Luke , you da man!!!!
Question for you guys: did you see a need to go with 4-40 rods on any control surfaces?
I'm planning an OS 120 4 banger for it and would like to fly her fast some of the time.
And servos: did you use any beefier ones as opposed to just standard ballbearing servos?
Many thanks!!
John

I used hi tech 645's on my rudder and elevator,all the other servos are standard dual BB.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Soon-in-your-col...ayphotohosting

That is the link to the color scheme I was wanting to find more pictures of...Anyone help me out...???

I have just started the mods suggested by Dion. Here are some pictures of one wing panel.

Are you guys cutting the wing on a scroll saw?

I used a band saw to cut the wing chordwise and an exacto knife to cut out the aileron and flap.

I forgot to menttion that after making the cutouts that I found some ribs that were not glued to the sheeting.[&o]

All that is needed is a small table top band saw for a nice clean cut. I think other methods would work just as well, the tube will make sure the wing panels are lined up and the center section is not seen anyway.

I like the paint scheme Ram-Bro. I thought I was the only one who had one painted like that.


Andy

Dion , got the parts today , thank they look great

I got mine Wednesday also. Cool!!!

Thanks, Wayne

Thanks guys, glad you like it. I finally got all my stuff to finish this thing in the mail today. DHL delivered my Futaba flight pack to the wrong house on the 20th and the jerks just kept it! Hal has given me some good ideas and I'm going to share those with you all too! I got my retracts back from CJ and figured out how I'm going to mount them so the doors will fit, man those things are bulky! It can be done though, you will see! Much more to come...

Dion

Dion,

Received my parts today, look great.

Thank you
Craig

Dion + CMP ARF = top 10 finisher in annual TOP GUN .....

been VERY busy as of late - are you still making/shipping the Hellcat parts?

thanks, randy

LOL![sm=lol.gif] Yea right! Just click on my name and my profile will come up with my web page, look under products.

Thanks Craig! Now we need to get all these parts assembled and on the planes!

Dion

Had my parts last Wednesday. Very fast service. The parts look great.
Thanks Dion!
Dom

Dion keep building and get back to work !!!!
For the pilots on line who do not mind answering this question , The hellcat will be my # 7 warbird
Global P47 , Bashed Global P40 , Hanger 9 corsair , VQ P40 , second H9 Corsair -Small 54" Zero , plus 4 or 5 sport planes prior to warbirds .

My question is , by reduceing the wing , allowing the gear to be located in a scale position dont I make ground control more difficult and increase wing loading vs original design .

Yes on both counts but I don't believe the ground handling or the flying characteristics will be significantly reduced. The wing is still a pretty docile airfoil. I am going to sand the leading edge to a better airfoil shape; it is very blunt as built. I do think that adding too much additional weight could be a concern. The more scale ailerons should be more effective than the stock ones. The beveled leading edges of the ailerons is eliminated by using the scale hinging. The flaps will also have more area and will be more effective.

Lou, ground handling can't be any worse that that of the Top Flite P-40. Personally, I would take landing gear in scale location over better ground handling. As for higher wing loading, this bird is already too floaty, so a slightly higher wing loading might make it land better.

Thanks guys , great answers , I may just take a saw to that wing , sounds crazy but it sure looks good

Exactly Richard, in fact earlier when you mentioned that it was a floater I knew what I had to do!

Thanks Woody!

I have been, have some pictures for you all!

First I must say that the CJ gear are kind of barbaric, to get them to fit and the doors to work took a little head scratching. Those using the Sierra gear will have a much easier time.

First thing I did was cut 3/16" off the stock mounting blocks. This will sink the gear into the wing just enough to get the doors to close. Good thing the doors have that bulge, you will need it!

I noticed that the gear actually folds more than it should and the wheel is not flat in the well, this is good for us because it helps to bring those huge scissors into the well. The doors are slightly crooked on the gear, but it looks OK and it'll look great in the air with the gear retracted!

I used small hardwood blocks for mounting the doors, for now they are just tack glued to the struts, but later I will add brass straps and small screws to hold them on.

The small front door posed a problem for me, how to shut it! Well I figured out the slickest way possible I think! The main door has a small wire mounted to it bent to conform to the airfoil, the wire sits under the small door when the gear are retracted. When you lower the gear the small door just rides up the wire as it's pushed open. The small door will be held shut with a small light tension spring from a broken printer. The gear actually have 3 doors, but 2 out of 3 aint bad! When it's all painted white I think it'll look pretty cool. The front door is a small piece of flight skin, .012 fiberglass sheet cut to shape.

I tried all kinds of wheels and only one worked to my satisfaction, and that is the Dave Brown light wheels, 3 1/2".

Dion

Looking good Dion.
Dom

Excellent photos Dion. As I happen to have the CJ's too, I came to some of the same conclusions you did. Very glad to view your solutions. Now... I just need to find an old printer with a spring! LOL

Dion, I was gonna leave the doors off of my Hellcat but I think you have inspired me on to at least give it a try. I am also using the CJ retracts on my Hellcat and wish that I would have sunk them justa bit deeper. Here is a pic with the tape off the canopy and the ID#s stenciled on.

Thanks Dom! Got some new stuff and it's getting close to the finishing stage! Now that's going to be fun!


lol! Thanks iiat! I just had a printer die, and my boy loves to take things apart so I just hand it to him and tell him to put all the smalls crews and springs in this box, and he does! lol I do that with all types of machines I get that don't work, so I have a good collection of small springs and things.

I saw those pictures of your cat, thing looks nice, great work! I bet you're learning a lot about weathering, aren't you? I personally don't like the CJ gear, but I'm not building this thing as a dead nuts scale job anyway, that would be ridiculous. It's just my way of having fun, and so far I've had a blast. It has helped me to meet some great people too, it's been a very rewarding project! Good luck with those gear doors, it would seem to be more of a challenge on a smaller plane. I am curious to see what you come up with though.

I'm almost done with the wing, the left panel is completely sheeted again, I just need to finish the top of the flaps.

I'm going to post more detailed pictures of the aileron hook up for those that may be making a manual! Also some pictures of my gear door blocks.

Can hardly tell the wing was cut up the way it was can you? Nothing sticking out that aint scale and no hatches!

Dion

Well, you're all probably wondering what I'll be doing for a canopy? I've been asked so I'd like to post an update on my progress so far. This is by no means and exact scale canopy, and it's not a scale fuselage really either! I decided on the -3 for a few reasons, first it's got the most interesting paint schemes available in my opinion and if you want an all blue Hellcat it'll look fine that way too.

When I'm making a custom canopy I always do test pulls to find out where I'm at on the fitting of the thing. Using templates I made from the fuselage I was pretty close right out of the bag! I'm penciling in the frame to get an idea as to where they will go and how it looks, after the initial fitting I'll add all the detail to the plug and then pull my first part. Any way you look at it it'll be a huge improvement over the stock one.

I am going to cut the turtledeck back some so that a full cockpit will fit, if you want to use this canopy but don't wish to modify the fuselage it will work just fine that way to. It will just sit forward slightly of scale location. I'm looking at having this canopy ready in a week or so.

Dion