Snaer810

Berrick,

The Cowl used on the WPD site is also the FGS Full Cowl which is shown with their Prop Drive on the ARF model.

Looks pretty darn good actually......but I still want to see if there is a possibility of fairing in the front fuse to the cowl so there is no overlap, just a nice joint. Of course I don't want to ruin the scale lines either.

Well jump into that issue when I get there.

See ya,


Mike

tomtope

good evening everyone so i feel better today i mounted the engine 8 1/8 and i'm going to let the cowl go past the firewall and blend it in. whent back to hobby shop this afternoon boy those hundreds go quick there, then on to hardware store another hundred, got home
and wife took debit card. said hobby shop was off limits. lol Then she went shopping. Good thing tower hobbies has credit card on file.
who would have thought this could get as expensive as it did. oh well im gonna finish it now.
here are some new pictures engine is mounted cowl is slid up close to where it shold be.


Tom

Snaer810

HA HA HA........... Tome that about sounds like what my wife is about ready to do with me. I have been spending so much time on this P51, I think she wonders {Who is this guy all covered on balsa dust}........

Looking good though....Glad everything is working out.



Mike

doublebs

ok i've run into a couple of problems today . i've tried to figure out how to get the outer door skins to work and have hit a wall . it looks to me like i'd have to cut out some retract mount and even then not so sure it would work.
also the new fg rad intake fits totally different . the tf's seem larger and i'm not sure if i should cut it down so it sits lower or modify the intake behind larger .
then fired up the da and leaned it out bit by bit and still can't get more than 6200 rpm out of her . i am using a 22 x 10 menz prop and it is one they recommend for break in . manual says that 1 7/8 turns out on hi speed needle is a good starting point but i've spun her in to 1 1/2 and still get only 6200 rpm .
does anyone here have experience with this engine and have any suggestions ? ie. is 1 1/2 turns already to lean ? what are yours set at ?

hhhhhhhhhhmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm..... i love days like this[:@]

berrick

Snaer810

Hey Berrick,


Wow....It doesn't sound like a good day for you either............[]

Did you purchase the same Areotech doors that Tom got...thought you did. How could they be so different? Looked like Tom's came out looking pretty good. Not sure why you think that some retract mount migth have to come out? What's up?

I also have the FGS radiator scoop and it seems to fit pretty nice over the rad frame work. I did think it may sit up a little higher than TF's but it was taken right off the TF mold.

As far as your DA...you might want to try the DA or DL thread here on RCU. There are some fella's on there that really know this stuff....like 20 - 25yrs experience. You could probably go on the DL thread [link]http://Let's try again DL-50[/link] and PM (RCIGN1), He is really good. I believe he actually works on these gassers for a lot of guys, But he may be able to help. Either that or call Desert Air....I hear they really stand behind their engines and I'm sure they would be able to help.


Well talk to you later,


Mike

tomtope

Berrick if you are talking about the gear doors inner plastic mine wound up in the trash the gear mount on the inside last screw would have to be cut out at an angle and across from it the rib would have to be cut down. I even tried taking out the screw and cutting out a section of the door finally wound up with no door left after dremell war lol. gl if you figure something out let us know.

tom

tomtope

Oh ya one more good thing about the fiberglass specialties cowl is that you can see through it to make cut outs and install mounting screws.

doublebs

hi mike , hi tom , thanks for all the advice . i will check out that forum mike . as far as the rad scoop goes i will post some pics later today .

hey tom , ya thats exactly what i'm talking about [inner plastic] . lol . last night after i posted i went out to work the problem and ended cutting out that section where it intersecs with the retract mount . pretty much where you must have tried i think . i'm not done yet and am about to go out and carry on . without the inner plastic how did you manage to curve the outer door with the wing ? your's look great . did i read earlier that you glued in a bent peice of metal ?

anyways i'll go out and take some shots to post.

thanks again you guys ,

berrick.

doublebs

alright , here are some pics of the rad cowl , new and original . also mike some pics of the gear door issue . i see by your photos that you lowered mounting point on the outer door skin to the bottom and up on the gear . i take it that this was because the way areotech wants us to do it reeks havock with the retrack mount and rib stack ?

as far as the rad scoop goes , i could build up the sides behind it or i could cut it down . thing is , as is now it fits the wing contour really well and if i cut ....well it may never look the same lol.

with the inner door i might fill it in with micro balloons and 5 min so i have something to drill into for the ball joints and stiffen the door up.

tomtope

Hey Berrick i epox. a piece of balsa to the door but im not done with it yet still dont like it any way got a new pic.

