ram3500-RCU

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Looking forward to seeing you there. Be sure to use your 'handle'.

We plan to set it up with the wings down, so we have clearance around the ship to cycle them up and down for you guys. These little motors pull very little and we can operate the wings all week end on a single charge.

BTW, Mitch hung 3lbs off the end of the bracket as he tested the operation and they went up with no problems.

ram3500-RCU

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Brian installed a hatch where the accordion vent is under the wing. This will be the access for the sound system, and all the charging and switching for the wing.

With the hatch cut in, we can now add much needed epoxy to the wing mounting pins. One of these came loose on #1. They are not glued in sufficiently from the factory I our opinion. The ply piece is the mount for the device board.

Brian got started on the aluminum finish with this hatch. The entire airframe will be covered in aluminum foil prior to panting.

Also is a shot of one of the new door hinges that replace the stock ones.

dpav8r

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Hi Gary,
Always interesting, care to show how you cut the hatch in the fuse? Always looking for a better way.

Dave

ram3500-RCU

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Sure. I'll get a picture or two of all our tools. But for now, I'll say we have used several things. On the CARF, most of the areas cut like butter once you get through the gel cote surface. As you know, the challenge is to take as little material out as possible so as to have nice tight fits. For this reason, the standard Dremmel cut-off wheel is too thick. I took a very fine tooth razor saw and cut it on the end so it works more like a keyhole saw. I can plunge the cut with an Exacto knife, then use this saw. Here is a picture.

Some of the areas on the CARF have carbon fiber cloth on the inside, and some pieces are all CF under the gel cote, like the gear doors and other covers. Brian has found a very thin diamond encrusted cutting wheel for the Dremmel that works great and takes just the right amount of material out for a good fit. I'll get a picture and a source for you. If the gap gets a little big, you can layer aluminum foil back on the edge as shims before covering the piece. Works great.

In some cases, a simple Exacto knife can be used to score through the gel cote and slice the foam and matt underneath.

ram3500-RCU

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Thought you all might find this interesting. I was doing some research on the cockpit lighting in the typical WWII American fighter in order to get it correct in #2. I visited the local air museum called MAPS as they have a Goodyear built Corsair on display. Asking around I found no one had an answer to the lighting question, but the director suggested I email the Collings Foundation. I sent this email to them.

"Hello Gentlemen. I was visiting our local museum today (MAPS, at the Akron/Canton airport in Ohio) and they referred me to you folks with a question I had. I am trying to find out how the instruments in WWII cockpits were illuminated. Was it by the map lighting, or did the individual instruments have bulbs in them. I am modeling the F4U-1A version of the Corsair for competition, and would like to get the cockpit as accurate as possible. Thank you in advance for your time."

Today I got this reply.

Hello,
I am not aware of any WWII aircraft that had instruments that had self contained lights. All of the instruments that I am aware of had radium paint on the dials that would glow in the dark. If you do a search online you will find multiple major news stories of people that had large collections of WWII gauges that were taken by the government because of the amount of radium that was on the dials. Our Corsair (F4U-5NL) has a light that is mounted on the left side of the cockpit just above the throttle/mixture controls at the base of the canopy that could be used to read maps, or shine on the gauges. Some of the veterans have told us that the radium gauges would glow for hours after being exposed to just a little light.
Collings Foundation

I responded with gratitude that they would take the time to reply and for their expertise on the subject.

Isn't the aviation community a wonderful thing to be part of.

So, I'm making tiny "map" lights (one for each side as the cockpit in the museum has) and Brian, after a discussion we had tonight on how to go about this, is going to install LED lights in them. I was thinking of fiber optics, but I think the LEDs will be easier to see in there.

JSZ

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Gary, my friend from the Smithsonian told me that they had
Two flex lights on the side panels near the dash. I'm attempting
To get some pics if possible. All other gauges and switch's were
Luminescent.

ram3500-RCU

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Thanks for checking on that John.

Roger that. The same thing the Collings Foundation told me. I actually have several pictures of the "flex Lights" or "map" lights, as some call them. There may have been a third on the right side near the back and above the Oxygen bottle. I saw something back there that looked like it could have been a light. No floor in the one we have either, just like the one we are modeling.

You mentioned switches and I did notice that the switches on top of the instrument panel on either side of the gun sight had dots on the tips that still glow after all these years of cycles.

You can see the right map light in this picture. It's in pretty bad shape though.

PS. more pictures always welcome.

Mustangman40

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Man Gary,
it's looking great, glad to see you and Brian back at it...


Toledo eh, just so happens I am going with a few guys from the club.... Sure hope you have her done by then, would love to see it in person and get to meet you.........

ram3500-RCU

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We have to have her done Jimbo. Dino needs his plane to fly at Top Gun. I hope we can incorporate all the ideas we have for her. They are still popping into my head. At some point, we WILL just run out of time. You know what Dave Platt always says about scale planes, never done, you just stop working on them. I was playing around with fiber optics last night, to make the tips on the tiny switches look like they glow in the dark. Pretty cool. I'll post some pictures.

