mike early

I wonder if a Saito 150 would fit. Probably still have to add weight...

Aluminum Overcast

Hi Guys,

We had our annual club picnic Sunday (it was 96 degrees or so here in Michigan....HOT) My buddy Joe shot and cut some vid of the event. I'm posting the link to it here because my buddy Dave's TF 60 sized P40 is shown flying about. His is flying with that 3 blade master airscrew 14X8 (we think) power is a Saito 100, same with his corsair in the vid too. I'm flying the little blue and white with orange tail F16 in the video. My P40 was there and ready for a maiden after the event but by the time we wrapped up the event we were all toast and I didn't feel up for it. Not to mention I wanted to remove the small steel washer up front I had machined for correct cg in favor of useful weight.....so, last night I added a few layers of fiberglass and microbaloons to the lower section of the cowl as my two friends who fly this bird at the field tell me 50 percent of the landings they have had so far have ended up on the nose and the thin cowl gets a bit crumpled.....so I'm adding some weight up front but it will be useful weight in the form of cowl strengthening not lead. a few days prior I also added a 20 oz tank to give me aprox. 15 minutes of flight time and reworked my internals to support the tank. This included moving the voltage regulator for the lipo I'm using. This Turnigy regulator has a built in set of led's that show charge status. Pretty nice but not visible since it is hidden in the fuse. I decided that I would transport those lights to the cockpit via some fiber optic strands I had from a kids flashlight. Worked pretty well and functional too.

Maidening mine tomorrow if the weather allows. I will try to shoot some vid of it for you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfvYB...e_gdata_player

Joespeeder

hey Guys,

Here's some teaser pics from Aluminum Overcast's maiden last night. I took some video of the flight on his camcorder.

Once he edits it down I'm sure you'll see it here.

Enjoy.....

Joe

jet22b

Great pictures!!! Can not wait to see the vid!! The more I see on this thread, the more I want to start the build on my P-40 60 ARF. The Top Flite Cessna 310 is on it last leg of the build and will be in the air soon. I can not wait!!!
Thanks for sharing the pictures!!

Sonny
aka
jet22b

Aluminum Overcast

Well....Here you go, fellas..... Maiden Flight last Tuesday. Very hot and humid but also very calm, making for a great oportunity to try her out. Great support from all my buddies out at the field and here too....Thanks.



http://www.youtube.com/user/Aluminum...6?feature=mhee

jet22b

AO;
Just watch your video of your maiden flight and I must say, that is one sweet flying bird. Any large trim input, or was it spot on??? Can not wait to start the build on my Top Flite P-40 60 ARF. Lots of good info on this thread and I will read every last post when I start my build. Thanks for sharing the vid of your maiden flight. I hope you have tons of fun with her.
Sonny
aka
jet22b

mike early

Looks wonderful. Where'd you get that exhaust elbow?

Joespeeder

Hey AO !!!


Who shot that awesome video ??? Great to see it cleaned up. Better yet great to see you back in the air with a proper warbird !!!

Last Tuesday we were doing laps with our "A" game warbirds. At one point we had about 6 or 7 in a pack doing flybys.

Now we can count on another Flying Tiger to patrol the skies over PMAC.

Next I need to add a cam mount to the Hurricane to get air to air of the P-40 and others in a pack.

Congrats and see you Tuesday !!

Joe

Aluminum Overcast

Thanks for all the nice comments, guys.


In response to them:
No, no major trim required. One or two clicks here or there, that's it. Even when the flaps deployed I expected some pitch up or something but it was all very smooth. Part of that goes to the slow deployment of the flaps with the help of that Tenergy servo reverser and slow dep feature it has. Thanks for the recommendation Joe (joespeeder)! It seemed like a dream, really as the thing just flew so well in every way, from take off roll to final pull up back to the pits. As you can hear in the vid, even the engine was perfect throughout its range. I didn't get a chance to fly formation with the group though as my remote glo plug adapter seemed to lose connection after the first flight. Upon investigation later that night it seems there is something in the plug and keeps the jack from seating properly. It does work if I plug it in halfway or so...Odd...I'm looking into it.

Exhaust elbow is from Max Products http://www.macspro.com/four_pre.asp as well as the corrugated tubing. Great stuff and a wide range of engines accommodated there. I did trim a bit of the thread and nut as well as filed down the outer area a lot to clear the cowl without having to cut any holes in it.

Thanks for shooting footage of my Maiden Joe, Not an easy job, especially on a maiden. Throw in an unfamiliar camera just for fun too! Yup, the little jets we have been flying are fun but no way will ever replace the warbird flying with the group. Can't even begin to tell you how much I have missed that! I'm looking forward to next Tuesday and beyond all ready!

mike early

Great engine. How much fuel does it consume?

Others have mentioned nosing over while taxiing. Yours does not look like that is an issue at all. Maybe it's the retracts they are using...

mike early

I've had to grind down elbows before too. They eventually break, so far. aluminum and cast steal both. I have a twister fitting that requires 1 inch of clearance on my Saito 125. I am going to mount the engine at a slight angle to give the necessary room for the exhaust.
Is that weight or a battery pack mounted over your engine? How much cooling exit on your cowl?


stock spinner vs dave brown vortech. Just a bit better. I can live with it. 3 Blade

Aluminum Overcast

Mike,

This engine consumed 16 oz of 30% Omega coolpower in 9 minutes 38 seconds at full power, on a rich setting. Oddly enough at half throttle setting I only gained and additional minute and a half. I have since gone to a 20 oz tank as we fly aprox. 15 minute or so when we do our formation flying.

