Tomahawk L-39 Build Thread
#1
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Well lets see. I figured I would share with the group the build on this truely large bird. I drove up to Vogelsang Aeroscale last week and picked up 2 L-39 complete kits. I always love going up to NC to vist Gotz and see what he is working on at his shop. Gotz and I got everything loaded up in the back of my 12ft trailer just barely.
After getting home and breifly unpacking one box I was truely in awe as to the size. I did see them fly and up close at Jet Power last month, but to have it in your own hands it is just a sight to see. I finaly got around to unpacking one plane the rest of the way and all of the parts are top notch. All the surfaces are live hinged so no glueing there. The build cd they provide is straight forward and there looks like there are no suprises to be had. I guess the only thing left to do now is order servos for both of the planes. If you are not familiar with the Tomahawk L-39 here is a link to it.
http://www.vogelsang-aeroscale.com/tomahawkl39.html
After getting home and breifly unpacking one box I was truely in awe as to the size. I did see them fly and up close at Jet Power last month, but to have it in your own hands it is just a sight to see. I finaly got around to unpacking one plane the rest of the way and all of the parts are top notch. All the surfaces are live hinged so no glueing there. The build cd they provide is straight forward and there looks like there are no suprises to be had. I guess the only thing left to do now is order servos for both of the planes. If you are not familiar with the Tomahawk L-39 here is a link to it.
http://www.vogelsang-aeroscale.com/tomahawkl39.html
#5
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Hey Shaz whats up buddy.
Well first thing first as with all my planes now I just got finished boxing up the retracts an am sending them off to Mitch at Down and Locked up in NC. I like the idea on not having to run as many airlines every where in the plane. The beauty of this option is that I now only need air for the brakes as all of my gear doors will be servo driven as well.
As far as servos I am looking at either Hitec HS-7950TH or the HS-7955TG or may still go with the JR 8711's. Not sure as of yet. I like the programablity of the Hitec servos to where I can recenter them where I want and preset my end points if needed before having to do it with my TX. Not 100% sure as of yet to the power systems on the planes as of yet. Here are some more pics of the gear before I boxed them up.
Well first thing first as with all my planes now I just got finished boxing up the retracts an am sending them off to Mitch at Down and Locked up in NC. I like the idea on not having to run as many airlines every where in the plane. The beauty of this option is that I now only need air for the brakes as all of my gear doors will be servo driven as well.
As far as servos I am looking at either Hitec HS-7950TH or the HS-7955TG or may still go with the JR 8711's. Not sure as of yet. I like the programablity of the Hitec servos to where I can recenter them where I want and preset my end points if needed before having to do it with my TX. Not 100% sure as of yet to the power systems on the planes as of yet. Here are some more pics of the gear before I boxed them up.
#6
Hi:
Hey friend !!!! Congrats for your new toy.
You have the gear doors cutted, have you the doors in the box ??? 4 doors, 2 for wheels and 2 for legs.
Please, look for the doors and if you can, put a photo. Because I am mounting another like your and not bring gear doors, we need get one special set of doors from Tomahawk.
The next month I will mount another L-39 Tomahawk, my second.
Regards from Spain.
Carlos Márquez.
_________________________________
http://www.cmjets.blogspot.com/

Hey friend !!!! Congrats for your new toy.
You have the gear doors cutted, have you the doors in the box ??? 4 doors, 2 for wheels and 2 for legs.
Please, look for the doors and if you can, put a photo. Because I am mounting another like your and not bring gear doors, we need get one special set of doors from Tomahawk.
The next month I will mount another L-39 Tomahawk, my second.

Regards from Spain.

Carlos Márquez.
_________________________________
http://www.cmjets.blogspot.com/
#9
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#10
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ORIGINAL: satdave
Hello,
Any updates on your build ?? I'm looking to purchase one as well.
Hello,
Any updates on your build ?? I'm looking to purchase one as well.
Yes I have some updates I will post up pics tomorrow. If you are looking to get one do it. This is a very very easy plane to build. Even though there are no instructions, the provided build disk is handy and a quick email to the guys at Tomahawk will get any questions answered.
George
#13

Joined: Jan 2007
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From: farnborough, , UNITED KINGDOM
George, we convert air brake systems to electric brakes, just doing 5 sets for the huge TH Hawk and just finished a set for the 3M + Viper so if you really want an air free installation PM and lets chat.
Picture of the brakes for the Viper......
marcs
Picture of the brakes for the Viper......
marcs
#14
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ORIGINAL: marc s
George, we convert air brake systems to electric brakes, just doing 5 sets for the huge TH Hawk and just finished a set for the 3M + Viper so if you really want an air free installation PM and lets chat.
Picture of the brakes for the Viper......
marcs
George, we convert air brake systems to electric brakes, just doing 5 sets for the huge TH Hawk and just finished a set for the 3M + Viper so if you really want an air free installation PM and lets chat.
Picture of the brakes for the Viper......
marcs
George
#15
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Well ok looks like I am going to be sitting in front of the screen here most of the day so I am going to upload some pics of the build. Again if you get the chance to get one of the Tomahawk kits git one. They have some of the best planes on the market. I finished the majority of the build about 3 weeks ago (yea) an now I am currently in the middle painting her. I have my graphics on the way from Jerry at Pro-Mark. The final install of parts tanks etc. will be done after paint. I used JR 8711'S all the way around on all the flight surfaces. I used (don't beat me) Hitec 7955's on my gear doors. The reason I went with the Hitec was for the fact that I could program the servos to and not have to do the program in the radio for the. Everything is going to be run through this nice little PowerBox Royal that I have sitting on my desk. I am looking at putting a p-200 in the airframe for power but have not nailed that down just completly yet. Here is a teaser pic of the paint job.
#16
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As I stated in my earlier post I had the gear converted to electric by Down N Locked up in NC. Mitch and Ron have done an outstanding job with them. They work flawlessly. This is a beefy heavy gear but there uints have no trouble pulling them up and down. Plus couppled with there gear door sequencer there is no risk of the doors closing up to early or not opening at all.
#17

I really do envy you, I was looking at them at Jetpower, superb model.
Guess I'll have to put up with my tiny fifth scale one for now.
Guess I'll have to put up with my tiny fifth scale one for now.
#19
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Just figured I would post a few quick pics on the paint. All most finished. Just one or two more things to do. I have got to give my buddies Jerry and Jeff Caduel over Pro-Mark a big thank you on getting the sizes on the custom graphics and nomeclature just right and spending as much time on this as they did. So far I am at 12 custom paint colors all ppg auto paint. Need to do some weathering now then clear coat. Lights all go in next week. Ifd the sun comes out tomorrow I am going to take her out and get some better shots.
#22
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To build the L-39 took me about 2 weeks. If you are just building it as a flyer and not going for a scale look it will go even quicker. An then it's just paint. Depending upon your scheme it could be done in a week or two. So I would say build and paint about a month. It's a easy plane to build and fly. Mine is still going strong and flying great.



