Mustang Fever

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A lot of building to be done in the bow area, including the windshield, side and top glass frames and the hatch behind the windows for access to the battery.

I put the center of the windshield framing in, and will sheet the rest of the bow to back under where all the glass goes.

Mustang Fever

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After messing around a bit, I discovered that the best way to build the cockpit glass framing is to 1) put in the center support and frame 2) build around the bottom of the glass. All that's left now is to put in the vertical and top frame pieces.

Mustang Fever

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Looks like it worked. This is pleasing to the eye, and closely matches the drawings.

Still have one more crosspiece to put into the top, then it's done. In looking at a scale model, I realize that these pieces are actually curved a little. I think I can stick some balsa on the outsides and make it look close to that.

cpt nj

She looks like she's gonna be a lite bird,this is one to keep an eye on.

Mustang Fever

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This is quite possibly the most tedious part of building the Mars: installing window mounts and cutting the 13 windows to size. I strip 1/16 balsa sheet to the thickness of the window frames minus the plastic thickness of 0.030", and then glue that around the inside of the window opening so that the glass is flush with the framing. Very slow process, fitting and gluing them in. I will wait until the window framing is all painted and then glue each window in with canopy glue.

Roger Gray

You are right this is no time to hurry.

splinterz25

Bob I saw the photos you posted on my thread but I wasn't aware you had begun
skinning your build.
It's looking really good I will be following along I'm very intrested in how you will make the plane pick up water and drop it that will be very cool.

Keep up the good work,

Bruce

Mustang Fever

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Thanks, Bruce.

I'm still considering whether or not to build a water pickup and drop tank for it. It would be a lot of fun, but would also add a lot of complication. I'm leaning towards the Naval Air Transport version, and they didn't have that. That was something done by Coulson many years after the Korean war.

In any event, the warm weather is here and the snow is melting away, and I can tell ya now I won't be doing much more building until late next fall. I'm going to be flying and riding my road bike. I also have a hangar with 16 flyable birds (including one heli) and several of them need maintenance and upgrades, so there won't be much in the budget for the Mars until later.

splinterz25

Bob you out in the yard these days or flying? I know you said there wouldn't be much action here until next winter

Bruce

Mustang Fever

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To be truthful, the weather's been so bad here I haven't flown anything for a couple of weeks. I actually went downstairs and did some more of the internal framing for the cockpit windows, and made the windows to fit. I've got about half of them done.

Mustang Fever

My Feedback: (2)

Here we go. A little more than half the windows done. Trying to get them all to be at the same level, but it's really tough. They're just sitting in there, now, so they don't line up as good as they will when glued.

Mustang Fever

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Last post was almost two years ago. A couple of things happened: I got really disenchanted with RCU, due to problems uploading pictures. That appears to have been cured, now. Secondly, I kinda shelved the Mars. I've now got it back on the "active" list and will work on it a bit this year, and maybe finish it over the next winter. This picture shows the beginnings of reinforcing the hull bottom for the water tank. This will be a real simple affair: A door that hinges up from the bottom to uncover the dump holes, and a fixed pickup tube on the bottom to fill the tank. Crude drawing, but it shows what I'm describing.

The second pic is what took up a lot of my time during the last couple years.

Fast Freddy

Long time Mustang! I know how that goes, only took me 5 years to finish Ivan's Sealand...life kept getting in the way. Sad to say my Sealand met her demise this past summer after I parked her in a shorline tree. It was just fine until she decided to fall out of the tree and rip the entire top of the fuse off.....wing came out of it unscathed....fuse needs to be re-built.

I must say, not an easy project you've got going there, but what a magnificent airplane! Hang in there, a little bit each day even if it's just 20 minutes, it will get done. Most of my posting is over in rcgroups.

Mustang Fever

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Sorry to hear about the Sealand, Freddy. I've been doing a lot of posting on RCG, too. The Airacobra thread is over there. Worked up the following specs for the propulsion system, with a lot of experimenting on ecalc. This one gives the lightest weight for the thrust/speed goals:

4- Turnigy G25-610
10x6 APC sport props, two pusher and two tractor for counter rotation. (This will allow me to eliminate the right thrust built into the right hand motors on the plans.)
Zippy 4000 4S 20C pack (only 16 oz compared to the original 28oz of NiCads)
4- Castle Creations Talon 35 ESCs.
Ecalc says 9.4 minutes mixed flight time, 11A per motor, 44mph top end, about 80% of the weight in thrust.

Mustang Fever

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Well, here we go again. This thread is now inactive. I just can't get excited about the Mars. It's taken me 15 years, but I've sort of gravitated to giant scale warbirds. My next project is going to be a Dan Palmer F7F Tigercat. I'll put it up in the RC Warbirds and Warplanes section once I've started.

scale only 4 me

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Been there,,, still are there I guess,, I have a cl415 that's coming up on 15 and isn't close to done,, it happens

Mustang Fever

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Yeah, it seems to be like that. I have a parts kit for a Super Kaos downstairs that's at least 4 years old, and this fall I gave away a partially completed Kobra. If anyone wants the partially completed Mars hull and the plans, let me know. It's skinny enough that it could be shipped for not too much. $40. About the price of the plans, if I remember.