Building a Top Flite P-47 Gold Edition .60 size kit, looking for tips, hints, etc. Has anyone used a 4-stroke in this kit? How did it balance? Was torque a problem? How about retracts: Century VS. Robart? Which is better?

Build it as per the plans and manual. You will want to beef up the landing gear area in the wing. Do your best to keep the tail area as light as possible. I have seen one fly with a 120 4 stroke as well as a 75 Super Tiger and both are great flyers. Mine needed nose weight for balance, however I was not as careful in building the tail as I should have been. As for retracts, you might want to consider Spring Air. I use the heavy duty ones that have the 3/16 inch wire and they are problem free. They are spring loaded down so that you will never have a gear failure should you spring an air leak. Good Luck and keep us posted.

Thanks for the tips. Since yours required nose weight, I am leaning towards a Saito 1.20. If it needs weight, it might as well be in the form of an engine instead of stick-on lead!

You should reinforce the wings. My neighbor has a P-47 and his wings kept snapping.