Hi all!

Just thought I share a couple of pics of my progress. Been very slow lately from putting my house on the market and all that jazz. The plane is still in the rough stage as far as sanding goes. Just popped it together for some inspiring pics.
I'm using a RCVsp 120 with a Zinger 17/12 and a Dave Brown Spinner primed and painted with auto paint. I modified the carb intake to be the hi pressure cooling intake diverting the air over the fins of the RCV and then exiting out the usual spot. I will not be cutting out the normal intake so to keep the approximate 1 to 3 air ratio (hi/low). The slight extra weight of this engine seems to nicely balance a normally tail heavy plane (from what I’m told).
I hope at the pace I’m working at, to have this done this summer. It all depends on how/when the move goes.

Doug

I hope it works. Did you do any internal baffling to direct the air over the engine fins only? The old rule is the intake should equal the fin area. That intake lookes a little small to me but lets here how it works out.

Man Doug that looks friggin great
Finish her up man!

Inspiring pics indeed... I have the same kit under my bench and an RCV .90SP waiting for it. Would you mind taking a couple more pics of the RCV with the lower fiberglass cowl removed? I am interested to see how you fit the 1.20 under the upper wood cowl.

The plane looks great so far. Good luck with the finishing job. We'll all be watching.

Juice

Thanks US!

I agree its somewhat of a rig, but I think it will function properly, heat wise. The p-40 cowl is pretty much a baffle and I've exaggerated it by hollowing and rounding out the inside of the wooden portion of the cowl to create less obstructions for the airflow. I think that with the prop blast force feeding the carb intake, the low pressure air sucking out, and the fairly high heat tolerance of the RCV, I shouldn't have any problems. My contingency plan is to pinpoint the airflow more over the fins by baffling out the crankcase area of the engine. I'll put it through heat test runs later in the build process and report the findings.


Doug

Thanks Juice,

I actually got alot of mounting tips from Gunner here on the forum. he did the same Prop/engine setup on his CMP Hellcat and had good luck with it.


Doug

Sorry, forgot to mention that I had to rotate the cylonder head of the RCV (instructions have procedure) to get the fit you see so that the carb was in the right place. I have a internal exhaust manifold with a extended flex pipe (not shown). I plan on using a heavy duty starter and not the RCV method.

Doug

Doug,
are you going to open up the chin intakes? This was how mine was set up and you would be able to use some baffles to direct airflow as needed quite easily.

IMO just using the carb intake on top of the nose will not be enough.

cheers
Peter

Hi Pete,

Yes, If I run the tests and I've got to much heat going on, I'll start opening up and redirecting things. I will first shroud in baffles with thin sheet metal if I have to, dividing the upper and lower part of the fins horizontally to force the air through the fins. I have some options. Thanks for all the suggestions.

Doug

no worries, duratrax have a nice little infared temp guage that would be handy for you to do those tests. Tower stock em.

good little gadget

cheers
Peter

Thanks Peter, I actually have borrowed one from a friend. Great little tool!

good oh

Doug,
I too am a P-40 LOVA!!! Your ship looks great. I hope the RCV works well. I completely enclosed a Super Tigre 90 with an in cowl muffler on the P-40 (T/F Red Box version) that's in my gallery. I hate having engine parts protruding out the side of the cowl. I am in the process of building a Pica 1/5th Scale P-40 and a Ziroli B-25J at the same time. I am putting a Mark 2.10 in the P-40. I thought about the J-Tech scale exhaust, but there seems to be a lot of plumbing routing and I have to wonder if this constricts the exhaust flow. I'll probably use a wrap around Pitts style muffler and have it blow out the cowl flaps, which will be working. Good luck on your bird, she is really nice. You do good work. Please post some updated photos as you go along. Good luck.

"Keep 'Em Flying!"
Flak

Hi Flak!
Thanks for the kind words. This is my first kit and I'm pretty happy with it even though its take 3+ years to get this far! I really like the Pica P-40 and can't wait until they come back into production. Good luck with yours and show us some pics!

I will post as I progress. Waiting for my fiberglass gear pods to arrive.

Take care!
Doug

Anyone know where to get a good P-40 E rivet and panel line reference?

Also maybe a silly question...On the TF p-40 the pics show the fixed gun crosshair mounted on the plane, was this included? If not, where do you get it?

Thanks,
Doug

I made mine!

Really now! How'd you do that Peter?

Doug

out of thin wire wrapped around a round object, then soldered the cross in place. That was then soldered to a thicker wire. whe whole thing then attached to the on/off switches to the RX battery.
Pulled the sight up to turn on, push down to switch off

Wow Pete,

Thats a really cool way of doing that! I'm surprised they show it on the instructions but don't mention it at all. I'll have to give that a shot.

Thanks,

Doug

Doug,

my old P40 wing rebuild thread will show it. I stail have the cross hairs attached to the switches and wiring harness. I will do a pic later and post it for you.
cheers
PEter

as promised
cheers
Peter

Wow! Very Creative!

Thanks Peter.

no worries
thanks Doug, really easy to do

cheers
Peter

Hey Peter,

Do you drill out the holes and set up your gun barrels then remove them before you fiberglassed? Since its my first build, now that Im coming toward the final stages trying to figure out the "what to do when, first" stuff.

Thanks,
Doug

nope I marked them out and drilled after glassing
cheers
Peter

thanks! Couple more questions..
Did you glass the outside of the flaps then just epoxy the inside areas only?
And for hinging the Rudder,Elevator, and Ailerons did you make the hinge slots in the wood after the covering or before then cut through the covering after?

Thanks!
Doug