Tom

doublebs

hi tom , by studying your pics i think i may have come up with something that works and i might be able to save the inner skin . i will post pics of my solution [ read butchered ] idea when i'm done . after this i might have to purchase more doors from wayne . lol .

berrick

p.s. your bird is looking SWEET!!!!!!!

doublebs

so today i tackled my door dilema head on . after looking at tom's pics i thought i had it beat and save the inners . so i guesstimated where i wanted the ball links to be and glued them in the inners . then filled with some balsa and ply and poured over 30 min. mixed with micro ballons . worked out pretty good execpt for the link location . i will have to move them upwards so i can connect to strut ABOVE olleo !! oh well , this is why i put epoxy in , i knew this would happen and now i have something solid to relocate into .

here are some pics from todays effort .

berrick

THESE WILL WORK!! THESE WILL WORK!! THESE WILL WORK!! THESE WILL WORK!! THESE WILL WORK!! THESE WILL WORK!! THESE WILL WORK!! THESE WILL WORK!! THESE WILL WORK!! THESE WILL WORK!! THESE WILL WORK!! THESE WILL THESE WILL WORK!! WORK!! THESE WILL WORK!! THESE WILL WORK!! THESE WILL WORK!! .........................at least that's what i keep tell'in myself .

Snaer810

Morning Guys,

Here at work and had a few minutes to see what was going on.

Tom, the bird is looking really nice....great job on cowl....looks like it should fill and fair in pretty nicely.


Berrick,

Looks like things are working out pretty good on those inner doors. Great job. {I might want to get a blow by blow set if instructions from ya}......[8D] How much do you charge???.........

Few Questions:

What kind of epoxy are you using?

When you layed the inner door in place to get the correct wing shape did you have to weight it down at all to keep it in place?

Looks like you added a interior balsa or plywood lip to the underside of the gear door cutout.?? Does that appear to help with the correct seating of the door? Also what thickness balsa/plywood did you use.

What size ball links did you end up using?


See so many questions........[8D] If this works out, you may have make up you own instruction sheet and sell it to areotech......LOL


Thanks Berick.......Doing a great job man.


Mike

Jan_Petter

These doors are driving me crazy!

I have spent 3 days figuring out how to make this work, and I'm not satisfied yet!

BIG mistake to cover the wing before attaching the doors!!!!! What a pain to find the correct hinging point! And, I have cut and cut and cut, to fit the doors. As you will see, a lot of fixing up the balsa skin where I made my mistakes. The doors are off-set the wheels, and I have to make a fix to the door cover as well.

Lot of blod, swet, tears and heavy cursing, but not much to show...

BTW, how did you attache the outer doors to the retracts? The instructions (Note 2) say to thread ball link, but my Robart gear don't have any threads ????

tomtope

sorry Jan i would have told you but i figured being my first real build it was just that i was not that good at it, i had the advantage of doing it before i put the top wing skin on, but the instructions said to do it after and later in the build i knew after looking at the doors i could not do this that was why did it first. but any way i too had to repair alot of wing skin, also you need to build the plywood or basswood step after you get cut outs right. as far as attaching to the strut here is the link to it at tower hobbies, robart use to attach a piece to the strut but they dont anymore. good luck if you need any more pictures or answers let me know.http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...65&FVPROFIL=++

doublebs looking real good i still have one door if you figure it out i will call wayne and get 1 more inner and try it my self it looks awsome so far you are gifted. be careful wife reads this post now sometimes and i wouldnt want you making mine look bad lol!!!!!!!!.

Tom

p.s. got my wheels in today from aerotech they look much better, and they fit with the inner doors better.

doublebs

hi all , keep it up jan it appears your a pro with the doors ! i haven't done the inner doors yet , i am still waiting for hinge pockets [] hopefully they're here tommorrow . last night when i was done i too came to the realization that getting the strut location wasn't going to be easy . but then nothing in life really worth while ever is . . tom mentioned it and i too have ordered the gear door mounting bracket from tower hobbies . the areotech instructions say to use JB Weld and attach a tube to install the ball link to . i thought about this but kind of new this would be painful [read several re-locations ] and that by using the bracket it should be alot simpler to set the doors right . [since the bracket can be moved]
i think what i'll do is nail down the mounting location for the ball link on the inner skin first or at least get it close . then with a length of 2/56 rod and ball link, mount it to the bracket on the strut . leave the bracket a little loose so IT moves . light brush some chalk on the strut and carefully close the door. with the gear up and the door on the wheelwell flange flush with the wing , drop the gear slowly , you should be able to see a ridge of chalk on the strut where the bracket stopped fully up . THIS WILL BE A ROUGH STARTING POINT . you will probably need to lengthen/shorten /relocate door ball , before you get it just right .
this is just an idea that i'll try . not sure if it will work but hey ...i'll try anything once .

