grumman-cats

Hello everyone
I thought I would chime in with my seafury build and kitbashed tempest MK V. I almost have the seafury ready. installing the engine and radio gear. Still have to get some paint and I'll be ready for the camo work. If anyone has any tips for me on it's flight characteristics I would love to hear them. The last thing I want to do is put it in the dirt on the first attempt.

Jim Norton

jeffk464

Can you give us an all up weight once you have everything installed.

grumman-cats

I don't really have an accurate scale but can give a somewhat close weight. I did use only one servo for the flaps but I installed an extra one to work the inner gear doors. I also went with the 3/8 robostrut which I think is kind of heavy. I built a battery box on top of the engine box and I am installing the throttle servo on the firewall as well. All other servos will be in the front wing saddle bay under the fuel tank ( praying for no leaks ). I'm also laying another layer of fiberglass inside the cowling to increase its strength. Like most of you I also have heard about how tail heavy this plane is so I figure I might as well increase weight in the nose with something useful. I'm installing an OS .91 FX so its not the heaviest of engines. I'm also thinking of an onboard glow for additional weight but haven't decided where or how to build it. It will be simple so I have to be able to access the battery easily. Any ideas would be welcomed.

grumman-cats

heres some photo's

Timthetoolman1

My Feedback: (6)

Look at this thread http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_33...tm.htm#3358996
There is also a link to another thread that tells you how I've made them. I've made 3 and they are working fine.

grumman-cats

well I installed the engine and spinner and a four cell battery and did a preliminary cg check and its about an inch to the rear of what the plans call for. I haven't installed the front three servo's yet or the ailron servo's and I still need to glass the inside of the cowling and I would prefer a five cell battery pack. In the end I may not have to add any extra weight in the form of lead to balance this model. So far I'm pretty happy with the way things are going.

has anyone flown the seafury with the cg slightly aft. If so I would love to here your opinion on how it flew.

rc-sport

My Feedback: (12)

grumman, I too am building a Sea Fury. I'm curious, what's that dew hickey sticking out behind the landing gear just front of the wing bolts.

grumman-cats

That is actually my retract fill valve. I used a century jet air tank which fit in the rear of the wing. You can see the white under the sheeting, thats it. Anyway, this allowed me to keep all the retract equipment in the wing so I don't need the disconnect in the fuselage which in my opinion is just another place to leak air. I still get 5 to 6 full cycles on the smaller tank so I'm happy with the trade off.

Today I installed the throttle servo on firewall to help with weight placement. I have the elevator and rudder servo's in the front bay of the wing saddle under the fuel tank and built a box on top of the engine box for the batteries. I'm hopeing that all of this will lead to a properly balanced airplane. I also hid the elevator control rod inside the fuselage.

you should put on a pic so I can see your plane

rc-sport

My Feedback: (12)

Nice install. I'll post pics as soon as I get my shop cleaned up

grumman-cats

here's a photo of my tempest and of my seafury engine install.

vasek

My Feedback: (4)

Jim, I like the idea of servo driven inner gear doors

can you provide more info &pics for the inner gear doors hook up to the servo pls?

thanx !

grumman-cats

I used a jomar electronic gear and door sequencer that I purchased from tower hobbies. The installation is pretty basic but it seems to work real well. The only issue I have right now is mounting the gear doors. I also built the wing radiators out of balsa which I think is going to work out alot better than the abs.

grumman-cats

I would recomend one thing and that is to use robart's door hinges. I used regular strip hinges and it left a larger gap in the hinge line that I would have liked. That's what I get for going cheap.

vasek

My Feedback: (4)

great!
i've got the jomar "IN STOCK" no prob there. I see what you mean about going cheap (been there done that), I will get robarts hinges...

thanks Jim

grumman-cats

Well I was on ebay today and broke down and bought a hvlp spray gun. I've been doing alot of reading on using latex paints and clear coating them so I'm gonna give it a try. I'm gonna try and mix my own colors to match the monokote for the cowling and then clear coat it with jerry nelsons paints. I'm gonna also get a darker gray for the camoflage on the fuselage. Hoping it won't have a problem sticking to the monokote. I was able to pull most of the covering pretty tight so I'm hoping to avoid future wrinkles. I know its alot to ask for. Anyway if anyone has any info on this technique of have done this in the past and have some pics I would love to here and see your ideas.

grumman-cats

[&:]finally broke down and got out the polyester resin and put a layer of glass on the inside of the cowling. Now I just need to let it dry and I can move on to painting. got my gun in the mail and my compressor moved into the shop and all my paints. Now it's time to see if I can mix some colors. I've done alot of research on this mixing thing and I think I'm ready to give it a try.

jamie_duff

I'm not building a Sea Fury, although I really ought to

But I am building the TF 1/7 P-51 and I really like your gear set up. Think I'll shamlessly steal all your ideas if you don't mind???

grumman-cats

Your secret is safe with me[:-].
I checked on my cowling today and the strength that it gained with just one layer of cloth and resin is [color=#FF0033][/color]wonderful. Well worth the extra weight. I've heard several people complain about how little abuse the stock cowling can take. I will say that mine was perfect as far as the gel coat and layup goes. I think Top Flite did an excellent job with that but the fact still remains that it is a warbird and the chance of it noseing over is just to great. But with that said, I'm not too worried about it now.

rc-sport

My Feedback: (12)

Here is mine almost ready for covering. My cowl was cracked in several places and since I bought it from a private party I was sunk. I checked with Top Flite for a new cowl and the want $51.00 for a new cowl[X(]. I contacted Fiberglass Specialties to see if they had one. They don't make that cowl so I'm sending them the cracked cowl and a template of the firewall and they are going to make me a new one. Once the mold is made they will be able to supply other modelers. I've used their cowls before and it will be thicker and stronger than stock.

grumman-cats

It's lookin pretty good. I recently bought a cowling for my goldberg sukio from fiberglass specialties. They do have some nice stuff. I starting to get fairly efficient at using polyester resin and molds. I did consider using the one I have to make a mold for it for future use but I have strengthed it enough to make it last I think. I installed some square metal pieces inside under the glass cloth for the cowling mounts. It acts like a big washer that is built into the cowling. I did this with my bearcat and that one has been through hell and still looks good.

grumman-cats

One other thing.
before you cover it you might want to make those wing radiators out of balsa. Mine came out real well, alot better than that abs plastic. I have no use for that stuff unless it's in my bombs or rockets. I found some thin plastic tube from McMaster Carr that makes a great 1/7 scale 5" HVAR rocket. I'll get a pic if anyone is interested.

grumman-cats

Here's a pic of my cowling and one of my rockets.

ticketec

My Feedback: (2)

Hey grumman-cats,

I'm also building a T/F p-51 and jamie sent me this way to check out your work because i wanted to do exactly what you have done.

How much was the Jomar gear and door unit? i check the tower website and couldn't find it.

Thanks

grumman-cats

I found it in there main catalog, I beleive I seen it advertised in there sales flyer too. I know I've seen it on the internet site but I'm not sure what it's listed under. If I remember correctly it costs $44.00. I used robart HD struts with the 3/8 robostruts.

grumman-cats

[link]http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXCJE0&P=7[/link]I looked it up on the tower site today and I was wrong. It's only $38.00 . Anyway I hope the link works for you. If it doesn't it's listed as a EMS gear & door sequencer. The one unit has some dip switchs inside that you can change from having the inner gear doors staying down as in the seafury and haveing them retract after the gear come down as in the P-51. If your using mechanical retracts you can make the gear retract at different times for a more realistic look.