ORIGINAL: wxman2
Hi all,
I am starting the process of buying the parts for LA7 and have a few questions. Here is what I am going with so far:
Scale Wings LA7 1:3.5 with all the accessories
Moki 7 cylinder 250ccm when it comes out
Have not picked a paint scheme yet; struggling with this since the paint schemes I really like are not scale.
Now for a few questions, I have attached a few photos a LA7 aircraft and they look to have a fan like the FW190.
1. Does anyone know for sure this is a fan?
2. If it is, could a person use a fan made for a simular scale FW190; do you think it would look okay?
The paint scheme I really like is Mick Burrells LA7:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvRDltmAERA
Actually, it is not a fan. They are engine louvers and were designed to help keep the engine warm during the extremely cold Russian winters. The louvers would be slowly retracted as the engine warmed up allowing more cooling air into the plenum cowl. Overheating engines was not one of the primary problems encountered with the LA series...overheated pilots was a major problem, however. The firewalls threw off so much heat that the pilots often flew with the canopies open to keep cool. They also leaked a tremendous amount of carbon monoxide into the cockpits...another reason pilots flew with the canopies open