I am considering a Topflite P-47 kit this winter. has anyone built one and what engine did they use? I an considering a Thunder Tiger 70 4 Stroke. Does this kit come with "Fixed" landing gear? I have been with Great Planes kits for years and they are GREAT, are the Topflite kits as well thought out?? Any input would be great! Thanks, Terry B

<span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS">if you go to towerhobbies website and look up the P-47 kit and click on it, there is a hyper link for the instruction manual. click on that and read it about a hundred times before you even buy the kit, so you are familiar with the build. that gives you time to plan on doing things differently if you wish and have the mad skills to do, plus, you can plan any detailing that isn't in the manual or building process; such as panels, etc. in the beginning of the manual, there will be a list of what is included in the kit for you to ponder over and it will tell you different ways of doing the LG and whatnot engine information, what type of retracts to use if you decide later to switch to them (requiring mods to fixed gear construction). i was looking at all their kits, trying to figure out which one i want to build, but all the manuals are there. i've also heard that top flight has some of the best kits out there. here's the link to it:

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...LXHU86&amp;P=0

read up on it though, if not just for the sick enjoyment of reading about building stuff. (likeme...) i have many manuals for planes i don't even have,would like to build, but don't have the time for all of them.</span>

never built the P-47, but their AT-6 kit was the best I've ever had. I read the instructions (several times) before starting each step and the build was about as fool-proof as it could get. The only thing I'd change is that for this kit I stopped using CA and went with Tightbond III. I found Tightbond III to be "rubbery" until fully dry, and then hard to sand. I think I'll try Tightbond II this winter. Hard to find time to finish the kit - needs only detail sanding/fiberglassing to complete.

If you can wait a bit to dry, Elmer's wood glue is strong and sands well.

Tom

It is a great building kit. Just start on page one of the manual, don't skip any steps and you will end up with a great looking and flying plane. Good Luck, Dave

Scratchie,

I've read all about Titebond on a thread I think in this forum about glues. The consensus was that the Original Titebond and not II or III was the best. It dried the best and was the easiest to sand. I've gone back to the original and I'm really enjoying the results. Just my two cents but hope that helps.

A 70 4-stroke will be too small. Go with a 91

My mistake on the first post. I do plan on using a TT 91 that I have new in the box. I have been building for 43 years so the build will not be a problem, I was mostly testing the waters for people who found problems with the kit of finished plane... Thanks for everyone's help...
POST pictures if you have any! TERRY

The wing was some of the best die cutting best fitting parts I've seen in a kit. A joy to build. The fuse die cutting was ok, not great, lots of fitting to get it together well. Other than that it's a very good kit. If you have hard balsa for sheeting the fuse like my kit did, replace it with something softer and lighter. There are lots of compound curves that are difficult if the balsa doesn't bend easily.

If you put retracts in you may want to consider changing the recommended mounting, it places the landing gear too far back and can cause nose over problems. There is a thread on rcscalebuilder, I think it's by someone named "Connery" that has pictures of a better and more scale way to mount the gear that puts the wheels well ahead of the leading edge when deployed.

here's a good thread to make you want to build one!

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_23...tm.htm#2383762

terry its a solid kit I had a good time doing mine OS 120 pumped engine full house retracts including tail wheel here is another thread that I contributed to as well http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_48...tm.htm#4868696 lots of good input.

I mounted the gear in the stock locations and there fine where there at.

my one suggestion would be think about using 3/32 sheeting for the wings instead of the supplied 1/16 sheeting, I had some warping that I did correct with filler but if I was to build another one,I would go with the slightly thicker wood for the wing sheeting, otherwise it was a easy to build model that looks great.

mine is now in the hangar getting a upgraded OS120 Surpass III pumped engine and a new 2.4 receiver