BTW, absolutely. It would be great to hank out for awhile at Toledo.

ram3500-RCU

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Here is a picture of what looks like a light on the right side of the cockpit and behind the seat, above the oxygen tank.

ram3500-RCU

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The one on the right side.

ram3500-RCU

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Here is an experiment with fiber optics and WWII switches.

First, what I saw close up of original arming switches in the Corsair cockpit. The phosphorescent green look is not very good in the picture, but they really did have that distinct pale green look. Notice what looks like two red ones, one being the master.

Next, possible switch material with no glow.

Then the same "switch" with fiber optic "glow". The camera is compensating and making it appear to be brighter than it actually is. It really does appear to "glow" rather than be lit.

ram3500-RCU

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Here is a picture of the "glowing" switch in the dark.

This is a tiny aluminum tube with the fiber optic rod in it. Then I painted the tip with some Model Masters Green Zink Chromate.

I know this is a small thing, but these switches are on top of the dash and out in the open for viewing. These appear to be the only ones that had the "glow tips on them.

Mustangman40

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Looks good!
Let me know if you need any Fiber optic, I have Red, Green and Yellow, I aloso have it in 3 sizes.. .029, .019, .010..

ram3500-RCU

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Thanks Jimbo. I'll keep that in mind.

ram3500-RCU

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Work continues. Another order from Micro Fasteners (great company with good products and fast service) came. Now I have the tiny screws for the instruments in the cockpit and other things.

ram3500-RCU

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The main gear doors are now completed, fitted, and hinged. These are the aftermarket parts from Graeme Mears (purchased through Andy with Comp ARF). They are time consuming to put together and install compared to the stock parts, but they add so much to the appearance of the bays. Scale bolts will be added to the hinges. These came from Micro Fasteners.

ram3500-RCU

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Here is the wood added around the gear to hold the fixed fairings. The scale screws for these fairings just came, also from Micro Fasteners.

ram3500-RCU

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We have found that, with proper shimming, grinding of the rotating mechanism is unnecessary. Rounding over the inboard side of the frame is still needed however.

One additional note. The carbon fiber, shaped panel, that Comp ARF provides for the doors, is oversize so one can get the fit just right. If you think ahead, the inboard fairing can be cut to include the little cover for the notch for the front gear bolt. We realized this after these were already cut.

ram3500-RCU

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Next task will be getting the wing folding mechanisms permanently installed and the outer wing panels fitted, hinged, and glued. Then we can demonstrate the Down & Locked conversion properly.

wayne d

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Been a little quiet over here..........

wayne d

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5 months and counting.............But who's counting.

ram3500-RCU

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Yea, sorry for that. Work continues.

Brian found some speakers for the gun sound system. They will fit in the wing very well and already have acoustical boxes around them. (Radio Shack).

We now have all the components for all the scale lighting including a very cool looking bulb for the tail.

I have the canopy cut out to an F4U-1A type. The stock one is an F4U-4. I gathered the parts for the sliding canopy and will be documenting that in the next couple days I hope. I have a new idea for that and think it will work very well.

The cockpit work is ongoing as well, but I need to get the sliding canopy done before I can install the cockpit.

The wing is ready to glue up and is being done this week end. Comp ARF did a poor job of drilling the holes in the spar for the claws of the folding mechanism. When bolted on, the outer panels were at the wrong angles and didn't mate up tight to the center section. Brian needed to elongate the holes so things could line up. He removed the electric actuators so they could be manipulated more easily. We drilled and tapped the fixed arm for the same safety bolts we had in the wings of #1. With these bolts in place, it is easy to align the sections. The claw will need to be glued in at the same time the sleeves are so that everything lines up properly. The ARF version was not done well either. Binding between the spar pivot and the leading edge hinges (all installed on the ARF at the factory) were in poor alignment and caused the wings to stick in the down position at times. These will be perfectly aligned with the tool Brian had made.

I was hoping to have a video of the electric wings working this week end. Looks like that will be posted in a couple days.

Our goal is to have all the construction done including the aluminum covering by the end of January, and spend the rest of the time in the detailing.

ram3500-RCU

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Well, after much tinkering with the factory installed claw mounts on the ends of the spar, Brian is gluing up the wing mechanism. This has been a real PITA, but as a result, the wing panels will mate perfectly to the center section. The wing is suspended so the arm is all the way up in the adjusted holes.

If all goes well, I should be able to post the first video of the electric wings in action as early as tomorrow evening.

ram3500-RCU

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The air cylinders came in from Shulman. The canopy ones are back ordered.[]

See how good they look as compared to the Robart.

I'll paint them white before we install them.