Dave Presta

My Feedback: (3)

I am looking for the owner of this Sea Fury. The picture was taken this past week at Top Gun. This used to be my plane and I sold it a few years ago, I just wanted to know who owned it now.

Thanks,
Dave

vasek

My Feedback: (4)

Dave, sorry i have no info 4 U about the plane's owner,

but would like to know what spinner did you put on the nose? it looks good! (am building a Sea Fury as we speak)

thanks in advance,
Vasek

Dave Presta

My Feedback: (3)

that Sea Fury is a Century Jet Models kit. Everything was ordered from them including the spinner and scale landing gear

Dave Presta

My Feedback: (3)

as a matter of fact, if you go to their website centuryjet.com and look at the photo gallery of the sea fury you will see pictures of this plane when I owned it.

Dave

P-51B

My Feedback: (5)

http://www.franktiano.com/tg2003win.htm

Check #18 in the Pro-Am class. That may be it.

Dave Presta

My Feedback: (3)

Thats him!! I am happy he still owns it and it is doing well. Thanks for the info.
If anyone knows how to get in touch with Howard please have him email me at [email protected]

Thanks again,
Dave

NoGuts_NoGlory

My Feedback: (41)

Dave , it's Howard!
Just saw your post and obviously I still have the Sea Fury I bought from you. In the Top Gun bio sheet, for the ProAm class, I included the fact that I had gotten the plane from you but didn't know the builder. In fact, from time to time I speak to Ralph at RC Ignition and I ask if he sees you since I know you are both into racing.
Anyway, flying at this years Top Gun was a very worthwhile experience and my 18th place finish was not as good as I had hoped but I'm pleased with it. I decided to enter the Sea Fury since it is the best "wind" plane I have. It's been a windy winter here and I wanted to bring a plane I had a lot of confidence in and one that landed well - the Sea Fury.
The first round was on Thursday and it was a very grey overcast afternoon which proved very hard to see the plane but the next day was a perfect sky and there were two rounds that day.
I don't know if you know Brian O'Meara, but two years ago I sold him the P-40 and last year he flew it at Top Gun during a Warbird gaggle. It was very windy then also but he wowed the crowd when he made a great landing with it.
Regards and I hope all is well with you,
Howard
[email protected]

LuvaraAir

My Feedback: (4)

This was from way back in '97 when the airplane first flew:

Dave Presta

My Feedback: (3)

Howard,
Great to hear from you and I am glad that the Sea Fury is working out for you. The Sea Fury and the P-40 that I sold you were both built by John Andrews. I was just telling someone a week ago how much I loved that plane, along with the P-40. I was at that flying site earlier this year at Florida jets. The only reason I sold those planes is because I had a bug to get a turbine. I'm happy to see that they are in good hands, and i will be out that way 2 more times this year. I will be in Lake Whales at the Florida international Jet rally in November, and I will also be out for the championship Quarter Midget race that I think will be at Markham Park. My two good friends were also there at Top Gun with there jets. Johnny Hernandez with his F-16, and Bryce Watson with his F-5. The reason I knew about the Sea Fury is because Bryce was posting pictures he took at Top Gun and I immediatley recognized the Sea Fury. Here is the plane that I have now that I sold my two warbirds to you, it is still in Ft Lauderdale at my buddy Johnny's house and I will be flying it at Top Gun next year.
Hope to talk to you soon,
Dave

NoGuts_NoGlory

My Feedback: (41)

Hi Dave,
TRAITOR!!!
Jets???
What's with that?
Only kidding, and your plane looks great. Let me know when you are going to be at Markham park as it's only about a half hour from my business in Boca.
Where did your friend post his Top Gun pictures?
Regards,
Howard

Dave Presta

My Feedback: (3)

Howard, go check this link and you will see that Im not a TOTAL traitor. I will be flying this plane at the Scale Masters Nationals in Kansas this September.



http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_13...mpage_4/tm.htm

-JC-

My Feedback: (26)

Hi Howard,

Great flying at TG. You must have had a great instructor I am enjoying the SoCal weather, but the traffic here is killing me.

Here is a picture from TG

LuvaraAir

My Feedback: (4)

Hey Dave... remember this day??????

[link=http://www.stickandrudderphoto.com/video/seafury.wmv]25 second Sea Fury video! 1mb[/link]

Dave Presta

My Feedback: (3)

Chris, i tried to open it and couldn't. What video is it?

NoGuts_NoGlory

My Feedback: (41)

Hi Dave,
Now that's a SWEET plane. Good luck with it in Wizard of Oz land.
(Attaching a few more pics).
Howard

NoGuts_NoGlory

My Feedback: (41)

Hi John,
You're right! I did have a great instructor - THANK YOU!!!
Thanks also for the picture, it's a nice shot. Enjoy the SoCal weather as it's windy and hot here. As for traffic, won't "Fly RC" provide a limo??
My thanks again for your help and advice - hope to see you at the field soon.
Howard

Dave Presta

My Feedback: (3)

Chris, I got it to open. Nice video, I remember it now...Thats you flying it right?

Later,
Dave

LuvaraAir

My Feedback: (4)

Yeah dude, that was me! Good times!

RickVB

My Feedback: (24)

Hey Howard, would you mind telling us a little more about this plane? Engine, functions, paint, etc.? Have you done anything to it since you bought it, and if so why and how? What do you think of the CJM scale retracts, in terms of quality and durability? Dave, you can chime in too if you have anything to add.

