RWHorton

My two cents on air retracts, They work great, just watch your connection and make sure there is clearance for the gear to move freely in and out of the wheel well. Also a good air valve is crucial. I went through a hard learning curve with my 1st and second warbird, the first had mechanical retracts, was always adjusting them, the second had a bad or cheep valve, after I switch out the valve for a precision valve all my troubles went away, they have worked for better than 15 years. If I can, don't get in a hurry to build it take your time, buy good quality parts check your work and you will have a great flying plane.

Ron

minimax

My Feedback: (31)

Bob,
I second the above comments, this build has gone much slower than I expected and you will have a lot of "Time"
in it.
Building is a labor of love. IMO the money becomes nearly inconsequencial compared to the time you will invest.
The price of the kit is about 25% of the cost of the entire build. I personally find it's 90% thought and 10% do.

I'm not sure the mentioned electrics are a good choice either.

If I was to do it over I wished I had better info on what equipment to use. Seirra gear is pricy, but they are machined
and not stamped. Use the best equipment even if you have to save a little longer.

"Cheap" ain't good and "Good" ain't cheap" especially if you belly land because you cut corners in the wrong
place.

Most of all have fun.. It's challenging at times yet the reward is great Welcome aboard

RWHorton

Mikey said it best Cheap ain't good and good ain't cheap. I have spent 10 years to finish my GS P-47, some due to the fact I just didn't have the money to buy the best stuff, But I see the light at the end of the tunnel. Take your time and most of all enjoy the build.

Ron

TonyBuilder

My Feedback: (11)

I agree cheep an't worth nothing, don't hesitate to post pics here, Gary gave me power of attorney on his thread

It gives us a better understanding to what you are doing. The build is strait forward and you can modify it or build it to specks. I'm on my second build of this kit in the last year. If you do something every day you will have a facsimile of a bird in no time, glad your building and sharing.

TB

tiger650

My Feedback: (22)

A quick question. I purchased Sullivan Skylite wheels. They are aluminum hub 5" by 1 3/4" wide wheels. Will they be too wide to fit properly in the wheel well withe a little toe in applied?

thanks,
bob

redbiscuits

My Feedback: (6)

I'm afraid those will be too wide. I used the Dubro inflatable tires that are 1.5" wide, and they just barely fit inside and allow the gear to lock and unlock properly. Even the Robart wheels are 1-9/16" wide, so anything in the 5" wheel dept. are going to be a tight fit.

http://shop.dubro.com/p/5-dia-large-...s-wheels?pp=12
http://www.robart.com/products/5-10-...aluminum-wheel

redbiscuits

My Feedback: (6)

Then there is always Glennis if you REALLY want the right look, but they are pricey.
http://www.glennis.com/warbird.htm

TonyBuilder

My Feedback: (11)

I had 5" Robarts and they fit but I made my wing 1/8" thicker, going to be hard pressed to fit a scale 5" wheel.

TB

RWHorton

I went with 4.5" wheels, Given that I put the wheels in the location the kit called for I thought that the 5" would be too tight and I wanted the gear doors to be flush and the only way I could make that happen was with the 4.5" wheels. I would think if you put the wheels in the scale location you could put the right size wheel in.

Ron

tiger650

My Feedback: (22)

Ron,
This is my first kit, so I am going to stick to the directions as much as practical. As I recall from one of the prior posts someone used the 4 1/2" wheels from the hanger 9 30cc P-47. Maybe that is the way too go.

Bob

redbiscuits

My Feedback: (6)

I believe the H9 P-47 was discontinued last summer, it might be hard to find the wheels from that ARF.

TonyBuilder

My Feedback: (11)

I would go with the Robart retracts being they are drop in, you can get an upgrade from Sierra to replace the plastic parts. once you get the wing top built and the retracts in you can see what size wheel will work based on your preference on the look and your gear doors.


TB

tiger650

My Feedback: (22)

TB,

I had ordered the robart electric mains with the kit and then read your post about reliability. Rather than just send them back to Tower, I decided to call Robart and discuss the quality/ reliability of these retracts. I talked to Doug, a really nice guy. To summarize our discussion there were issues with the Corsair gear due to its complexity, while the P47 gear has had very few problems. Doug gave me a few tips on how to set up and operate the gear, and thus I decided to keep them and order the retractable tail gear.

Good idea to wait on the wheels until the retracts are installed. I will do that.

I am am almost finished with the stab, not perfect, but hopefully it will work. I will post some pics soon.

I live in South Florida in the winter as I just retired, so going to fly my hanger 9 85cc Sukhoi today

Thanks,

bob

RWHorton

I am not sure what the deal is but the Sierra gear I have are a direct replacement for the Robart gear. They are not on Sierra's web page but I talked to Darrell and the sent me these. They cost $450.00 (ouch) and that is just for the mains, but they are build strong and will give many years of service.

Bob if I can suggest, build the gear mount strong. TF IMHO doesn't engineer the gear area right to move the landing and side loads to the spar. It is critical to get the landing loads (energy) to the spar of the wing. Again I went through a hard learning curve on that issue.

bigal126

My Feedback: (18)

Here's another wheel option. Click on Wheels and Tires for some other options
http://www.ziroliplans.com/zirolipla..._frameset.html

TonyBuilder

My Feedback: (11)

RW, the sierras I am talking about are not the same as yours. They are the republic gear made for the yellow aircraft P-47, they are inline so no can do with the drop in.

TB

tiger650

My Feedback: (22)

Nice selection of wheels/tires. I like the Dubro 4 1/2" rubber with aluminum rims. They look good and are a reasonable price.
Thanks!

TonyBuilder

My Feedback: (11)

Just remember the scale size for this kit is 6" even the 5" look small. You might want to find a thin 5" wheel.

TB

RWHorton

Copy that Tony, When I ordered the gear I was not aware of the ones I received, Darrel asked what plane I was building and these showed up.. Not even sure if Darrel makes them now.

TonyBuilder

My Feedback: (11)

Ron, You have to be very clear with Darrell. I wanted the shrink bar but the 1/5 were to big so I asked for the yellow, of course he said they were not drop ins, NP o told him. The ones you have are a better drop in then the Robarts for sure.

TB

tiger650

My Feedback: (22)

Please help. Is there a process to follow to get nice symmetrical LE's when sanding? I am struggling with my stab LE. I have a 5" and an 11" bar sander as well as one of those great planes contour sanders, but none of the contours match what the LE should look like. I also have some thin sponge sanding pads that I have not used.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks,
bob

rt3232

My Feedback: (6)

Tiger

There meany way to get what you are looking for, over the years I have found that by making at least 3 templates of the conture you want "root center and tip" sand a narrow section to fit I then use a black marker to color and then sand remaining area with the sanding bar, a final fine sand takes off the color, this gets the same conture on both sides. I do this for stab's and wing L/E.
Works for me, but maybe others have a quicker methed.

Cheers Bob T
AMA13377

TonyBuilder

My Feedback: (11)

It is not easy getting it perfect so I just go by feel and if it is close then that is best that I can do. You can make templets and jigs if you want perfection. I find doing the skins first then adding the LE helps. I also used a pre shaped LE so it was easy to get it uniformed, but I'm not doing it the way the kit wants you to!

TB

rt3232

My Feedback: (6)

T/B

+1 on the feel thats after the templates, also a lot of eye balling.

cheers Bob T

tiger650

My Feedback: (22)

Thanks Bob and TB. I will follow the templates on the plan as best I can being careful not to take off to much wood as I proceed. I will post a couple pics when I am done.
Thanks again
bob