Originally Posted by mgnostic

Well I've smeared my third Arsenal VG-33 across the landscape one to many times. For a small airplane, the Arsenal had a fly on rails quality that encouraged ridiculously low passes. This last one was rebuilt from parts of at least three planes. It was getting a little heavy and the last hand launch missed getting airborne by just that much. I like to keep a small glow airplane on hand. They are relatively cheap, fun to fly and convenient to toss in the car for that quick flying session while out running errands. Eddie at Lazerworks had previously cut a Morfis P-40 for me and I was considering another but I don't have my plans anymore and Gus Morfis plans are becoming scarce. A set of P-47 plans was available. It was also on my someday list and Eddie cuts a kit for it as well so a P-47 it is. Eddie also vacuforms a cowling for the plane and he provided one of those as well.
A word about the Morfis plans. They show the formers, ribs and all of the basic structures but I would say that the radio installation is more of a general suggestion rather than a specific direction. Based on the location of the radio and servos it seems that this is intended to have a removable wing but there isn't any indication of a method for setting this up. I will address this in the course of the build. It will be the standard dowel in the front, plastic bolt in the back. I am changing the wing from a sheeted front and cap stripped rear to a fully sheeted wing. The original design calls for a standard servo with flexible pushrods to the ailerons. Again the plans do not show a lot of detail on this. Compared to when this plan was published in 1993, servos are more powerful for a given size and much less expensive. I will be putting a mini servo in each wing panel. The ribs as cut by Lazerworks have a nice hole in the first five ribs that is just the right size and location for running servo extensions. Eddie as also added building tabs that set the angle of the ribs and a notch in the nose of the rib for a bit of stick that helps with rib alignment and provides extra material for attaching the leading edge. I will be covering the plane with Kwik-Poly and 3/4 ounce fiberglass cloth. If one is careful it produces a durable finish that is fuel proof and no heavier than iron on covering. Since this will be a hand launched plane, having a durable finish will count for something.
The wing ribs and spars framed up really quickly. I'm going to partially sheet the upper surface to help with keeping the wing rigid while I add the leading and trailing edges. I will probably power the plan with a .25 although I have seen references to using as much as a .32.