I believe the wheel size helps in not nosing over. I used Du-bro foam filled wheels and ground them down a bit to get them to fit into the wing a bit better. These wheels, being larger, go thru the grass better and are fairly stiff. Biggest thing is they set the taxi attitude of the model much higher making it more difficulty to nose over. I could also increase this by shortening my tail wheel a bit but I plan gear doors back there at some point so I need the clearance. Oleos are home made by me and have a very neutral feeling spring action to soak up the bumps.

Macs elbow is pretty beefy aluminum. I would expect to see the corrugated steel tube fail first but we'll see. All exhaust systems will fail eventually due to heat cycle and vibration.. I think this will last quite well as it is supported along the length and dampened by the high temp silicone tubing that holds it secure (but suspended) between the cowl and the fuse.


Green box up front over the engine is a battery. Lipo 1600 MaH 2 cell. There is no dead weight (lead) on this bird!

Cool spinner from Dave Brown is it 3.5 in diameter?

Cooling is as you would expect along the bottom of the cowl. It blows right over the cylinder as it goes thru. I did open up the intake on top the cowl and will also replace those horrible exhaust stacks top flight added to something more scale and also venting to the outside. Keleo creations makes a scale exhaust for the kit version. Not sure how it would fit here. I would expect to see them come out with a specific version for this arf at some point as this model will be a popular one I think. They have an awesome one for the Byron P40 too but pricey

mike early

4" spinner.
I was under the impression that Keleo stopped making most of their scale exhausts. A shame.

I think I am going to have to add 1 pound of lead

Aluminum Overcast

Ah, I do know they no longer do custom work and they did drop a few offerings from their line. It would be great to see a good stack from them regarding this model.

Great find on the spinner looks very close to stock and at 4" same size apparently!

mike early

i hoped it would be a little shorter and a little closer to the scale shape. But I do like it better than stock...

mike early

This plane is on sale.

jet22b

A.O,
I don't know if this is the same company that Mike and yourself are talking about, ( see link below ).
http://keleo-creations.com/
Back in May of this year, I order the muffler system for the Hangar 9 Spitfire from them. I must say, it ia a joy to see that Spitfire fly with that system. It would be sweet to see that same muffler system on the Top Flite P-40!!

Sonny
aka
jet22b

mike early

They do still make one for my Saito 125 for some Hanger9 ARFs, it appears


They seem to sound wonderful too, but I've never heard one in person. Alas.

Aluminum Overcast

There was a guy or two at our field who had them on a spitfire and it did add a nice note. Seeing puffs of exhaust smoke puffing out of each stack intermittently was even cooler! Unfortunately, those models are no longer flying there as the pilot/owners were somewhat new to flying warbirds. The fishtail exhaust keleo is for the larger yellow aircraft p40. I wish they made them that way for the 60 size as well.

mike early

Best for 4stroke gassers, but I wouldn't mind wiping down some extra oil on the sides of my planes. Just how messy are they?

Aluminum Overcast

Seemed okay from what I remember, it depends on the engine and fuel used. Engine was saito 100 I believe; just a fine spray along the back fuse and tail group. Best to seal your plane with a clearcoat as the oil will seep under the covering over time though. Glass fuses wear better in this regard.

jet22b

Mike & A.O.
Yes the Keleo exhaust system leave a mess down the side of the fuse, but, it give you the real look of a warbird!! In the air you can see the trail of smoke going over the wings and the tail. It just look so cool to see that the stacks on the side of the cowling working and not just for show. Now if I can find a good deal on another saito 1.00, I may order another set of the Keleo muffler and see if they fit the P-40!!

Sonny
aka
jet22b

Trax79

Hi All,

First time poster here on RCU, but I must say that all the info on these threads have made the hobby so much easier and enjoyable.  I do however want to pose all of you that have this plane to give me an honest review.  I am comfortable with my H9 P-47 and am at ease with my pawnee 40 and mustang pts (all aids removed, 2 blade prop)  I was going to transplant my OS95 into this bird from my jug, but want an honest opinion as to whether this will be too much plane for me, I wuld rather be told now rather than a maiden and crash.  Thanks all!!


Travis
H9 P-47, Pawnee 40, Mustang PTS, TFP-40, and a crapload of foamy park flyers

bigtim

My Feedback: (13)

I just installed a Keleo on my H-9 P-40 that was made for a OS91 and the cool factor is top notch, I would think that kelven could knock one out if asked to do so, I am sure he has the welding gigs there fairly simple set up I did my first test run couple days ago and there was a little oil on the sides but nothing out of control.
if the demand were high enough he would start making them for the smaller models but he seems to be on to doing giant scale planes seems to e a little more market for them in the larger models

TSky28

My Feedback: (3)

hey Jet. I think once you get through all these posts you will find that while a 95 will probably pull a stock ARF, most of these guys are putting 100s,120s, and in my case a DLE-20, up front. As for the aircraft itself. Go for it man. If you are already swinging warbirds around then this shouldn't be much of a jump. There is alot of scary talk surrounding this bird but you gotta live right? If you were asking about a transition from an easy-star to the p-40 then you might have cause to worry but as always, don't exceed aircraft limitations, and you should be fine. Have a ball. I have my KIT maiden scheduled for next week so I can't speak in particular on the handling of the ARF but I will post the results of my 10.5lb kit build. Enjoy