Hello all this is my very first post here. I've been flying R/C since I was little with my father and now have picked the hobby back up after a few years. It's funny though I can do lots of cool manuvers that my father taught me on his Sig Kobra, but he was always to paranoid to let me land so I'm still working on that lol. Also I'm new to ARF and have nothing against them but looks like I'm gonna win an auction for a Sureflight P-39 Airocobra. So I have a few questions about them and some general questions. I'm currently flying a Sig Kavalier (that took forever to build lol) but I have no experience with gas powered foam airplanes. I know people have converted this plane to electric and had it fly nicely so I'm sure with a Magnum .40 XL it should have plenty of power. But does fuel eat foam? Nobody at my field fly's a foam plane so they don't know if it does but think it would. Well actually thats my only question unless somebody has already flown it and has more suggestions on things to do. I really want it to fly well because this has always been one of my favorite warbirds. Mainly because it's an oddity if you put it next to it's generational brothers the P-47, P-51, etc it's the only one thats not a taildragger. Which is good for me because I don't have any taildragger experience.

I'll assume that nitro won't eat foam then...

Never had a plane made only with foam, but I think most people either paint the foam with fuel proof paint or cover it with a LOW temp covering. I know CA glue eats up foam!!!

Well I wasn't sure. I'm gonna paint it of course but I figured on how fuel is it's bound to find a crack or hole somewhere to get in to. I just don't wanna fuel it up and take off to only watch the nose go flying off.

No the fuel will not eat the foam. I have not had the P-39 but I have flown the 1/2a Piper Cub, Spit fire, P-40, Cessna 182. I covered all in an iron on film. I used Flite coat, Color Tex for the cub, and econocote. They flew alright. I did like the fact that they will take a hit and just bounce. The foam is pretty tuff sa little bumps do not hurt them.

Cover all gaps in the control surfaces. I installed balsa block in the area of a hinge to spread out the loads. The P-39 would look good with retracts.

Dru.

My brother had one a few years back. It flew great, and landed really smooth. He used a K&B 61 for power, so the 40 may be a little marginal since these are fairly heavy airplanes. Use epoxy and yellow glue to assemble the foam model and we put fiberglass strapping tape strips on the bottom of the wing to help stop flexing. You can cover it with LOW temp film if you're careful or latex paint with a sealer might be easier, and it covers up the grain in the foam a little. No room for retracts on this plane.

Well thanks for the foam and flying info. I only have a 4 channel radio so retracts aren't really an option for me. Thanks for the engine recommendation but a .40 is all I got. I'll probably paint it. i've had some experience with foam just not foam and gas. I'm sure I'm gonna use some real lightweight cloth on the key areas. Mainly control surfaces and the bottom of the wing. I'll definitely try to keep weight down to a minimum since you say it needs more power. Plus I'll definitely beef up the landing gear since I fly off some pretty ruff grass. Thanks for the info and advice again. When I get it and in the air I'll let you know what I think. For the money I think it's gonna be hard to beat and I need something sorta scale to go with my non-scale kavalier.

I've had the P-40, Spit., And P-39. We used to use them for dog fighting. The covering was to paint the bare foam. The biggest problem was finding a camo color that would not eat the foam. As we combatted we would reattach with glass and epoxy.

For power we used K&B .40 (before schnurl portting) My spit. had a Fox .25 BB and it flew it fine. You dont have to go mock 2 with your hair on fire to have fun!

I had one back in 1986 and I loved it. It was my first low wing airplane. I covered it with Econokote (low heat) film. Mine was powered by a Royal .40. If I ever do another one I will paint it with a foam safe paint.

I've also built a 1/5 scale P-39 (85" span) There is a picture of it in my photo gallery.

Yeah I've had some experience with painting foam electrics. Enamel eats foam either use acrylic or Testor model spray in light coats. Testors is good too because you can get the right colors. But I like to brush on acrylic because it's cheap and goes on thick and makes for a nice solid smooth look.

Latex house paint is fuel proof and will not attack the foam, Just let it "cure" for about a week .Perfect for Sureflight airplanes. The fly really well. I have had a couple. Just watch you CG. Had a Spit that was tail heavy. Got it down OK. Balenced it and....WOW what a great plane. Any sport 40 will be fine with these planes
Enjoy
Brian

PS I would love another Anybody have the webpage or tel number
thanks
B-

Sureflite.com is the web page; they may or may not have them in stock.
SigKavalier (nice airplane btw), the best way to do this nowadays is either lightweight silkspan (yep, the old paper stuff) or very light fiberglass cloth put on with Polycrilic (water-thinned) polyurethane. one coat to adhere, another to fill, then color. Very light. On the nose, you might put two layers. Nylon strapping tape is good, too, on the wings.

A strip or two of carbon fiber or a 1/4 square spar -- hard balsa or spruce -- and the wing won't break-- well, it will, but let's not get silly about it.

I like fabric and paint better than film because ist's easier to patch dings and seams don't come loose.

howell