Guillow's P-40 RC Conversion
 

I want to convert a Guillow's kit (P-40 27" wingspan) to RC, and I need some help. I am almost done with the P-40 airframe. Here are my ideas for modifications so far:

• 1/8" thick main wing spar.
• Airerons (strip maybe...)
• Sheeted fuse and wing (1/16"?)
• Fiberglass finish

Radio/Engine:

• Futaba 4ch FM reciever (smaller than Hitec 555)
• Futaba S3106 Micro Servos (3)
• 550 AAA 4.8v NIMH (2 oz.)
• AP .061 WASP

I have no idea what kind of linkages I would do for this model. I would like to do scale ailerons, not strip, but don't know how I would do that either. I want this thing to be as scale as possible, even flight speed and other characteristics. Please, any suggestions, tips, comments, anything, would be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks.

Guillows conversion
 

Bembo,
There isn't much out there on rubber powered conversions to R/C
Here is a link to someone's site who converted a Guillow's Sop-
with Camel to R/C. It goes to show just how much detail can be
put into these small kits. Check out the Corsair conversion at the
bottom of the homepage:

http://www.mindspring.com/~telemark/sopwith/

Be inventive and check out plans for other P-40s and see how
they run the linkages and other systems.

Guillow's P-40 RC Conversion
 

bell-cranks for ailerons, sheet plane, no fiberglass, iron on covering.....

i have done 2 conversions so far...






L.R.



P.S. look for other threads in this forum that contain the info you want.

Guillow's P-40 RC Conversion
 

Thanks guys, I will let you know how it comes out after I build my GP P-51.

Guillow's P-40 RC Conversion
 

Hi Bembo,
I was wondering if you ever finished this conversion and how it went. I recently purchased the same P-40 with an eye towards converting it to RC myself. My fusealage is about ready for sheeting and I haven't begun on the wing yet.

Thanks!

Guillow's P-40 RC Conversion
 

No, I am sorry to say I did not finish it. I did some math and figured that even if it did fly it would be very poorly. That's only because I beefed it up so much. Just build it light and you won't have any problems. Thanks.

Guillow's P-40 RC Conversion
 

If you are fully sheeting the model, then I would consider using tissue and dope as a finish. That is a good finish for up to .15 or so models that are fully sheeted and if done properly, it can be lighter than iron-on's such as Monokote and will look tons better.

Also, if you have an airbrush, then use Tamiya acrylics for color and then use an appropriate fuel-proof flat clear top coat. You'll be much more pleased with this result than if it looks like plastic. OK, maybe you won't be but I would be. :)

Guillow's P-40 RC Conversion
 

I was planning on sheeting the whole plane with 1/32" balsa then airbrushing onto that. Should I still tissue / dope it?

As far as the hardware, I'm looking to use a small electric motor instead of a glow engine. The electronics will probably be from the GWS Pico flight pack to get the weight down.

My control surfaces will be limited to Rudder and elevator. I figure Airelons will wait until I get the thing flying, then maybe go back and build a new wing or just step up to a bigger plane depending on the troubles.

Thanks!

Guillow's P-40 RC Conversion
 

good luck on the rudder and elevator combo-


shuld use aileron elevator but whatever floats your boat~
















L.R.

Guillow's P-40 RC Conversion
 

I would use tissue simply because I don't care for the look of painted balsa. If you attempt to fill the grain of the balsa with sanding sealer or whatever, then you will add massive weight compared to using tissue, silk or similar.

It's really personal preference. But it's possible to keep a small model light and use paint. Most folks have the belief that paint = heavy. That's because of their personal technique, not because paint is inherently heavy. It is more work, but the end result is worth it.

Guillow's P-40 RC Conversion
 

Hi Bembo9,
I tried that same conversion and have yet to get it flying. I wanted to run a Cox .020 in it with a micro flight pack. But imagine that "big" cowl with a 4" prop!!? The prop tips won't extend past the lower air inlet, so the prop is smaller than the front of the cowl! Naw. Also consider that a tiny spinner would also look kind of odd. A babe bee .049 engine might NOT be too powerful if subdued with an exhaust muffler, but the plane is getting heavy.

So to get a better look and maybe even come out ahead in weight, I put a geared 280 electric with (8) 270mAh NiMh and modern micro servos and tiny speed control...