hi mike . buddy you ain't seen nothin !! i took about 30 pics of the doors lol!!
i use zpoxy 5 and 30 minute epoxy . when i do the f.g. i'll use their finnishing resin .
i pretty much did the door as per instuctions except for the ball link locations . wayne makes his own kit right so these are desinged for his planes . he told me up front that there was to be some kit bashing when i bought the stuff so it's not all that surprising . his ball link attachment points on the inner skins run right through and over top of the inboard retract mounting bracket and a good chunk of the robart base plate . to use this location would be completely counter productive at this stage . imo .
after you cut out the openings for the door skins on the wing you need to install a flange for the doors to close onto . the insructions say to use 1/16 ply and cut to the pattern provided . i got no pattern provided . so i just traced the openings out on some thin cardboard the tranfered them onto 1 /32 ply . my thinking was that i could get the ply to bend and curl easier than 1/16 . so this flange is installed arround the opening EXCEPT on the most inward side , this is where the hinge pocket bracket goes . somewhere in there anyways .... i can't really tell exactly where yet but in there none the less. lol .
in order to maintain the shape of the wing the inner plastic skins are tack glued to the flange . i didn't want to do this because i thought that it might peel off to easily the 1/32 ply so i glued it on a couple of ribs . i found that if you tack the 'low' spots the rest sat pretty snug . as it turned out one of them was more than tacked....heck it was down hard !! broke the plastic out to release it . once it's down and contoured to the wing , thats when i inlayed balsa and 30 epoxy mixed with phenolic micro balloons . let that set up then popped them free . you then line the doorwell with saran wrap and lay the inner back down . i mixed 5 minute with regular micro balloons and applied it to the inner door skin . carefully re-align innerdoor skin where you want it and carefully lay down the outer skin on top . i held it down firmly for about 15 minutes before i let go holly finger cramp !!!!!!
that's it ! oh ya i'm using 2/56 ball links .

i'll post some pics for you mike after dinner .

berrick

Jan_Petter

Thank you all for good advice. I'll either order from Tower, or make my own. Depending on how impatient I am. . .

Hooked up my air system today, and woow, that sequence valve is doing miracles !!

Still a few adjustments to make, but it's sure nice to see the Mustang on its own feet for the first time

Cheers
Jan

tomtope

looking real good jan. I finished turtle deck and the rear fin today will post pictures later camera is at work. I think i might have messed up on turtle deck i made it round like the cross section shows but the pictures on the box and on others look flat on top.
Let me know what every one else sees

dragonfly24_24

just to let everyone know i am still in this thing i just have not had any progress on my p-51 going to school at the time i would be working on my models. and not to menchen my brother has inadvertanly missplaced my planes i cant find them anywhere. evryones projects are looking good.

Snaer810

Morning All,

Berrick, Thanks for all the great advice. I think you have the right idea on those doors. Its looking great man!!!.........
I'll be keeping track of your progress. I saw what you were talking about with the inner door skin being right over the inboard retract mount. (Not Good) But you did a great job cutting out the extra skin in order to get the inner door to sit flush. {I was thinking...do you think that you could lay a piece of saran wrap down on where the inner door skin sits down against the retract mount, then after tacking it down fill the inner doors with the epoxy?} That way its kind of making a mold of that area and maintaining the look of the inner door......Just an idea../ question??....LOL

I was really excited about getting the top skins on the wing, and getting her done....but I just kept running out of time. Then the gear door issues started to arise, so I guess I'm pretty furtunate that I have not covered the top yet. I can see right now that it will certainly help out a great deal on installing those doors not having the top skin on. Of course my wife is not a very happy camper because the darn thing is taking up a whole counter area in the kitchen..........LOL..... Well its the only area I have thats long enough and flat enough to store the wing on its crutchs with weights on the tips so I don't get any warpage.....LOL Kind of funny actually..........

Hey Tom, Looks to me like the turle deck is supposed to rounded as on the cross section of the plans.....I think the photo that your looking at is making it look like it flat.....but I don't think thats the fact.

Dragon.......Good to hear from you again! I'm with you on the time thing. Work keeps me pretty busy along with everything else around the house.....You know : "The to Do List".....[] I have actually gotten alot of time in on the 51 this past week or so. Its still been kind of slow going, but thats me I guess......Old and Slow......LOL


Well sense I haven't been able to work on the wing (waiting for parts) I started on the fuse.. Things are going pretty good.
Here are some pics of the progress.


Talk to fella's later

Mike

tomtope

Hey mike, Looks real good and I think it is alot better to install the doors with out top wing skin and i would start by locating where the inner door will mount against the rib then lay it out that will move the outer gear doors as close to pivot as can be and save you some skin fixing. tahnks for info on turtle deck. Today i will start wing fillets, I put it off all day yesterday, Hope it wont be as hard as i think.



Tom

Jan_Petter

Getting tired of punching cracks and holes to the balsa cover while handling the wing, so today I started the glassing process. It's a messy job, but the result is OK. Glassed the bottom sheet today, will do the top tomorrow.

tomtope

Ok i cant seem to bring myself to make the wing fillets, I dont know why but i just keep looking at it, playing with it and dont seem to know how much angle, where it should be flat or where it should have a 45. Looked at it for 2 or 3 days and just keep shaking my head, Think i might have lost my mind looking at it so much lol help.

Tom

doublebs

tom , i found the fillets to be very nerve racking as well . no pun intended but i ended up just winging it . i glued a peice of balsa at the back as this is where it needs to be flatest but started to flatten it out just before this point so it blends . i hope these pics help you out some .

doublebs

tom , here are some more pics . i think that if i had to do it again i might of waited on applying the 30 min and micro balloons until after i got it glassed but before the final application of resin . this way you won't sand down the fuse as easily . hope these help you out.

berrick