Originally Posted by
91zulu
The build most definitely should be in one house. Will you be enlarging the plans or just sticking with the size it is ? As for cowls and canopy you may have to make your own. Unfortunately these days people aren`t building anymore. It`s all ARFs . We are probably the last of the hobbyist that still build. I`m about to start a Wendel Hostetler Lancair myself. I should have started since the end of last summer.
My buddy built the F6F . I know he finished it, never flew it . I`ll see if I could get some pics from him. We were suppose to build it together and fly together since the 90s but I never built mine. If I was to do a build it would have to be at least 80 inch wingspan with 2 - 35 or maybe even 50s gas engines. Only because it would need a lot of weight up front and I would rather have engines instead of dead weight.
Sure thing I'd also prefer to build the aircraft in one place; I may have to construct bulkheads etc "here and there" however, we will see. What's 100% sure is that the major assembling of the wing and fuselage will definitely have to be made in 1 place.
My late Dad had been in his life the definition of the traditional builder; having built at least 6-7 models from 3-view drawings, from scratch. I, now being 36 years old, have contributed to the building of 4 of them. I love traditional building too - having said that, I also have 4 ARTFs, 2 Tucanos, a Hawker Typhoon and a Hawker Hurricane (both the latter are YT International models).
Anyway, I have elected to stick to the 68.5" version of the XF5F, intend to use 2x Laser 80 4-strokes on her, may sound like a lot but as you said she will most definitely need heavy engines as they are the most forward part of the airplane. I also dislike using dead weight for ballast; unless absolutely mandatory.