And my battery pack has a bad cell and it flew all of 10 feet.
HOWEVER! Electric seems to me the better choice.
Sorry, no digital camera so I can't include pics.
Best wishes in your project!
Will

Guillow's P-40 RC Conversion
 

Bembo9 - almost forgot, 1/64" balsa covers the fuse just fine. I covered mine with micafilm.
Will

Guillow's P-40 RC Conversion
 

I have flown three of the Czech foam Me109s, which are very similar in size, maybe a hair smaller.
All three had 049's. One had rudder and elevator only. While it did fly, rudder is inappropriate for a fighter, and it was not terribly satisfying. One had a TD049 and aileron and elevator. Just great! The last one had all four channels and a golden bee RC. The throttle let you breathe a little.
I would sheet the whole thing with 1/16 or 1/32, tissue it(he is totally right...tissue and dope is much lighter (and stronger) than dope alone) and definitely do ailerons. Even strip ailerons would be better than rudder.
Keep this in mind, too. If you ARE using only rudder, you MUST reduce the free flight dihedrel, lest you get horrible dutch roll with the slightest rudder input. Ask me how I know!


Fiberglass is too heavy on this scale, forget it.
Also, look into a lighter battery pack. Weight really counts, and those servos are not really light. Good luck!

Guillow's P-40 RC Conversion
 

Cirrus makes a CS 21 servo which is realy neat, super small (like hs-55's or a tad smaller) and works GREAT for this 1/2a stuff- about half the size of an hs-81

I deffinaetly recomend them



L.R.

Guillow's P-40 RC Conversion
 

Thanks for all of the replies! I think I am going to build the 30" AERC Yak-9 next however, really neat http://www.aerc.biz/yak.htm.

Guillow's P-40 RC Conversion
 

Thanks guys!

I hope to have some pictures up in a week or two.

:cool:

Chris.

Guillow's P-40 RC Conversion
 

I found help on converting rubber to rc in the free articles on rc microflight magazines site. They did a 30" dumas bearcat. I' m currently working on a Guillows 3/4" scale (27 5/8" span) Spitfire.
Rudder, elev and ailerons. Speed 280 geared. I hope it flys, i'm going as light as I can, punching hole in ribs, possibnly tissue. hoping all up she'll be around 12 OZ. Go lithium! but research first..Ebay has guys selling converted lions and chargers that he has tested and has no probs with.

Good Luck

Guillow's P-40 RC Conversion
 

Well, MotoCalc was unkind to my setup. I had originally envisioned using the Great Planes T-280 4.1 geared setup. When I installed the motor into the yet to be fully complete plane and did some initial testing it "felt" as if the plane wouldn't get off the ground.

So, I downloaded motocalc and entered all the relevant data. The result: that motor wouldn't provide enough thrust to maintain a level flight, if it managed to get off the ground at all.

After scratching my chin I decided to look at the Graupner speed 300 with various gearing from 3.5 to 4.1. This showed promise, but the flight times just weren't what I was hoping for. After some more juking with the numbers I settled on the GWS EPS-300C-AS motor / gear combo. The gearing is at 3.75, 9x6 prop, and (I believe) a speed 370 motor.

For speed control I'll be using the C-10 from great planes. For battery it'll be a 6 cell 650mAh battery. Motocalc predicts a level flight for roughly 60% throttle for a maximum of 23 minutes. Not bad.

I went ahead and ordered the motor/gearbox from my LHS, we'll see if it's really better or not...

Guillow's P-40 RC Conversion
 

Clively - I'm not a Gas is better than Electric guy, but what you've described is exactly why I'm not using electric in my models. It's a steep and expensive learning curve. The people I know who are having success with electrics show that an electric plane can be a great performer, but they spent a whole lot of money finding out what works and what doesn't.

My conversion will probably be a diesel. Another learning curve, but much less expensive. :)

Guillow's P-40 RC Conversion
 

The only constant is change.keeps things interesting, and there is so much info on the web you can read and read before you spend dime one! Besides, electric arcing creates ozone so we're doing our part Heh, Heh......

Guillow's P-40 RC Conversion
 

Here are some pictures I have so far. I intend to put more up showing servo placement later.

http://www.chrislively.com/Airplane/P40/default.asp

Guillow's P-40 RC Conversion
 

Hey, I couldn't help but chime in here. The "bug" to try one of these free flight to electric conversion got the best of me not to long ago and I had to try.

This is a Dumas 30" kit with Aileron, Elevator and the ESC for throttle. Speed 280 motor and 2 pico servos and pico receiver.
13 ounces. 8 minute flights if you don't horse it around too much. It's a fast little bugger!

Guillow's P-40 RC Conversion
 

Dave,
Where did you get that wonderful Hamilton Standard on the Mulligan?

Guillow's P-40 RC Conversion
 

:p Okay, you got me... It's a letter opener that I drilled out for static display. Only the sharpest notice. Add yourself to the list beenie! :D

Guillow's P-40 RC Conversion
 

I've seen that letter opener for sale and it never occured to me that it would look good on a model. I will definatly have to use that in the future.