(The reason I ask is because I have one of these kits in the hopper myself... and also just 'cause I curious about a neat plane. )

Dave Presta

My Feedback: (3)

Rick,
This plane, as I sold it to Howard, is powered by a Sachs 5.8 with electronic ignition. The scale retracts from Century Jet are very nice, but they had been pop-rivited together wich over time and many many landings started to loosen up. I converted all of the sloppy areas to bolts and this solved the problem. This kit builds a little heavy and needed quite a bit of nose weight, that's why there was a big engine in it... if you need the noseweight and the cowling will allow it, the more power the better. The tailwheel was non-retractable because of the tail heavy issue. As for the paint John used Chevron Perfect paint and I believe an automotive clear coat. Since this paint is not available anymore you can either have the automotive basecoat matched, or use testors model magic paint. The plane fly's really well, but needs all the flaps and some power to land (if I remember correctly). Once you get used to it, the Sea Fury is very predictable on landings and sticks very well once the wheels touch the runway. The takeoff's were very straightforward and easy, and the handling of the plane in the air is incredible. Howard will have to chime in and bring you up to speed on its curent status, I have not owned this plane in over 3 years, and I had it for 2 years prior to that. John Andrews, the builder of the plane, is a very good builder and every one of his warbirds that he has built have lasted longer then you want to fly them...this one is no exception. If you have any further questions on how this plane was built, post them here along with your email address and I will make sure John gets the message.
Good luck
Dave

RickVB

My Feedback: (24)

Thanks for the reply Dave. You seem to confirm everything I 've heard about this kit - builds heavy, gear suspect, flies great. As to the engine, I'm interested in hearing what will fit in the cowl without cutting it up too much, because for warbirds I'm a big believer in scale flying props (well, as scale as possible anyhow). So if JoeEagle ever makes a 5-blade, I'll want a 5.8 (or bigger) in mine, too...

One more question that occurs to me is if you used the scale exhaust the CJM offered, and if so are there heat problems along the side of the fuse where it emerges.

Dave Presta

My Feedback: (3)

Yes the scale exaust was used. Once again Howard will have to chime in on how its doing, but there was never an issue when I had the plane. I forgot all about the scale exaust until you mentioned it, thats another one of my favorite things about this Sea Fury. I dont remember what the diameter of the cowl is but if there is room this plane is crying for an opposed twin, just dont get one that is too light because you need the noseweight. The 5.8 that is installed is a one lunger and really vibrates quite a bit, if I had to do it all over again I would try to stuff a DA-100 or a 3W inside, it would make it a little more simple when it comes to the scale exaust. Dont get me wrong, the gear work really well and look great...they just get a little loose after 200 flights or so because of all the different pivot points that are pop-riveted together.

take care,
Dave

NoGuts_NoGlory

My Feedback: (41)

Hi Dave and Rick,
I just saw the latest posts and I will take a picture of the bottom of the cowl to show how little of the engine is exposed.
I will also give an update on the maintenance history on the Sea Fury. Hopefully I will get it posted tomorrow.
Howard

seafurymike

Hey guys,

I am in the long process of building a seafury - scratch.
A quick question with cooling. Did you guys happen to find that you had to cut a hole in the bottom of the cowl to get the coolig correct or did you baffle the incoming air and restrict it enough for the scale outlet already present?


Seafurymike

NoGuts_NoGlory

My Feedback: (41)

Hi Dave and Rick and Mike,
Here's a brief review of the things that I changed, needed to change or needed to fix since I bought the plane from Dave a number of years ago.
First of all, I always laugh when I remember asking Dave "Is the Brison 5.8 enough engine?". It can give a nasty kickback while starting but it really makes the plane move.
Here's the work to date (not necessarily in order):

Changed aileron servo - old one failed in flight.

Changed CH ignition - old one was acting bad.

Changed Airtronics PCM rx to Futaba PCM rx - thought I was getting interference but now I think it was the aileron servo beginning to fail.

Had to tighten and replace - a number of times - the exhaust flexible metal tubing as well as the brackets due to vibration.

Replaced the spinner one time and had body shop repairs done twice due to noseovers when there were gear problems.

Landing gear needs to be maintained to prevent screws coming loose due to vibration.
On the LG subject, the Century Jet scale landing gear makes the landings really sweet and the maintence on these are no more than Robarts. While at Top Gun, I met Daryl of Sierra Precision and he showed me his new Sea Fury gear and they really look pretty.

Changed the flap servo to a Hitec digital and programmed the speed so I could use flaps as a Top Gun option. However, I didn't use that since then you must use flaps for takeoff and the Sea Fury model, as well as the real one, tends to nose over when flaps are used then.

Replaced broken outer wheel cover - wear and tear.

The airframe has held up amazingly well with just the normal rash from all the years of use.

I had the paint color matched at Home Depot in latex paint. Not perfect but for touch up, the slight difference in shades isn't that noticable.

The exhaust exits over chrome covering that looks like Monocote but I'm not sure what it is. After a few flights, the exhaust streaks look like the real plane.

I think I covered everthing I could remember. I'll add to this post if I remember anything important.

Pictures show the cowl cutout.

Regards to you all,
Howard

P.S. The storage picture is Yellow P-47, Yellow Spifire, Century Sea Fury, Meister FW-190.