Reno Racer
 

I picked up an old Royal P-51 kit.
When I started in this hobby I was fanatic about these airplanes and sanded a few to shape. They all flew good.

Just for grins I'd like to bash this .40 size kit into a Reno Racer.

I was never one to test wing strenght. I'm wondering what kind of modification, if any, would be needed for the wood wing and stab.

I want to use a Nelson sport .40 and I know this engine is pretty strong.

I'm starting to enjoy going fast in circles. I've been flying a 1/8 pylon racer w/a .15 engine and it seems to be rejuvinating. It's a lot different than puttin' around.

Thanks in advance.
Pat

RE: Reno Racer
 

The .40 size royal kit was pretty beefy. I would not imagine you would require a lot of reinforcement to make it speed capable as a warbird or reno racer. Since most of that plane is balsa blocks, it should be very easy to turn it into a Stelleto or Dago Red, etc.

Its a good flying plane in general. Just tended to come out heavy. That can be overcome.

One thing you might want to consider modifying is engine mounting. I believe that kit has wood rails mounting the engine 90 to the side (good place... no problem there). The rails form part of the nose structure. But if you can arrange to mount the engine with the cylinder 35 deg down, you can run the muffler along the bottom center line of the fuselage. Requires carving a bit of a tunnel, but there is pleanty of room in there to do this. Since using a Nelson or Jett sport engine requires using the specialized mufflerm which is a bit tricky to fit into scale applications.....keeping the muffler tucked in a bit will be major drag reduction, and will make for a more simplified installation in the long run. Having that 'wood block' construction leaves these type of options open to you.

Bob

RE: Reno Racer
 

I like the idea of the muffller being tucked up under the fuselage and the wing structure doesn't look to be lacking in strenght. I do remember them being heavy, maybe I can carve some weight out.

Thanks for the ideas.

Pat