bent halfway down really annoys me, it's whether I come to terms with that or move the wheel well to allow a straight leg. If I go that route then I may as well go a step or two further eg reduce the oversize pushrod holes, strip and recover (doculam) or at least repaint it finishing off with a desert paint scheme. One bite at a time so I'll start off by mounting the retract units and see where I end up.

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